Processing chickens - WARNING don't read if you don't like this kind of stuff

We tried raising 25 meat birds with a friend of ours this summer. We learned a lot. 

1) Don't raise them on someone else's land where you have to rely on someone else and you can't check their food/water daily yourself. 

2) Process them as soon as they feel perfect, don't wait for a magic week.

We processed 6 of our chickens with some friends as a trial run. None of us had ever done this before. I read the threads, read books, watched videos and felt pretty ready but learned a lot that first time. 

Things to have ready before you start... A place to hang the birds to let them bleed out. A big pot of near boiling water. A bucket of ice water. A bucket with a bag in it for trash pieces (feathers, heads, feet, etc). Some good knives including a small one for inside. A place to do the killing/bleeding out where you don't mind blood. A place for cleaning them where you don't mind chicken guts being.

We found the easiest way to kill them was to snap their neck. The first person tried chopping their head off and it was a disaster. If you just give their head a strong tug (not too much or you'll pull it right off) it separates from their spinal cord and kills them instantly and they aren't all stressed out. That's important because those stress hormones can make the meat taste bad. Our group used a thin board on the neck on the ground and then just pulled on the head. The first person to try pulled the head clean off. The rest just pulled enough to sever the connection. Be prepared, they WILL flop all over the place. Best to have your hands on their body. It is much easier with two people. I'll have to ask my husband if he has more tips for this stage since I didn't participate. Still can't bring myself to do it. I watched though which is a big step for me. I did participate in the rest of the process.

Next we hung them to bleed. Have a place ready. We were scrambling because we hadn't thought of this. 

Next we dunked them in near boiling water. We started the water boiling in a HUGE pot over the stove then moved it outside over a fire to keep it hot. It only takes a few seconds for the feathers to loosen. We would dunk count to 10 and test. Just pull on a couple feathers, if they come out easily, you're done. 

This step seemed to take the longest since we didn't have a automatic plucker. We did it all by hand. It's amazing how easily the feathers come out but there are so many little ones it takes some time. Don't worry about the fine ones. Once you get to that point just dunk it one more time in the hot water or hold it near the flame (not too close, you just want to singe the hairs not cook the chicken!)

Next came the evisceration. Watch as many videos as you can on this step and then just be prepared to fumble your way through it. Once you do one or two though you'll get the hang of it. 

Have a bucket of cold/ice water ready. This is another thing we were scrambling for. You'll need this for storage.

We also tried skinning two of them to see which was easier. I personally liked the plucked chicken better if you are leaving it whole. My husband, who did the skinning, said it wasn't too bad. Kinda like skinning any other animal, although the wing tips give you trouble, so just cut those off. The ones we skinned I cut into pieces right then which made cooking easier later. So they both had their benefits.  

 

Overall we were happy enough with the results to want to do it again. We won't do it until we can have them on our own land though. I also would rather raise our own (thinking of doing Turkens) so we don't have to buy chicks all the time.