Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2012 15:52:24 GMT -7
This section said butchering...so I am hoping I got this in the right spot. I will use as few words as possible as there are a LOT of pics that go with this...Hope thats ok with the mods. Still don't have a tripod set up or any way to videos...so pics it is for now. Amber came out and helped me & Jim to butcher a bunch of chickens. I opted for the old fashioned method of scalding and plucking this time instead of skinning.
I use a turkey fryer set up with an old double canner for scalding.
A make-do killing cone~ we screwed a traffic cone to an old rabbit hutch leg frame with a couple extra 2x4s for added height, cut off part of the end of the cone, set the frame on some concreete blocks and raised it about 8" over a 5 gallon bucket for catching blood. Not the best, but worked great for its needed purpose. Its redneck...but it worked!!
A noose of baling twine around the chickens neck pulled it down through the hole for easier removal.
Amber with the first chicken she caught.
I started out using a knife, but my hands started cramping, so I had a brilliant idea of using limb loppers...they worrked AWESOME...fast and clean...just make sure they are sharp if you use them! The neck pulls up in the cone slightly and the blood runs straight into the bucket.
This is the head of the loppers I used.
Remove the scalding pot from the fire just in case the water overflows, to keep from soaking the fire head thingy...Jim scalded the birds.
Genreally a good swishing dunk for about 10 seconds...
Followed by a 3-5 second drain...
Repeat a second time and test teh leg feathers, they should remove easily...if there is any resistance, scald and swish 1 more time...DO NOT OVER SCALD!!
I happen to have hangers from a poultry processing plant...place feed sacks on the floor of the basement with a large trash can between us and a we can do most of the work in the cool of the basement...pretty nice considering it was 105 in the shade when we butchered!!
Start with the long wing feathers and then the tail feathers. THese will be the hardest to remove. I do both wings, then tail, then legs and then back, belly, breast and neck. Get the big main feathers off first, then go back and get the pin feathers. I can completely pluck out a chicken in under 2 minutes...it takes Amber about 15 minutes, but she was getting back into the swing of things.
After all the feathers are removed, BEFORE gutting, take the bird out and use a hand torch to scald the hairs and excess pin feathers off. Steven got to hold them while I torched them...trusting soul, isn't he!!
Take birds back in and start gutting. I start with removing the crop (or craw, depending on what you call it). At the base of the neck, find the ball above the chest, this is full of feed, bugs, grit, whatever they have eaten. grip this area with your fingers trying to keep this pulled down from teh breast without tearing the skin. At the V in the breast, make a slit, NOT TO DEEP, but big enough you can fish your fingers inside and feel around.
you will have to work around until you find the secondary tube leading to the crop, you can cut the skin of the neck lengthwise and hold the crop gently, but DO NOT squeeze it! when you get teh tube, pinch it together and cut ABOVE your fingers so you keep the crop sealed off, and throw it away.
Next take ahhold of the tail and butthole, cut a V along both sides and the under side, bend them towards the back and cut off.
Find the opening next to the bowl tract and slice the belly open from back to breast careful not to cut the guts. You will find a lot of fat along the sides of this area...It can be rendered for oil, used in cooking, fed to pets, used for traps, or thrown away.
This was Ambers first time actually gutting a bird...I LOVE her facial expression! LMAO!! Slide your hand inside and feel for a large hard round organ, pull it out gently, it will have a tube attached to it, hold it over something and away from you when you remove this as liquid will squirt out.
This is what a gizzard will look like when freshly removed from the bird. Well fed birds have LOTS of fat on them!! Place it in a pan of ice water seperate from where you will keep the chickens and other organs.
Remove the remainder of the internal organs, when you remove the liver, you will see the gall...it is shaped like a miniature pinky and dark green, remove it without breaking it, if it ruptures, throw the liver away.
Remove the heart and place it with the liver in a pan of icewater.
Remove the legs and place the birds in ice water. I use a huge utility sink in my basement for cooling out, there are 16 birds in this pic.
I will post next on how to process them from this point on...Sorry this was so long. Hope someone finds it of good use.
I use a turkey fryer set up with an old double canner for scalding.
A make-do killing cone~ we screwed a traffic cone to an old rabbit hutch leg frame with a couple extra 2x4s for added height, cut off part of the end of the cone, set the frame on some concreete blocks and raised it about 8" over a 5 gallon bucket for catching blood. Not the best, but worked great for its needed purpose. Its redneck...but it worked!!
A noose of baling twine around the chickens neck pulled it down through the hole for easier removal.
Amber with the first chicken she caught.
I started out using a knife, but my hands started cramping, so I had a brilliant idea of using limb loppers...they worrked AWESOME...fast and clean...just make sure they are sharp if you use them! The neck pulls up in the cone slightly and the blood runs straight into the bucket.
This is the head of the loppers I used.
Remove the scalding pot from the fire just in case the water overflows, to keep from soaking the fire head thingy...Jim scalded the birds.
Genreally a good swishing dunk for about 10 seconds...
Followed by a 3-5 second drain...
Repeat a second time and test teh leg feathers, they should remove easily...if there is any resistance, scald and swish 1 more time...DO NOT OVER SCALD!!
I happen to have hangers from a poultry processing plant...place feed sacks on the floor of the basement with a large trash can between us and a we can do most of the work in the cool of the basement...pretty nice considering it was 105 in the shade when we butchered!!
Start with the long wing feathers and then the tail feathers. THese will be the hardest to remove. I do both wings, then tail, then legs and then back, belly, breast and neck. Get the big main feathers off first, then go back and get the pin feathers. I can completely pluck out a chicken in under 2 minutes...it takes Amber about 15 minutes, but she was getting back into the swing of things.
After all the feathers are removed, BEFORE gutting, take the bird out and use a hand torch to scald the hairs and excess pin feathers off. Steven got to hold them while I torched them...trusting soul, isn't he!!
Take birds back in and start gutting. I start with removing the crop (or craw, depending on what you call it). At the base of the neck, find the ball above the chest, this is full of feed, bugs, grit, whatever they have eaten. grip this area with your fingers trying to keep this pulled down from teh breast without tearing the skin. At the V in the breast, make a slit, NOT TO DEEP, but big enough you can fish your fingers inside and feel around.
you will have to work around until you find the secondary tube leading to the crop, you can cut the skin of the neck lengthwise and hold the crop gently, but DO NOT squeeze it! when you get teh tube, pinch it together and cut ABOVE your fingers so you keep the crop sealed off, and throw it away.
Next take ahhold of the tail and butthole, cut a V along both sides and the under side, bend them towards the back and cut off.
Find the opening next to the bowl tract and slice the belly open from back to breast careful not to cut the guts. You will find a lot of fat along the sides of this area...It can be rendered for oil, used in cooking, fed to pets, used for traps, or thrown away.
This was Ambers first time actually gutting a bird...I LOVE her facial expression! LMAO!! Slide your hand inside and feel for a large hard round organ, pull it out gently, it will have a tube attached to it, hold it over something and away from you when you remove this as liquid will squirt out.
This is what a gizzard will look like when freshly removed from the bird. Well fed birds have LOTS of fat on them!! Place it in a pan of ice water seperate from where you will keep the chickens and other organs.
Remove the remainder of the internal organs, when you remove the liver, you will see the gall...it is shaped like a miniature pinky and dark green, remove it without breaking it, if it ruptures, throw the liver away.
Remove the heart and place it with the liver in a pan of icewater.
Remove the legs and place the birds in ice water. I use a huge utility sink in my basement for cooling out, there are 16 birds in this pic.
I will post next on how to process them from this point on...Sorry this was so long. Hope someone finds it of good use.
