Why do we do it, when you can pay someone?

[Southerngirl]

The main reasons we process our own are: we know what they were given to eat; they were happy and loved; free ranged and most important if it came down to survival I can kill, clean and gut my own food in about 6-8 minutes. There are soo many people who could not fend for themselves in a time of disaster. I am not going to sit around waiting on the government to rescue me; I'll be making chicken soup over a warm fire .

 

[Buster52]

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Self-sufficiency.

That's not something most folks can relate to, but there it is. It isn't really about cost.

 

[Beekissed]

Amen! Why would someone go to the trouble to carefully raise their own birds and then trust someone else to process them in a clean manner. I don't know about you all, but I'm really picky about how my meat's been handled and processed. I've heard tales about things that go on in slaugther houses.....

Hyldimarie~ you can catch those birds much easier the night before, by just gently removing them from the roost and placing them either in cages, or securing their feet and putting them in a quiet, dark place.

No chasing, no extra adrenaline in the meat...well, except for the amount excreted right before the dirty deed.

I processed 13 on Sat. by myself in an hour and a half. Its easier with a killing cone (recycled bleach jug) that holds them securely and lets one bleed out while you are processing another.

I used to use the chopping block method, but have found a quick slice across the jugular, carotid and trachea to be the quietest, most peaceful death of all. I don't go any further into the neck, as I've discovered that cutting the spinal cord causes alot more spasms in the musculature.

 

[Milliemay]

Beekissed wrote; "I processed 13 on Sat. by myself in an hour and a half."

Are you kidding me? 6.92 minutes a piece? Very impressive!

And Southerngirl, I'll be sharing chicken soup, and the warm fire, which I can light without gasoline, with ya'll!

 

[Beekissed]

I don't pluck...I skin!

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

We gladly pay to have our birds processed! My time is better spent on other management activities on our farm.

As farmers we get caught up on immediate tasks and sometimes fail to take care of other less immediate items. Here is an example.

My neighbor back in Iowa complained one day about missing a sales oppportunity for a portion of his corn crop. He had been watching the markets and thought they had hit the top. Well the day before the market crashed sue to a better than expected crop report he did not sell. Rather than market his 100,000 bushels of corn he was fixing fence a job the neighbor kid could have done for $10/hour. So the $30 he saved by fixing fence actually cost him several thousands of dollars.

Besides, I don't want the mess.

Jim

 

[dancingbear]

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Us too, very similar. Long drive to the nearest place, costs too high, it would take all day anyway with the drive both ways, and the wait for the birds to be done. Or we'd have to pick them up the next day, making it 2 round trips of a long drive. Extra stress for us, and the birds, plus the expense. We just do them ourselves.

As a bonus for doing it ourselves, we get the satisfaction of being self-sufficient, and we know exactly how the job was done.

Butchered a mere 3 today, plucking took forever. These 3 seemed harder to pluck than usual, for some reason.

We're planning to build a Whiz-Bang plucker, and that will cut the time a lot. We don't raise broilers, but any breed you eat takes the same routine to process. And in about 12-16 more weeks or so, we'll have a bunch to do, however many turn out to be cockerels.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

When folks ask you that, just tell them you've found it's much cheaper than most conventional forms of therapy, and more satisfying. Then reach over and gently pinch their arm meat, and lick your lips. They won't bother you with dopey questions any more.

 

[New adventure]

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That is priceless!!

 

[TimG]

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At the two places I have taken my birds to be processed the whole process was in plain sight.