Well we are out of the kitchen.. sort of. Last night a mink breached the defenses of the chicken pen. Fortunately Gary and Reiley were outside and heard the ruckus so the mink was dispatched posthaste. The vermin did badly injure one of the meat birds so the guys have put the bird out of it's misery and I will share with you how to clean and prepare a chicken. This bird is still quite small for us so it will be going as a gift to a great neighbour and friend.
I shall spare you visuals of the dispatching part of the process, however I will show you the set up we use to dress chickens. We usually raise 60 - 80 chickens / year and we usually have 3 - 4 "chicken days". ( our family euphamism for kill days). We always have several roosters that hit the magic weight zone first so they fall into the first day, then the majority are done 2 or 3 weeks later with the last few stragglers a week or so after that. We raise big chickens, we prefer our birds to dress out at about 7 pounds. (Refer back to our four sons. )
Actually, just an economics of farm animals note, the cheapest weight you will put on any meat animal is the last 20 percent of the total weight. During the time after the frame is grown out, you will get the most bang for your feed dollars in terms of feed conversion to usable product. The trick is to do this without simply laying on fat. Part of this can be accomplished with genetics, heritage animals tend to put on less fat. (Although berkshire pigs will always lay on heavy back fat if you over feed them). Learning how to feed at this critical time can make the difference between profit and loss, but I will have more on this topic in the coming week.
So, here is our setup for doing chickens
I shall spare you visuals of the dispatching part of the process, however I will show you the set up we use to dress chickens. We usually raise 60 - 80 chickens / year and we usually have 3 - 4 "chicken days". ( our family euphamism for kill days). We always have several roosters that hit the magic weight zone first so they fall into the first day, then the majority are done 2 or 3 weeks later with the last few stragglers a week or so after that. We raise big chickens, we prefer our birds to dress out at about 7 pounds. (Refer back to our four sons. )
Actually, just an economics of farm animals note, the cheapest weight you will put on any meat animal is the last 20 percent of the total weight. During the time after the frame is grown out, you will get the most bang for your feed dollars in terms of feed conversion to usable product. The trick is to do this without simply laying on fat. Part of this can be accomplished with genetics, heritage animals tend to put on less fat. (Although berkshire pigs will always lay on heavy back fat if you over feed them). Learning how to feed at this critical time can make the difference between profit and loss, but I will have more on this topic in the coming week.
So, here is our setup for doing chickens
The three station processing system we have been using for several years.
The cones for holding the birds. Four at a time
Plucking station
The table is for organ removable.
Usually this is set up in the barn as it is easier to clean up on a concrete floor, but you work with what you have. It is much easier if you have at least cold running water at hand
As I said, we remove the heads and leave the birds in the cone until they have bled out. They are then dunked in a pail of HOT water.
As I said, we remove the heads and leave the birds in the cone until they have bled out. They are then dunked in a pail of HOT water.
This helps to loosen the feathers, especially the tail and wings.
The birds are then hung up at the plucking station
The birds are then hung up at the plucking station
Reiley was quite excited to be plucking! In the past, as the youngest, he has been delegated to running hot water from the stove, bringing completed birds to me in the kitchen and cleaning up. With just Gary and Reiley here today he got a promotion!
You need to work quickly but carefully to avoid tearing the skin. A small bird like this can be done in a few minutes.
You need to work quickly but carefully to avoid tearing the skin. A small bird like this can be done in a few minutes.
The tear on the leg was compliments of the mink!
After the bird is plucked, it is moved to the table and the legs and internal organs are removed. To remove the legs cut through the joints. To remove the organs, make an incision just below the breast boneand cut down to the vent opening just above the tail. DO NOT make a deep cut. If you cut deeply you will nick or cut through the intestine and contaminate the bird. This is a mess you just don't need to deal with. If you do accidently nick the intestine, try and pull it out as gently as possible so you spill a minimum of fecal matter. After you have removed all the organs dunk the bird in clean hot water and rinse the inside thoroughly with hot water.
Once you have opened up the bird, reach into the cavity with two fingers going up under the breast bone, scoop out the organs. Small birds like this one are difficult to clean as there is not a lot of room to get your hand inside. You can purchase a rake the you can use to clean out the organs but we have always done this with our hands. If you withheld feed from the birds at least 12 hours before slaughter, the crops should be empty and easy to remove. If the crops are full they are likely to tear and then you have a bird full of partially digested food and stones,sticks or grass. It is difficult to wash off and just really slows down the whole process.
This is a good time to get rid of the little feathers that may have been missed. You can remove the neck if you wish and the tail as well. I have the guys leave these in place as they provide flavour.
At this stage the birds are brought to me in the kitchen. I rinse the birds, remove any small feathers the boys have missed, pat dry and place in plastic bags for freezing. All of our birds are frozen whole, if I need them cut up I will do so before cooking. Just remember to remove the pea size glands in the neck, they can change the taste of your chicken, as they release bitter lymph fluid into the meat when cooking.
So that is how to dress a chicken. The procedure is exactly the same for a turkey. The turkey will require a little longer dunking in the hot water to loosen the feathers, but it won't take you long to guage the time needed.
It takes a little practice to get everything right, but like anything else the more you do, the better your skills. There are always a couple of birds that seem to tear, just roll with it. As long as I have good looking turkeys for the Thanksgiving and Christmas table I'm good. Even the slightly wounded birds taste so much better than anything you get in a store!
Hopefully this will inspire you to try dressing your own chickens, raising your own birds is great but if you can't dress them out it is not a self sufficient system. Have a great day everyone!
At this stage the birds are brought to me in the kitchen. I rinse the birds, remove any small feathers the boys have missed, pat dry and place in plastic bags for freezing. All of our birds are frozen whole, if I need them cut up I will do so before cooking. Just remember to remove the pea size glands in the neck, they can change the taste of your chicken, as they release bitter lymph fluid into the meat when cooking.
So that is how to dress a chicken. The procedure is exactly the same for a turkey. The turkey will require a little longer dunking in the hot water to loosen the feathers, but it won't take you long to guage the time needed.
It takes a little practice to get everything right, but like anything else the more you do, the better your skills. There are always a couple of birds that seem to tear, just roll with it. As long as I have good looking turkeys for the Thanksgiving and Christmas table I'm good. Even the slightly wounded birds taste so much better than anything you get in a store!
Hopefully this will inspire you to try dressing your own chickens, raising your own birds is great but if you can't dress them out it is not a self sufficient system. Have a great day everyone!
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