Cornish Cross Spring 2019

[Lazy Gardener]

Very late last fall, when it was too cold to process outside, I did my last 5 cockerels in my laundry room. I was fearful that the entire room would be a bloody mess when I got done, with blood spattered everywhere. I fashioned a killing cone out of a wood pellet bag and duct tape. It worked very well. Soft, so it was one size fits all. I'd never used a cone before. I hung it over the laundry sink. (also put plastic on wall around laundry sink) My initial intent was to skin, since my hips couldn't handle the many treks up and down the stairs with hot water for the scald. I found that my water from laundry sink tap was plenty hot for the scald, perhaps even too hot. (hot water tank very close) I set a plastic dish strainer in the sink to aid in water management, and keep the birds out of the run off water. It also put the bird at a better height for me to work on. This was by far, the easiest processing I've ever done. Still painfully slow, but, clean up was a breeze. Hated to waste all that blood down the drain, but... oh how easy! The only down side to this set up was that the area was so small that I could only hang, then process one bird at a time. If I made a slanted drain table to go adjacent to the sink, I could easily handle 2 - 3 at a time. And, if I had a catch basin, I could prevent loss of the blood down the drain.

 

[baymule]

I have 20 dressed chickens in the freezer.
Total whole chicken weight is 119 pounds, 3 ounces
Total cuts weight is 92 pounds, 13 ounces.
18 more to go...…

I think I'll process and can the backs and necks for dog food tomorrow and take up chicken slaughter again next week.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Whew - I know you're probably sick and tired of lookin at chickens! I think a break (and eggnog) might be in order, lol!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

They ARE a lot of work. I'd rather butcher a sheep or goat than chickens. The plucker does a pretty good job of plucking - but there's always some of those pin feathers that it just doesn't get. After doing it for awhile I feel like my hands are always gonna smell like dead chicken, lol!

 

[Mini Horses]

Even the bleach water doesn't seem to be enough to kill the odor on our hands. Maybe it's in the nasal passages. Maybe a mask while working. It's just a messy job.

 

[baymule]

I woke up at 4:30 this morning, gave up on going back to sleep and got up at 5:15. Been enjoying my coffee while chicken backs, necks and assorted pieces simmered on the stove. I still have 2, one gallon bags in the freezer to cook and can. Got to cook a pot of rice, then I'll be ready to pack jars. Somewhere in there I will get morning chores done. My husband has been hitting the quart jars of liver, heart and rice I canned for the dogs a month or so ago. He mixes it with their kibble and they love it. He splits one jar between 3 dogs. Back to the kitchen today......

 

[baymule]

I cook 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. I bring to a boil then cut it off and let the residual heat finish cooking it. Set aside. I put 1/2 cup of cooked rice in clean, hot quart jars. Then I fill with cooked chicken pieces, bones and all. The bones are small, in the neck and back pieces. Then I fill with broth, about a cup or more. I stir with a butter knife to dislodge air bubbles and add more broth, leaving 1” head space. I process at 10 pounds pressure for 90 minutes.

I use the back pieces, neck, skin, heart, some little round thing I think may be the kidney.

I clean the gizzards and livers for us, package and freeze them. What doesn’t make the cut for us goes in the dog pot.

 

[baymule]

We took the 20 dressed chickens to our customer. $5 a pound came to $464. They were delighted and so were we. That paid all the expenses with $44 profit. I was looking at it like the 18 chickens we are keeping will be free, but saw sheep working equipment on Craigslist for $650. Brand new price is $955, so it was a good deal. BUT— my husband offered $500 and they took it. So basically the chickens paid for my sheep equipment and we’re back to paying for our chickens. LOL

Slaughtered 10 of “our” chickens today. Then had to run errands. I got 3 cut and packaged. Tired, had to sit down awhile. Going out to Feed, then do our supper and I’m done for today.

 

[baymule]

Today we set up the sheep working equipment we bought off Craigslist and got a FANTASTIC DEAL. That took from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM. I rested 45 minutes then started on chicken at 2:45. Just got finished and cleaned up at 7:40 PM. I am freaking tired. My husband just took the ice cooler to fill it up at the neighbors ice machine so we can slaughter the remaining 7 CCX and 2 mean roosters in the morning. Rinse repeat.

 

[baymule]

We’ll I didn’t slaughter the two mean roosters, I didn’t put them up, away from Feed last night. We slaughtered 7, came in and took naps. LOL No more CCX!!! I’ll process tomorrow.

When I am all done, I’ll make my cost/profit/loss report.

While I prefer the taste of other breeds, the CCX is a good way to stock the freezer with a LOT of meat in a very short time.