Bird Processing.

[WellyWife]

So I've read a few postings about folks having problems with plucking... and maybe I might be able to help.

All I can tell you is what I do - now, I'm not a big roughie toughie - I'm a 40something yr old 10 stone weakling who was born & bred in London & lived in towns all my life, moving out to Ireland just over 2 years ago from Blackpool of all places!!

We bought our place a little over a year ago deep in rural farmland of north County Galway - we have 2 acres of gardens here, a farm 'next door'... surrounded by fields & a woods on 2 sides of our boundaries.

We worked hard for the first 6 months, clearing trees & getting ready for building our veggie patch & poly house... then getting ready for a 'few hens'.... so we got the first 3 hens in May....

We now have 9 hens, 10 chicks (almost oven weight) 2 roosters, 3 guinea fowls, a drake & 2 ducks, 2 muscovies & a turkey tom called George - 3 turkey hens and a muscovy drake are on my birthday wish list

We raised 3 white turkeys for last xmas... and still have 2 & 1/2 in the freezer - happy days!

OK, onto the How-To....

I start first thing in the morning - some people keep their birds closed in for a day without food, but I just do my birds first thing before they've had a chance to eat anything. This is better as they will have an empty crop, so a cleaner worktop after the plucking has been done.

Now... first take your traffic cone.... oh, did I mention you'll need one of those?
I got a brand new one (well, we had some flooding problems & lots of road problems here ) and I cut it about a third down - I use the larger base for the large birds & the smaller top for the chickens.
So, hang the traffic cone up - remember you have to lift the large birds up, so if the cone hangs about 3 or 4 foot high, that will be good.

Take your bird & hold it by the legs & feet - most birds will just hang there quite happily & not flap about - seemed a bit wicked, but they really are ok! Tie the legs together & pop the bird head first into the cone.
The cone will keep the bird contained & more importantly, it stops you getting a well placed wing around the face & a broken cheekbone!

Now... once the bird is in place, go & have a ciggie & take a deep breath... oh no, that's just me..... so hold the head firmly in one hand & feel the neck for the veins either side of the windpipe. Once you know where these veins are, take a sharp knife (I have a pink stanley knife for this) and make a cut straight in on both sides.... the blood will spurt, so make sure you have a bucket underneath! The bird will simply go off to sleep & the meat will be a lot less 'gamey' as you're bleeding the bird out while the heart is still beating. Some folks cut the head off straight away, or break the neck, but I found that unless you can bleed the bird, the meat can be quite strong.
It’s all personal choice.

So - again, slide outside for another ciggie while the bird dies & go get everything ready for the processing....

Fill a bucket with VERY hot water – you want it to be as near scalding as possible. Birds feathers are held in by a substance that’s almost ‘waxy’, so the hot water helps to dissolve this & makes plucking a complete doddle!
You only need to dip the bird in for around 45 seconds, but make sure that every part of the bird is completely saturated.
I usually cut the head & bottom legs off first before the water, but this is just my preference.

Then let plucking commence!! The feathers should come out nice & easy – apart from the tough pin feathers on the wings – especially on the larger birds. So I have a pair of pliers for these feathers & they come out ok.

After plucking & emptying the bird, plunge it into icy cold water – this will ‘correct’ any discoloration from the hot water treatment & voila! You’re good to go!

Hope this all makes sense & is helpful.
Julie.

[Jude]

Blimey. that takes me back! During leanish times in the late sixties my mum decided to make a bit of cash by raising capons. In the dark of the early mornings (though I'm sure it can't have always been winter) my dad would don his long mac and old hat and go out to the deep litter house to do the dreaded deed before leaving for work. Later in the day, after we had all gone to school, mum would do the plucking by the hot water method. I would earn one shilling for each bird dressed and bagged for the freezer that evening. If I remember rightly each bird was sold for about 4 shillings per pound which provided quite a good profit and the order book was always full. Eventually the hen house became a loose box for the pony I'd always dreamed of. My dad still shivers when he remembers the 'killing' mornings!

[WellyWife]

Well, I have to say.... I actually found the killing the easy bit - the hardest bit on the first turkey was getting the cone right & getting the bird in there in the first place!!

After all the hassle & having to modify the cone & start again, I finally got it all rigged up & then there was no going back.
I knew that hubby wouldn't do it by then, even though he said he would when we first got them.... he didn't reckon on them getting so friendly I think!

The folk next door have a working farm, they have a couple of horses that they use for breeding & various cows around the different fields, but in September they get approx 40 white turkeys in the field next door. Their turkeys get taken off to 'The Man' on the 23rd of Dec & on the 24th are delivered as chrimbo pressies to family, friends & neighbours (but not us anymore!)

The surprising thing is that they came & asked if we wanted to pop our birds in with theirs for the processing..... and then was VERY shocked when I told them it was ok, I had it all planned & would do them myself.
Now, there are 13 people living on the farm - the parents are now both passed away, but they left 15 kids - 2 girls, 13 boys now aged between 15 & 35..... and not one of the lads have ever killed any of their birds - ever!!
Sorry, it just tickles me......

[Elaine]

Well, I really don't think I could do it....in fact, I don't think, I know I couldn't! I'm not at all squeamish about blood etc. but no way!

I had to dispatch badly injured birds that my cat had caught on a couple of occasions and the only way I could face killing them, was to put the poor thing inside a carrier bag, then do the business with the hefty end of a big yard broom. Even so, tears were pouring! Needless to say, my cat got an extra bell on her collar at fledging time and I had no more problems with her catching birds, thank goodness.

The same applied when I injured a toad while digging on the allotment, the poor thing had a severed leg and fortunately, the bloke next door did the deed for me or it too, would have found itself in a carrier bag.
The only things I can kill without any qualms at all, are, houseflies, bluebottles and wasps....everything else is a no no! My husband says it's a good job I'm not a farmers wife!
Cheers!

[WellyWife]

I used to think just the same way, Elaine.
Until one day, after we moved over here & had decided to buy a place that we could turn into a 'smallholding' type of place, I got to thinking.....

We had a roast chicken dinner & I'd been reading about how the chooks are kept & what happens to get them from the egg & into the supermarket... and it made me feel quite ill, especially as we used to eat a lot of chicken, & a lot of meat in general. So I had a good chat to myself & promised that as soon as I could, I would raise our own meat - that way, I would know that the chooks had a happy little life roaming free in our garden (they've all been in the woods today though!)and that we would appreciate the food on our plates a little more.

There's nothing better than sitting down to a roast dinner & knowing that apart from a bit of flour & milk, everything else has come from our own garden & our own hard work - bliss!

[Elaine]

Hi Wellywife. I know what you mean about the satisfaction regarding eating meals consisting of home grown vegetables as we are almost self sufficient vegetable wise. I still don't think I could rear birds or animals for the table though. My husband says my being so soft hearted is an endearing "failing". Whether he would find it so endearing if we were in the position of rearing meat for the table is a different matter altogether!!
Cheers!

[oldherbaceous]

This culling of your own livestock is a funny old topic.
I've worked on a lot farms, especially as a lad, but always found it very hard for myself to actually do the killing. Now i'm not against the killing bit at all, especially when the animals have been reared properly and had a good life. I think some people just find it a lot harder to do than others.
I'm also very pleased there are others that find it easier or i would miss out on something that i enjoy, and that is the end product of rearing animals.

Hope you can see where i'm coming from.