Cornish Cross Spring 2019

[frustratedearthmother]

We will slaughter 11 tomorrow. I broke a wing on a big rooster, so can’t include it in the package meat for my customer. I felt bad for the rooster, didn’t mean to hurt him. What an oxymoron, right before I cut his throat.

I hate that! We butchered pigs one time - years ago and somebody made a bad shot...and I was sad. Somebody made two bad shots and I was upset. Somebody finally got him on the third shot after chasing him around - I was L.I.V.I.D!

So, I know how you feel... Glad you're making progress!

 

[baymule]

Somebody?

 

[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!

 

[Mini Horses]

My food handling training tells me refrigerate/ice. I do!!

But, it is still convenience at the moment and assurance I'm safe when I need to let them sit, which is true when more than one is being killed. I doubt Beekissed has carcass out for hours in hot temps, either. It's huge to have ICE in TX...those temps are killer. Even here, it's can be pretty stifling.

BUT -- yrs back...things were different....very different. Plus they rarely killed more chicken than a meal -- not generally several, unless they were packing and canning right then. Deer, pig, hunted & butchered in cold weather. There was a system.

As to a fox, well here they take them away!!! I get a bunch of feathers, here & there. Now an owl, they leave a lot behind.

 

[baymule]

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!

I don't blame you! I would've been mad too! They can go use their own damn pig for target practice.

 

[baymule]

Bee, I would LOVE to see pictures of your skinning operation. Please tag me if you post them. I used to do all the slaughtering by myself. I was off Saturday-Sunday, DH was off Sunday-Monday. So I did slaughtering on Saturdays. All he ever knew was chicken magically appeared. Bless him, he wants to help, there are limits to what he can and will do, but I'll sure take his help. He is good at pickin' chicken! We'll be slaughtering old layers this fall, I always skin them. Pics of your skinning tree would be awesome.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hmmmm….I might or might not have said something like that! Idon't tolerate no crap when butchering. I had promised that pig a quick death and it didn't happen. Might sound crazy - but I cried a few tears for that pig.

 

[baymule]

That's not crazy at all. I say a prayer over the chickens before I get started. I thank the Lord for the meat and I thank the chicken for giving up it's life. I put a chicken in my cardboard and duct tape killing cone, DH holds it's feet and I pull it's head out the bottom. Before I cut it's throat, I apologize to the chicken. Crying for a badly shot up pig? Not crazy at all.

We love our animals. Just because we eat them, doesn't mean that we love them any less. It is such a gift to have these forums where we can all talk to other people like ourselves.

 

[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.

 

[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.