Hello all, we have 3 roosters due to be processed today. We wanted to have one for Christmas dinner. I plan to brine it the night before. Can we leave it in the fridge that long? I'm getting mixed answers online. Just seems silly to rest it for 3 days, freeze it for 3 days, then thaw it for a...
Hi all. Processed my first animal ever today. It was pretty gross and I was a little emotional, but overall it seemed like we were successful. I have some questions to make sure it’s all squared away.
I apologize if any of these questions are silly as I have never butchered an animal before...
Hi y’all!
I’ve got quail and in particular I’ve got some extra males that it’s time to process. But I am looking to scale up next year, I do sell at a farmers market and I’m looking to get into a couple local grocery co-ops.
Through some research I’ve learned how to do the culling at home. But...
I plan on using my pellet gun to kill a bunch of my roosters but I am not confident that I will be able to accomplish that quickly (I’m not competent with a gun)
Can I set the carcasses aside for a day as I slowly kill each rooster and then process them at the same time?
Dear Everybody,
due to an ending land lease, I had to get rid of 8 roosters, I chose to process them because I'm in favor of locally raised / home-raised meats. And it is very difficult to re-home them.
unfortunately, I did not have the time to de-gut the chickens immediately after killing...
New to the hobby, was wondering what type of Feed or additional fruits and vegetables people have added to their Quail flock before processing Males? Does the diet effect the flavor? Appreciate all replies in advance!
We are new to processing. Can I use shears to cut the breastbone, open it up and then just scoop out the guts?
The shoving your hand in and pulling it out really grosses me out!
Hi all!
We recently moved to zoned agricultural land last November (one year ago now). Upon moving, our introduction to our neighbor was a complaint about our one rooster who we use for breeding. Long story short, she harassed us for weeks on end cursing at us via text messages and we only...
Today we processed our Rainbow Rangers. Typically my husband chops the heads off with an axe and we both process. He does it because he's stronger and also has accuracy from splitting wood since he was a kid. However, I mentioned to him that I feel I should also participate in the kill part so I...
I'm processing three that are just under a year and have become very aggressive. I have unfortunately had to put it off for scheduling reasons and the weather hasn't been ideal this past week so they now have some sores on their feet from the crate I have them separated in getting a little...
Several months ago I started documenting my flock and methods on YT. Finally got to do a processing video. Our freezer didn't have any chicken in it, since we were between harvest batches, but I did have a group of 14 week old American Bresse cockerels. So I went out and selected one that looked...
Hello, my meat-loving friends! A few months back I posted this thread because I was on the fence about keeping meat birds. I've been interested in having meat birds for a while, but I'm from the suburbs (and now live in the city) and have never killed an animal in my life. However, you all...
A raccoon just got into my sister's backyard coop and killed one of her egg hens. We chased the raccoon off but the bird quickly died. She was not very mangled, a small amount of blood on the head is the only sign of injury. Now we are wondering if we can eat the bird. I hung it by its feet in...
I just processed my first two birds. More out of necessity than planned but it has been a good learning experience for the future. The second bird had some dark spots throughout the process so I was wondering if anyone could tell me what they are and other things to look for when processing a...
We are getting dual purpose chickens in May and I am trying to find a good balanced diet for them - both bagged and/or homegrown. I've seen many threads stating how useful and/or good raw meat is for chickens (whether it's the frog they hunt vs. leftovers of the rabbit you just processed). I've...
I've encountered a number of people, online and IRL, who find the idea of eating chicken feet disgusting -- both on the level of squeamish emotion, because while most chicken parts cut up don't much resemble a living chicken but feet always look like FEET -- and because they believe that chicken...
Does anyone know of a place in the Northwest Georgia/Northeast Alabama area that processes chickens for individuals? Chicken from the store has gotten so expensive and I lack the knowledge or really the will to slaughter chickens at home, but would be willing to pay someone to processes them...
I will have about 60 birds to process in near future. They will be 3-week old cockerels and 2.5 year old hens - all leghorns and their crosses . Last time I have processed 20 for human food it took too many hours for the meat collected, and even when skinning not plucking. We buy chicken...
I just processed this turkey along with 11 others. Does anyone know what this could be? I pulled it out of the cavity. No spots on liver, is this normal?
So one of my cockerels suddenly came down with Mareks today (he was fine yesterday AFAIK) and could barely move so I had to put him down immediately. I decided to butcher him for the learning experience. I definitely learned a lot and as far as I could tell, he looked normal inside but I have...