Livestock The Chicken Dispatching & Processing Thread

phloydius

phloydius

Veteran Member
With the wealth of knowledge here, I thought it might be good to capture some of it about dispatching & processing chickens for our table. I'm sure some here are very experienced at it, and I expect in the new couple of years it will become more common place if times are as difficult as they look like they may become...

I'm asking these questions because when searching these answers on Google, there seems to be as many opinions as there are sites that talk about them:
  • What are your preferred methods of dispatching?
  • If you scald, what temp do you recommend and for how long?
  • How long do you keep in the fridge before freezing and/or cooking?
  • Do you keep the skin on or off when processing?
  • What are some of your favorite tools (with links if you have them)?





I'm intentionally not putting much information in the OP because...



** Graphic Content Warning **
This thread will likely talk about taking the life of food animals in as humane a way as possible, and there may be pictures and videos showing how to do this.


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phloydius

phloydius

Veteran Member
What brought this thread on...

A guy I know was planning on dispatching his first chicken a few weeks ago, and asked me for a bunch of advise. As far as I know, he had never killed an animal to eat before and probably needed more help than I could offer over the phone because honestly I am not very good at it. Practice makes perfect, and I don't have 100's of birds under my belt yet, not even close.

Anyways, I gave him the general steps & recommended the carotid artery in a cone method but told him some of the other methods and told him to try to find one that he felt most comfortable with. Also recommended scalding on a propane outdoor stove (like a turkey deep fryer / crawfish boiler) and pluck by hand (for a single bird). Was very adamant that he need to watch a bunch of videos before he setup and started, because there are many methods.

I asked him how it went today, and he said it did not go so well: He ended up throwing the bird away. He said he killed it okay, and waited extra long just to be sure it was dead. He scalded it at 150F, but could not remember for how long. He said most of the feathers came out okay, except some of the wing feathers. He said the body became too stiff for him to process, which I assume is rigor mortis. He also mentioned the skin did not tear, but it did start to 'peel' like very dry skin would do. He also was very disappointed in the size of the carcass (and I read that as the size of the breasts) because it is a rooster from a egg breed not a meat breed. I suggested he should raise meat breeds if he wants a "rotisserie chicken", but the egg breeds are still great for chicken soup.

So my question for those that are much more experienced than I: About how long do you find your chickens last until rigor mortis has set in enough that it makes it difficult (especially when processing more than just 1 or 2 in a day). Any idea if it varies from breed to breed of chicken? Google searches seems to say it is anywhere from 30 minutes to 12 hours <-- which is pretty much a useless answer. Any hints on how to make it less of an issue?
 
alpha

alpha

Veteran Member
  • What are your preferred methods of dispatching?
    • Kill cone - cut neck arteries
  • If you scald, what temp do you recommend and for how long?
    • 140 -145 in ten second intervals until wing feathers separate easily
  • How long do you keep in the fridge before freezing and/or cooking?
    • place in ice water for 6 to 12 hours to chill
  • Do you keep the skin on or off when processing?
    • skin on
  • What are some of your favorite tools (with links if you have them)?
    • Featherman poultry plucker
    • Pro-Side1-1691Web-247x296.png
 
phloydius

phloydius

Veteran Member
alpha said:
I guess it's worth mentioning that we do between 25 and fifty birds at a time so the plucker is a "must"! We rent it for a day from any one of several local co-ops for usually $35 a day.
Click to expand...

Oh that is a great thought! I never thought about renting one. I'll have to look around and see if there are any reasonably close by. I was sort of thinking about getting a batch of meat birds, and decided against it this year because of the processing (I would be doing it alone). But that would make a huge difference if I decided to do it next year. Thank you.

Other than amazon, do you have a place you recommend buying the shrink bags online from?
 
West

West

Senior
If times get hard I will pluck the foul fowls. But I have plenty right now and in the past, so the hundreds of birds of all sorts I've either bagged hunting or culled from our flocks, I've mostly skinned.

That's what you do first. Also get some really good pruning shears.

Simply pull, cut or ring the head off. I also simply use a heavy duty metal Y . A device like this rabbit dispatcher, I fabed my own and have it mounted to a post in the up right position.

Works on chickens too. Simply stick the birds head threw the V and grab the head with one hand and the body with the other and pull down. Till the neck is broken and stretched really good.

Then cut head, feet and tip of wings off with a good pair of pruning shears. Then skin it, I usually don't even need a knife and start the skinning with the shears to rip off the skin with feathers. Vary quickly.

Then wash it. Then gut it and quarter it at the same time. Then wash again.

Strip or clean it one more time in the house before freezing, cooking, etc...

il_794xN.2916089523_dzdd.jpg



Takes me less than a few minutes a bird.
 
Last edited:
Grumphau

Grumphau

Veteran Member
What are your preferred methods of dispatching?
-Cone and slice it's throat. Hold onto the legs after cutting and wait for the death throes to pass (or you might get some extra blood on you. Make sure your knife is good and sharp, and cut deeply right below the jaw. Remove the head once the throes have passed.

If you scald, what temp do you recommend and for how long?
-150* for about a minute

How long do you keep in the fridge before freezing and/or cooking?
-One day in the fridge

Do you keep the skin on or off when processing?
-Keep the skin on

What are some of your favorite tools (with links if you have them)?
-20L stock pot to do the scalding to get total immersion
-5 gallon bucket to catch blood
-My cone is attached to my house, so I use some cardboard as a backstop to keep blood from getting on the wall.
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
1. Killing cone and slit artery.

2. Temp? I don't use a thermometer, just a kettle of hot/boiling on the camp stove that gets added to the scalding pot on the truck tailgate when needed and wing it. Speaking of wing...it's "time" to start plucking when the big flight feathers will pull out.

3. I keep the birds in the fridge nekkid for 36-48 hours before they go in the freezer.

4. Skin on, unless it's old scroungy spent layer hens. They get skinned and canned.

5. Sharp knives, sharp kitchen shears, large wooden cutting board, a tub and hose with constant flushing cold water right out of the well for cooling carcasses. I dunno. Nothing really special.

The best way to learn to do it (for your buddy) is to help out when somebody who knows what they are doing is processing a few birds. Work under some knowledgeable supervision the first time.
 
B

Border Collie Dad

Flat Earther
I just happened to process 10 Cornish today.

I don't have cones so I tie their legs together and hang them upside and cut the artery
I scald in water between 145-152.
I use this to dunk:

I bought a plucker a year ago and it is a life saver; 30-45 seconds and plucked pretty darn clean.
Here is the one I got:


For years I plucked using a home made contraption that consisted of a 4" pvc cap mounted on a piece of all thread with chicken "fingers" stuck all around.
Chuck it in a drill and it sort of worked.
It was faster than hand plucking but way slower than a plucker and messier

I'm a little slow at gutting and cleaning out.
Hope this helps.
 
phloydius

phloydius

Veteran Member
West said:
Then cut head, feet and tip of wings off with a good pair of pruning shears.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking about getting a pair of stainless pruning shears, specifically for chicken butchering (so I don't have to sharpen them as often from using them with other things). Do you have a set/brand that you highly recommend?

Grumphau said:
-My cone is attached to my house, so I use some cardboard as a backstop to keep blood from getting on the wall.
Click to expand...

Oh my. That is brilliant. I am going to give that a try... right now I put the end of the cone further down into the bucket, which keeps the blood from going around much but makes it harder to reach the neck to make sure the kill is quick, clean, and safe. I attached mine to a board but having a disposable piece of cardboard as a backstop is something I'm adding to my setup. Just pop on and then pull off for easier clean up.

WalknTrot said:
a tub and hose with constant flushing cold water right out of the well for cooling carcasses.
Click to expand...

I did not mention anything to him about ice & cooling, because it is not really something I do. Generally I've only done 1 or 2 at a time in the past & they go into the fridge as soon as they are cleaned. I've noticed a bunch of videos have ice chests full of ice. Is the cooling super important in any way other than storage while processing the rest of the birds?

Border Collie Dad said:
For years I plucked using a home made contraption that consisted of a 4" pvc cap mounted on a piece of all thread with chicken "fingers" stuck all around.
Chuck it in a drill and it sort of worked.
It was faster than hand plucking but way slower than a plucker and messier
Click to expand...

I tried that with my last bird. I'm still trying to decided if the mess was worth it.

WalknTrot said:
The best way to learn to do it (for your buddy) is to help out when somebody who knows what they are doing is processing a few birds. Work under some knowledgeable supervision the first time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, good call. I'm going to recommend that to him.
 
West

West

Senior
(I'm thinking about getting a pair of stainless pruning shears, specifically for chicken butchering (so I don't have to sharpen them as often from using them with other things). Do you have a set/brand that you highly recommend?)

I just have actual pruning shears. Medium price. Yes after a year or two, end up buying new. But use them for pruning up to 1+ inch tree limbs as well as chickens.

Might also suggest a bit of vapor rub on your upper lip if this is the first fowl you have ever processed. There foul as well as fowl.

:D
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
phloydius said:
I did not mention anything to him about ice & cooling, because it is not really something I do. Generally I've only done 1 or 2 at a time in the past & they go into the fridge as soon as they are cleaned. I've noticed a bunch of videos have ice chests full of ice. Is the cooling super important in any way other than storage while processing the rest of the birds?
Click to expand...
I use the cold water tub because I never do just 1-2 birds - usually at least a half dozen. Nice to use the cold water tub for the "done" pile because it not only cools the birds, but it flushes out any remaining blood in the meat and well...no way to put it delicately...keeps the flies off . I won't be running to the house to bring each bird in while I'm in the middle of the mess, so it's a good place to store them for an hour or two. Haha...I do have an endless supply of free well water, so no concerns there.
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
WalknTrot said:
I use the cold water tub because I never do just 1-2 birds - usually at least a half dozen. Nice to use the cold water tub for the "done" pile because it not only cools the birds, but it flushes out any remaining blood in the meat and well...no way to put it delicately...keeps the flies off . I won't be running to the house to bring each bird in while I'm in the middle of the mess, so it's a good place to store them for an hour or two. Haha...I do have an endless supply of free well water, so no concerns there.
Click to expand...
I agree. Water cooling gives a much quicker chill... if you plunk a bird in ice water, the meat will cool much faster than putting it in the fridge.

As far as rigor mortis, we try to get ours completely cut up before it gets too bad, but since we do 50-75 at a time, the last ones are starting to stiffen up before we get to them. You just have to get a bit more careful to not nick yourself when cutting off the legs and wings.

We pluck all birds, except for an occasional injured hen or whatever that requires immediate slaughter. Those end up being dog food, usually. The skin (and underlying fat) provides so much of the flavor I hate to waste it. Before we had the mechanical plucker, though, we'd skin the extra cockerels and bantams in the fall, when we were cutting down numbers for the winter.

I use a sharp knife, and a sturdy pair of kitchen scissors for cutting them up. We cut them into leg quarters, wings, breast and necks and backs. I bone out the breasts, and pull the tendons on the filets. That used to be the biggest PITA of the whole process! But DS made me a "tendon stripper" out of a pair of diagonal cutters... he used a Dremel to cut a small notch in one blade... I now just clamp them on with the tendon in the notch, and pull it through with a pair of hemostats. What used to take me a couple hours now takes less than 20 minutes. Redneck engineering for the win!

We're raising 300 Cornish X this year, and have another dozen or so cockerels from two batches of egg layers I hatched.

Oh... withhold feed for 12 hours before slaughter! (But provide free choice water). A full crop breaks easily, and then you've got a bunch of half digested grain to wash off. We just pull the feeders the night before.

Summerthyme
 
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