Cornish Cross Spring 2019

[frustratedearthmother]

It was a friend of my neighbor (the one who helps me) who had never shot pig. My neighbor gave him the gun and encouraged him to try. I wasn't out there when it happened or I would have shot them both instead!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Last summer my grandkids wanted to see the process of butchering. We had a boar that I'd been feeding and he was puppy dog gentle. Kiddos went out and gave him a pat while he was eating his last meal, said goodbye to him him, prayed for an easy death and thanked him for his sacrifice. He was dropped in his track with one shot. They were curious during the whole process, wanted to see all the internal organs - we dissected the heart for them and showed them the chambers and valves. It was a good experience for them and they went away really knowing and understanding where their meat comes from. They've also observed quail processing. I swear someday I'll get rid of all the chickens and have nothing but quail. Grow quickly, meat is delicious and I can process one in less than 5 minutes. Sorry....got off track, lol.

 

[baymule]

They are a lot of work. The easy part is slaughter and preliminary plucking and gutting. After I get them in the house, the real work begins. It takes me 45 minutes to an hour per chicken to fine pick it, those pin feathers drive me bonkers, wash, pick, wash, pull with the needle nose pliers, wash, make a cut, wash it, make another cut, wash it, wash just for the hell of it, make more cuts, wash, wash, wash it some more, pat it dry between paper towels and vacuum seal it, seeing yet another pin feather as the bag shrinks.

I don't want to say I'm anal about cleaning chicken, because it brings to mind a chickens butt hole squirting while I am cutting around it to drag the guts out. BUT-I want a CLEAN chicken!

Then I Clorox everything that touched dead chicken.

 

[baymule]

I forgot, I toss in the rooster testicles too. When I debone the breast, I cut away the cartilage for the dog pot too. Just turned off batch #2, waiting for it to cool. I have batch #3 ready to go in the pot. I got 4 more quarts and 2 quarts of broth to can, which will make a total of 18 quarts and 2 quarts of broth.

 

[Beekissed]

@Lazy Gardener, here's a few pics of that gutting method you wanted to see....couldn't video it but got a few pics. Also threw in a few pics of the chicken shucker setup, for the skinning of chickens with ease. Makes for a relatively clean carcass when skinning with this thing...not a lot feathers or scurf from trying to skin on a table surface. I quick rinse under the hose and then on to gutting.

A cut across the back to open up the body cavity, then insert finger tips and pull open....

....just keep pulling and the two halves separate and the guts just fall out easily.

Then you can get into that chest cavity easily to remove the lungs, heart, trachea, etc.

I hope that helps? I know a video is more helpful but it's hard to do that and do the butchering too ....no help for me at butchering time.

 

[Beekissed]

Bee, can you show a few close up views of your vise system and it's mount to the tree?

Had to go out and take a few....I'll throw in a few pics of my one woman processing station I made a few years ago out of an old sink, a vintage metal youth bedstead and some free Lowe's "stickers" and other scrap lumber obtained for free. Made it this way so I could move this table when needed, with the bed stead acting as a skid....in the early spring I move it to full sun and use this as my grow table....place metal tunnel hoops on top, cover with row fabric and put my seedlings out there.

My gut bucket...collects all the offal and shoots the water out and away from my work area.

Got the drill press vise from Harbor Freight and had Eli, my middlin', retrofit it to hold a chicken neck better...the addition of small pieces of wood in the grip plates helps hold the neck better, but more gently, if that makes sense...doesn't damage the meat when I have to crunch it down tightly, nor does it let it slip out when I have to pull a stubborn hide with some force. Rubber pads would work just as well but I didn't have such a thing on hand...but scraps of wood, I have a plenty.

It's a good idea to pop it out from whatever you've got it mounted to, as the bird's breast will come in contact with the mounting surface. I found that out when using the first attempt, but had Eli bump it out from the tree a bit until nothing touches the carcass but at the neck.

Another cool thing with this setup...when you get the hide shucked down and cut off the tail, you can then work around that rectum with the knife, very easily cutting the fascia anchoring the intestines in that area without fear of puncturing the bowel as gravity and positioning of the carcass(lifted up at an angle with the left hand while the right hand does the knife work) pulls the bowels away from that area.

And a few more pics of that gutting method~not my own method, BTW, but one I observed on a vid on YT...can't remember the vid right now and didn't save it but will be using it from now on~done on an old layer bird....

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I've heard of putting bleach in the rinse water. I don't do that, but wash those birds well. I use a bit of dish detergent in the scald water to help soak through the oils in the feathers. I also do the initial prep, then bring them to the kitchen sink, which of course has been bleached... lots of running water and a bowl to keep them from contacting the sink for final cleaning before going to fridge for rest period before packaging for freezer.

 

[baymule]

I have a customer that wants 20 birds, cut up and packaged. I don't think I want them to have any from the first batch.

 

[baymule]

No antibiotics. 2 more dead this morning. At this rate, there won't be any left. Nope, even if the remaining chicks grow to slaughter size, they will go in our freezer. I only sell the best to my (few) customers. If I sold them any from the first batch, I would feel that they were getting substandard chicken.

I am going to have to grow out some more in the fall, this won't be enough for us and Daughter and her family.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

IMO, when a shipment goes bad like this, the customer should be reimbursed for the entire shipment, even if there are some survivors.