How long do you think processing 23 9-wk old creepy meaties will take?

[TanksHill]

Oh, sorry MtN, people rent them out via craigslist all the time up here. The fellow that is coming over to help is bringing it over. He has used it before and knew who to get it from.

That reminds me, the beer break sounds fantastic, I'm going to ask him what kind of beer he likes.

Ok good Drake, we are doing it on the 17th.

I should post an add again looking for one before Sat.

So how did things go? You did them right? Did you finish in time?

I am going to try and do half of my Freedom Rangers on Sat. The smaller ones will get another week or so.

g

 

[big brown horse]

It took us (3-5 people) 4 hours from start to finish...that includes waiting for the scalder to heat up. We ended up doing 26 all toghther.

 

[Damummis]

Right on!

I killed me a hen for dinner tonight.

 

[big brown horse]

It went well. OMG I have so much chicken and parts it is awesome! 6 lbs of gizzards, 3 lbs hearts, 12 oz-1 lb of chicken fat, 6 lbs of skinned feet for stock, 3 lbs of liver. I got some really big chickens (8 I think) (some I 've already given away to the help) between 5-6 lbs. The rest are about 4-5 lbs, plus 3, 3lb stewing chickens. All together we butchered 25. Nobody took the innards or feet, I'm so lucky I get them all!

I kept 16 birds and gave away the rest to the helpers and a friend down the road. Totalling give or take, 78lbs of chicken, 16lbs of offal and/or feet. I'm so beat I'm going to bed!

 

[TanksHill]

Way to go. So how did the plucker and scalder work out???

G

 

[freemotion]

That is fantastic, BBH!!!

You are an inspiration! I ordered 50 creepy meats for $62 (inc shipping!) last week....we've never done more than 10 at a time. I may sell a few as they grow....maybe not! It really could provide the chicken for the year! We should be able to feed them for free, too, or mostly.

I have 5 roosters on the stew list for this week and a few cockerels coming up from the 10 remaining birds from the spring hatch, I think there may be 6 roos in that bunch. I am trying to get up my courage to do more than just pluck this time.....

 

[curly_kate]

We just did ours with a borrowed plucker this morning. IT IS UNBELIEVABLE how much faster it goes!!!

 

[big brown horse]

And it really gets the birds VERY clean, even the fine hair feathers. The older birds I did need to do a bit of hand plucking in a few spots, but not much.

We rented the plucker and scalder for $25 for the day (for both!) from the county's conservation district. (Not including propane though.) It wasn't even my county that we got it from, so call around your nearest counties for availability.

Free, my friend John who helped us, ordered his chicks from "Welp" (sp?) and didn't even have to pay shippping. He ordered all cockerels. I ordered from my local feed store, no shipping costs either, but I could only get straight run.

Eta: all the fat came from the older dual purpose birds, it was bright yellowish-orange.

I also forgot to mention that my neighbor saved a pint or so of the blood for "blood soup". He is from the Philipines.

 

[old fashioned]

Wow! That's alot of chicken, you should be set for along time. Blood soup? Now, fried hearts & gizzards is another story