With shortages changing into a distinguished situation within the grocery retailer, many of us have began to grow to be self-reliant, and a fair greater homesteading motion is happening proper ahead of our eyes. Many of us have began to carry and procedure meat chickens for the various advantages and merchandise that they provide whilst additionally being low-maintenance animals.
Earlier than we take a look at the slaughtering procedure, you wish to have to take a couple of issues into account reminiscent of the kind of chickens you’ll be elevating. If you make a decision to head with a Cornish Pass, you’ll simply in finding them in lots of feed shops. Cornish Crosses are yellow chicks that develop swiftly and are in a position for slaughter inside of 8 to ten weeks. For the reason that enlargement charge is expedited, this decreases their feed intake required over the years.
Cornish Crosses are the preferred breed when it comes to chickens other folks carry and procedure for meat manufacturing. Then again, in the event that they cross previous 12 weeks of age, scientific problems will get up, reminiscent of imaginable damaged legs from weight acquire and gout. You’ll’t stay this breed for a longer duration on account of how briskly and simply they placed on weight, with out imposing a strict feeding regiment.
I favor heritage breeds and mixes on my farm. This manner, if lifestyles will get in the way in which, I’m no longer on a strict slaughter timeline to make sure their well being and welfare. There are heaps of heritage breeds to be had that produce glorious birds with a just right quantity of meat.
The breeds I’ve raised and slaughtered ranged through the years, however my favourite has been the Buckeye. The beef tastes superb, and understanding I raised them myself supplies a completely new appreciation for the animal and what it offers me and my circle of relatives.
We additionally should imagine the cons of elevating heritage breeds. They don’t develop temporarily, for starters. So whilst a Cornish can also be slaughtered at 8 to ten weeks of age, a heritage breed will take 14 to twenty weeks.
With heritage breeds, you do get meat with a extra unique taste, regardless that.
Whenever you’ve determined to your chickens and your timeline, it’s time to imagine the real slaughtering procedure. I’m no longer going to mention processing chickens is the very best factor you’ll ever do. You will have to make the effort to organize mentally ahead of you harvest your first chicken.
The primary time I harvested my very own meat chickens, I encountered many damaging feelings and needed to put my slaughtering time off. I used to be simply no longer in a position to do it. Those is an ordinary reaction numerous us undergo when met with the intimidating job of culling our first animals.
Needless to say you’ve given your birds a super lifestyles, and, when you slaughter them as it should be, they’ll go peacefully. You should get ready for the slaughter, regardless that. The day ahead of, you’ll want to take away their meals. You’ll go away water, however the crop and digestive tract will have to be as transparent as imaginable.
Equipment Wanted
Equipment you’ll want for slaughter are as follows.
- a big pot that may cling a complete hen and be positioned over a fireplace or burner
- a boning knife
- a rope
- a kill cone (In case you don’t have a kill cone, an upcycled site visitors cone will paintings too!)
- bleeding knife
- cooler with ice or ice bathtub
- garage baggage
- water hose
- bacteria-resistant desk for cleansing/quartering
- thermometer
The day of slaughtering, it is important to arrange the entirety ahead of you get started culling birds. You don’t need to be fumbling with apparatus whilst looking to humanely dispatch birds. Make certain the apparatus is in running order and in a position to head.
Getting In a position
Step one you will have to take is lighting fixtures your fireplace or burner and atmosphere your pot filled with water over it. The water temperature within the pot must be between 140 to 150 levels Fahrenheit to loosen the feathers with out scalding the sophisticated pores and skin. That may take a couple of hours when you’re the usage of a fireplace (a gasoline burner will warmth sooner, after all).
You don’t need to have a culled chicken and be ready at the water to warmth up.
As soon as your water is heated up and also you’ve hung your kill cone, you’re in a position to start. Catch the chicken and switch it the wrong way up, putting it out of your fingers by way of its again toes. We don’t need the chicken to enter tonic immobility however to calm down. The chicken will have to calm down routinely and more or less unfold out its wings.
Raise the chicken up and into the kill cone. The pinnacle and neck will have to be uncovered. This phase is essential. Your knives should be extraordinarily sharp to stay the chicken from needlessly struggling. With the top uncovered, really feel for the chicken’s jawbone, and visualize the place the ear is. With swift and stable motion, make two cuts on each side of the neck, parallel to the jawbone, proper underneath the ear on each side of the chicken. This will likely sever the hen’s arteries.
The chicken shouldn’t battle however slightly slowly shut its eyes (regardless that, after demise, the chicken’s frightened machine might react routinely with some motion). I exploit a bucket to catch the blood and make cleanup more uncomplicated.
After round a minute, the chicken will have to be utterly bled out. Now it’s time to start out the cleansing procedure. Take your chicken out of the kill cone and dip it into the scalding pot for 45- to 60-second periods, till the feathers are simple to tug off.
I’ve discovered that two to 3 mins of dipping is perfect.
Feathers, Head & Gland Elimination
Whenever you’ve reached the purpose the place the flight feathers pop out comfortably, tie the chicken up by way of the again legs together with your rope. This isn’t a should, however I in finding it more uncomplicated than laying it on a desk. Pluck the chicken by way of hand, till no feathers or feather shafts stay. The shafts can also be cussed, particularly while you procedure heritage breed chickens. Some homesteaders bypass plucking by way of skinning the chicken as a substitute.
As soon as the plucking or skinning is finished, transfer directly to the top, innards and preening gland elimination. Position your plucked chicken on a blank floor. Stainless-steel works easiest to stay micro organism at bay, however any nonporous floor can paintings. At this level, I take away the chicken’s head. You’ll apply your preliminary cuts with a separate sharp knife, or you’ll be able to minimize with trauma shears proper under the chicken’s head to take away it.
Some other folks take away the top at other issues, both ahead of scalding it or right through innards elimination. It’s your selection. I don’t just like the scalding water getting slowed down with blood from a headless chicken, which is why I do it after scalding.
After doing away with the top, position the chicken breast down and find the preening gland the place the chicken’s tail feathers have been ahead of you plucked them. In case you omit the oil gland, your meat can have a humorous style to it, so it’s crucial that that is got rid of. On numerous birds, it has a yellowish tint to it.
As soon as the preening gland is got rid of, take away the legs. On the joint, you’re going to take a separate sharp knife—by no means your bleeding knife—and minimize proper on the chicken’s joint. The primary few instances you do that, it’ll be trial and mistake till you in finding the candy spot. Some other folks don’t stay the toes, however I dehydrate them and use them as canine treats. I’ve additionally had other folks inform me you’ll be able to make the most productive hen broth with them. Simply be sure you blank them effectively first.
Subsequent Steps
Now we’re going to loosen the windpipe and craw. Get started on the head (my choice) or the again. Turn the chicken breast up. There shall be an indentation on the backside of the neck and the highest of the breast. Make a slit right here together with your knife, and also you’ll see a big tendon. Hook your finger via it and pull it unfastened however no longer out of the chicken.
Pull the windpipe unfastened subsequent however no longer out of the chicken.
After that step is whole, turn your chicken round to the place the again finish is dealing with you. Find the vent and sparsely minimize above the vent, taking care to not minimize the intestines inside of. Slide your hand into and thru that slit, scraping the interior of the chicken alongside its ribs to loosen the organs.
As soon as the entirety is unfastened, cup your quit the innards and pull them out in a single swoop. They’ll nonetheless be connected by way of the ground of the vent. Make a small V minimize, and your intestines will drop down. A well-placed bucket is at hand to catch the innards. Some other folks do stay the other portions of the hen reminiscent of the guts and liver. Simply be sure that you’ll be able to correctly establish them, and set a space off to the aspect to rinse them. Stay them in combination.
In case you’re on your own, like I’m more often than not, you’ll have to head chicken by way of chicken from begin to end. It’s a protracted procedure, particularly if in case you have numerous chickens. If imaginable, get someone else or two to assist so you’ll be able to arrange an meeting line to make the method run smoother and quicker.
Now rinse the hen underneath chilly water. As soon as it’s rinsed, put it straight away right into a cooler stuffed with ice water for a minimum of two hours. You wish to have the chicken to achieve 40 levels Fahrenheit, as measured within the private a part of the breast. Then, pat it dry and transfer directly to packaging or quartering.
Packaging/Quartering
Quartering a hen turns out beautiful intimidating the primary time, however there are such a lot of tactics you’ll be able to do it. The method of slicing up chickens isn’t tricky in any respect.
To take away the legs, flip the hen breast up and pull the leg clear of the frame. With a pointy knife, minimize the place the frame and thigh meet. You will have to rotate the leg round slightly bit, however you’ll see the hip socket stick. Similar to the legs, minimize via that to split the thigh from the frame. Some other folks will pop it out by way of handbook force, however I love a blank minimize. Repeat with the opposite aspect and, growth, you could have your thighs.
You’ll minimize those right down to just a leg and drumstick additionally by way of slicing the notch the place the drumstick meets the thigh. You’re repeating the similar procedure we used for the legs at the wings. Reduce via the place the wing meets the frame and proceed in the course of the shoulder joint on all sides of the chicken. Voila! You will have your wings.
To get the chest items out, put the hen breast-side down and minimize alongside every aspect of the spine. As soon as the spine is got rid of, set this apart to make some superior hen inventory. Reduce in the course of the ribs the place the neck as soon as sat. As soon as minimize, the hen breast will cut up in two. Take away the surplus rib bones, and you’ve got your absolutely quartered hen!
After pulling the birds out of the ice bathtub, pat them as dry as imaginable. Our remaining step is to bundle our birds. You wish to have them within the freezer or cans once imaginable after the two-hour ice bathtub.
Can your hen when you’d like, or retailer it in shrink baggage. I in my view retailer in shrink baggage as it’s fastest and perfect! After packaging, go away the birds to leisure for a minimum of 48 hours ahead of the usage of them.
This text initially gave the impression within the Sept./Oct. 2023 factor of Pastime Farms mag.