Butchering technique questions

[mammaducky1]

Just culled the roosters from our meat bird flock. Butchered 15 yesterday. Have a question. The birds seem to be molting. When we butchered I seemed to see more pin feathers than before. Are there more pin feathers during the time of molt? Is it better to wait until after birds have molted rather than during the molt?

 

[mnferalkitty]

How old were they? I use a plucker made from a drill and it gets the pin feathers out but before that if I had to process birds and didn't feel like plucking them cuz of all the pin feathers I would skin them instead. When ready for cooking I covered them in bacon to roast or used a baking bag or just crock potted them for shredded meat etc.

 

[mammaducky1]

They are 10 weeks old and we used a tub-type chicken plucker. It works great, but several birds just seemed to have more pin feathers. Have butchered birds in the past and not seen this many. Just wondering if the molt had something to do with this. I also realize that I have the Ranger reds and of course the darker feathers show the pin feathers more.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Pin feathers are new feathers that are growing in, so birds will definately have more pin feathers when molting.

 

[bigredfeather]

They are 10 weeks old and we used a tub-type chicken plucker. It works great, but several birds just seemed to have more pin feathers. Have butchered birds in the past and not seen this many. Just wondering if the molt had something to do with this. I also realize that I have the Ranger reds and of course the darker feathers show the pin feathers more.

A 10 week old chicken likely isn't molting. I think you needed to scald longer or at a higher temp.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

It seems this happens with birds butchered too young. They're just growing in a batch of feathers and you've caught them at the pin-feather stage. They're more like hedgehog quills than feathers. I hand-pluck my chickens, and when I get one like this I'll pluck the main feathers off by hand, then take a dull butter knife and sort of "shave" off the pins. Most of them will come out easily like this.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A 10 week old chicken likely isn't molting.  I think you needed to scald longer or at a higher temp.

I don't do the broilers, just the dual purposse birds. But the dual purpose chicks molt twice before they reach adult size. They simply outgrow their feathers and have to grow new ones. I suspect what you are seeing is a juvenile molt.