Minimalist Poultry Processing Equipment

[DrakeMaiden]

its ok to have a dark sense of humor about this whole thing - it relieves the tension.

I can see how that would work. I need to channel my dark side.

Alright. Maybe I need to read up on skinning then.

Thank you for the encouragement!

Now . . . one of my roos has beautiful feathers and I might want to keep a few of his feathers. Should I pluck or clip a few before the scalding, then?

 

[Wifezilla]

I was going to make some killing cones. I figure a 3 ltr soda bottle would work (King Soopers has these) for ducks. For quail, a dollar store funnel would work. Of course, I wont know until spring if this really will work, but I will give it a try.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Are you going to try dispatching ducks, WZ? We keep going back and forth. Some days we know we should, others we wimp out. When mating season comes along, our hand may be forced this year.

 

[patandchickens]

The only thing you really need is a knife. (A bucket is handy too).

Don't need a cone, you can hold the chicken if necessary.

Don't need a scalder, you can either heat a pot of water on the stove or a hotplate, or dry-pick (which for me has worked reasonably well), or skin the chicken.

Really, there are a lot of ways to do it, but in its most basic form it consists of you gotta have some way to kill the chicken (bare hands works on young birds, also older ones if you are more-skilled or stronger; otherwise a knife or hatchet is good), some way to open it up (a knife), and then you manually remove all the bits you don't want and put them in a bucket and dispose of them.

It is not rocket science <g>

Good luck, have fun, bon appetit,

Pat

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Thanks Pat. You just reminded me . . .

How many of you compost the innards? I'm sure I can look the specs up, but if you have a good protocol for this, I'd like to hear about it.

 

[miss_thenorth]

For the innards, my cats dogs and chickens do a great job of cleaning up. all I really need to get rid of are the feathers, and they usually go in the fire pit.

(and wife, for quail, you don't need a cone--they fit nicely in your hand and dont flop much--takes about five minutes to do a bird)

 

[Wifezilla]

Are you going to try dispatching ducks, WZ? We keep going back and forth. Some days we know we should, others we wimp out. When mating season comes along, our hand may be forced this year.

Not any of the ones I have now, but Welsh Harlequins tend to go broody. 3 of my 4 hens are WH so I am imagining at least one of the goobers will hatch out a batch. Plan A is to sell the ducklings. Plan B sell some adults. Plan C...Crispy duck. I am psyching myself up for dispatching a few drakes. I should be able to sell the hens without any trouble.

As for the quail...I want to have a cone in case. i am counting on NO HELP from hubby since he is a big wuss

 

[TanksHill]

OFG I did not know the chickens needed to go in the fridge for two days before freezing. I guess there is always more to learn.

Not that I have ANY experience in this but I have watched every YouTube video available.

I saw Joe Salatin himself clean a bird in like 30 seconds.

I have seen traffic cones nailed to a board in stead of expensive cones.

I watched a video of skinning a bird once. It looked so easy. It reminded my of putting a jumper on a baby. I know that sounds odd but it kinda went like, grab the leg pull it through etc.. The only part that was cut was along the wings.

I saw a man once tie a slip knot string on to the birds head and tie tie to a nail on the side of his tree stump. Intended to help still the bird while chopping. Kinda a neat idea.

If I was to dispatch with a couple of really old gals I have. They are so old I don't know how old they are. I don't think they lay anymore and could be as old as 4 years. Are they worth eating? And if so how should I cook them?

Just wondering. gina

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[patandchickens]

If I was to dispatch with a couple of really old gals I have. They are so old I don't know how old they are. I don't think they lay anymore and could be as old as 4 years. Are they worth eating? And if so how should I cook them?

Pressure cooker, and you still might end up wanting to grind or mince the cooked meat.

Mature hens are the traditional critters for making soup stock or chicken-n-dumplings out of, though. Very tasty. Just not tender. Simmer forever, do not boil.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[TanksHill]

Thanks Pat. I still need to muster the nerve to do the deed but when I do. I'll make stock.

Thanks, gina