Time between killing & processing.

[sakabla]

Well we did it.

We decided to just to it all in one go after he had roosted for the night.

It took us just over 2 hrs, please tell me it gets quicker with practise!

It wasn't as bad as I expected, the kill was quick, he certainly didn't
get distressed. The plucking took more effort than I thought, but he was
an older bird, about 10 months.

Getting his innards out was tougher than we thought as well. Everything
came out cleanly, just needed more pulling than we expected. Any tips
are very welcome.

Cleaned up he weighed just over 6 lbs, more than enough to feed the 6
of us!

Thanks again for all the suggestions, & all the great information on
BYC on the best ways to do it.

 

[goldfinches]

Ha! I was reading the replies and getting ready to say, just do it all at night, it only takes a few minutes. Sorry it took so long. I've only butchered once, but if doing it again, could probably whip one out in less than 10 minutes. I'm sure your next time will be much faster.

Have your water hot before you kill, then you can just dip as soon as the bleeding is done.

The only thing I found my helpers missed while cleaning my birds was lungs, I had to scrape out nearly each one. Everything else came out fairly easily.
So, look for your lungs!

Sorry, these aren't that good of tips...

Good job!