For Everything, A Season
I haven't posted much of an update on our meat chickens because, quite frankly, things were so boring and routine and uneventful raising them, I wasn't sure what exactly I could fill you in on.
Until now.
To recap, we bought our Cornish cross chicks eight or nine weeks ago and raised them with the sole purpose of butchering them for food. When they were around four weeks old and temps were hovering around 60 degrees each night, Rob built a mobile chicken tractor and we put them out on pasture for the remainder of their little chicken lives. If you recall, Cornish cross is a breed developed exclusively as a meat bird. They typically don't live long enough to lay eggs and grow so quickly that if they aren't processed between 8-10 weeks of age, they'll often just keel over from a heart attack because they can't keep up with the demands of rapid growth this breed requires.
When we brought the chicks home and looked at the calendar, we knew the 3rd weekend in June was our target date for butchering. We watched many, many YouTube videos, consulted friends who've done this before, and read lots about it online in preparation for B-Day.
Here are the specifics of our butchering process if you're interested:
Age & Breed: 8 week old Cornish cross (five hens; one rooster if you're keeping track)
Equipment Needed: T-Post or Cone, depending on the killing method you choose; sharp fillet knife, sharpening stone, cutting board (sanitized), table top (sanitized), hose or outdoor sink with running water (sanitized), clean strainer or bowl, Ziploc bags or large plastic container (for any feet or bones if you want to save them for broth)
Method: We used a kill cone, which is exactly what it sounds like: a cone. Because this was the first time doing this, we didn't purchase a one but instead, sanitized and cut down a traffic cone we already owned. To use a cone, you mount it upside down (wider end at the top, narrow tip at the bottom) to a sturdy post or tree. The chicken is then placed upside down in the cone, with their head sticking out the narrow bottom end. For whatever reason, grabbing a chicken by the feet and hanging it upside down calms it and makes it impossible to peck your eyes out, which is exactly what it wants to do when you touch it. Once the head is sticking out the bottom, you grab it, gently pull down and cut it off in a swift, single motion. It's quick, painless, and humane for the bird as opposed to my great-great-grandma's method of swinging it over her head like a lasso until the head popped off and the body ran all over the place, traumatizing every kid in sight. The cone also contains the bird so it physically can't run around like an literal chicken with its head cut off. It also allows you to place a bucket underneath to catch the blood as it drains out of the body so there's really no mess to speak of. We used the collected blood and put it in our garden around some of our tomato plants!
Processing: Originally, we were going to scald and pluck the feathers, leave the skin on, and vacuum-seal the bird whole for the freezer. We have a vacuum sealer and lots of bags but they aren't big enough for an entire bird. We decided at that point it would be more efficient for us to skin the bird without removing feathers, butcher it into legs, wings, thighs, and breasts and vacuum seal the parts in smaller bags for the freezer. This ended up working well and was much less messy than scalding and plucking. After Rob processed the meat into all the parts, I took it inside in a strainer, rinsed it in cold water, dried it on some paper towels, and vacuum sealed it for the freezer. With the carcass and the feet (which have an insane amount of collagen), I'll make chicken stock and preserve it in my pressure canner it for our pantry. I usually do this every Thanksgiving with our turkey and we LOVE using homemade stock in soups and casseroles during the winter months so I'm even more excited to make stock with our own homegrown chickens!
Post-Processing Thoughts: We will totally do this again (in fact, we're planning on ordering more chicks in four weeks so they'll be ready to process in early autumn before it gets too cold). We did six this first time and depending on where we order the next batch, we're thinking we'll go with between 15-20 next time. After talking to several friends who have grown their own meat birds before, we'll also probably take them somewhere to have them butchered. It wasn't hard and didn't take long (maybe ten minutes per bird?) but Rob said he doesn't think he'd want to do any more than ten or so at a time by hand. It costs very, very little per bird to have them processed so right now, we're thinking we'll pay someone else to do it and rest in the knowledge that we know how to do it ourselves if we ever decide not to pay for the service in the future.
Verdict: TOTALLY WORTH IT! We know where, how, when, and with what our birds were fed from birth to death. They were well taken care of, allowed to forage on grass and bugs, and lived with more than enough room in their coop. They weren't simply existing in an over-crowded, bug-and-disease-infested warehouse, being pumped with antibiotics and hormones to maximize their size for wholesale purchase. We roasted a bird with potatoes and green beans from last year's garden and it was so satisfying to know where our food came from. All the work that goes into raising and growing your own food is so much more meaningful and appreciated knowing it was produced by your own hands!
Until now.
To recap, we bought our Cornish cross chicks eight or nine weeks ago and raised them with the sole purpose of butchering them for food. When they were around four weeks old and temps were hovering around 60 degrees each night, Rob built a mobile chicken tractor and we put them out on pasture for the remainder of their little chicken lives. If you recall, Cornish cross is a breed developed exclusively as a meat bird. They typically don't live long enough to lay eggs and grow so quickly that if they aren't processed between 8-10 weeks of age, they'll often just keel over from a heart attack because they can't keep up with the demands of rapid growth this breed requires.
When we brought the chicks home and looked at the calendar, we knew the 3rd weekend in June was our target date for butchering. We watched many, many YouTube videos, consulted friends who've done this before, and read lots about it online in preparation for B-Day.
Here are the specifics of our butchering process if you're interested:
Age & Breed: 8 week old Cornish cross (five hens; one rooster if you're keeping track)
Equipment Needed: T-Post or Cone, depending on the killing method you choose; sharp fillet knife, sharpening stone, cutting board (sanitized), table top (sanitized), hose or outdoor sink with running water (sanitized), clean strainer or bowl, Ziploc bags or large plastic container (for any feet or bones if you want to save them for broth)
Method: We used a kill cone, which is exactly what it sounds like: a cone. Because this was the first time doing this, we didn't purchase a one but instead, sanitized and cut down a traffic cone we already owned. To use a cone, you mount it upside down (wider end at the top, narrow tip at the bottom) to a sturdy post or tree. The chicken is then placed upside down in the cone, with their head sticking out the narrow bottom end. For whatever reason, grabbing a chicken by the feet and hanging it upside down calms it and makes it impossible to peck your eyes out, which is exactly what it wants to do when you touch it. Once the head is sticking out the bottom, you grab it, gently pull down and cut it off in a swift, single motion. It's quick, painless, and humane for the bird as opposed to my great-great-grandma's method of swinging it over her head like a lasso until the head popped off and the body ran all over the place, traumatizing every kid in sight. The cone also contains the bird so it physically can't run around like an literal chicken with its head cut off. It also allows you to place a bucket underneath to catch the blood as it drains out of the body so there's really no mess to speak of. We used the collected blood and put it in our garden around some of our tomato plants!
Processing: Originally, we were going to scald and pluck the feathers, leave the skin on, and vacuum-seal the bird whole for the freezer. We have a vacuum sealer and lots of bags but they aren't big enough for an entire bird. We decided at that point it would be more efficient for us to skin the bird without removing feathers, butcher it into legs, wings, thighs, and breasts and vacuum seal the parts in smaller bags for the freezer. This ended up working well and was much less messy than scalding and plucking. After Rob processed the meat into all the parts, I took it inside in a strainer, rinsed it in cold water, dried it on some paper towels, and vacuum sealed it for the freezer. With the carcass and the feet (which have an insane amount of collagen), I'll make chicken stock and preserve it in my pressure canner it for our pantry. I usually do this every Thanksgiving with our turkey and we LOVE using homemade stock in soups and casseroles during the winter months so I'm even more excited to make stock with our own homegrown chickens!
Post-Processing Thoughts: We will totally do this again (in fact, we're planning on ordering more chicks in four weeks so they'll be ready to process in early autumn before it gets too cold). We did six this first time and depending on where we order the next batch, we're thinking we'll go with between 15-20 next time. After talking to several friends who have grown their own meat birds before, we'll also probably take them somewhere to have them butchered. It wasn't hard and didn't take long (maybe ten minutes per bird?) but Rob said he doesn't think he'd want to do any more than ten or so at a time by hand. It costs very, very little per bird to have them processed so right now, we're thinking we'll pay someone else to do it and rest in the knowledge that we know how to do it ourselves if we ever decide not to pay for the service in the future.
Verdict: TOTALLY WORTH IT! We know where, how, when, and with what our birds were fed from birth to death. They were well taken care of, allowed to forage on grass and bugs, and lived with more than enough room in their coop. They weren't simply existing in an over-crowded, bug-and-disease-infested warehouse, being pumped with antibiotics and hormones to maximize their size for wholesale purchase. We roasted a bird with potatoes and green beans from last year's garden and it was so satisfying to know where our food came from. All the work that goes into raising and growing your own food is so much more meaningful and appreciated knowing it was produced by your own hands!
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