Processing for 1st time

[TabbieFayth]

We currently have 11 meat birds (cornishX) that we plan to process Sunday afternoon. We have previously done 2 roosters that were aggressive. We did little planning other than withholding feed 24 hours. That was a hot mess to clean out.

That said, I have 2 questions. As I said, Sunday is the big day. When do I stop offering feed? Should today be the last day? Tomorrow morning?

And, can I let them chill in an ice bath for a day or 2 before freezing? Or does it have to be the fridge? I can't fit all 11 I am home all day, so I can keep up on the ice. The bin will be in my basement, which averages about 68°. Plan to put them in heat wrap bags before leaving them in the ice bath for a day or 2.

I don't think I'm ever doing meatbirds again lol.

 

[Wezdin]

@aart might be able to help, i have never processed before.

 

[aart]

Disclaimer...I only do 3-4 at a time.

I crate birds off the roost at night with only water,
so their intestines will clear before slaughtering the next morning.
Then give a tablespoon of scratch grain 15 minutes before slitting throat,
so crop is easier to find and remove.

Keeping cleaned carcasses in ice bath until rigor passes should work.

 

[UPCluck]

Holding back the feed will ensure the crop is empty when you slaughter, makes it a little bit less messy. A little water will wash away any undigested food if you don't hold food back soon enough. I keep my butchered chickens in ice salt water overnight in a cooler before refrigeration, then a day or two in the fridge before freezer camp.

 

[Morrigan]

Disclaimer...I only do 3-4 at a time.

I crate birds off the roost at night with only water,
so their intestines will clear before slaughtering the next morning.
Then give a tablespoon of scratch grain 15 minutes before slitting throat,
so crop is easier to find and remove.

Keeping cleaned carcasses in ice bath until rigor passes should work.

This is exactly how we do it. I give them their regular, late afternoon feeding and then leave them with just water over night. First thing in the morning, I transfer them to a little holding pen near our butchering set-up, give them some scratch, and start processing. The crops are empty, save for a little scratch, and we never noticed any unusually messiness with whatever is left in their digestive system. Personally, I'd rather not stress the birds out unnecessarily by withholding food for 24 or more hours.

We only do 6 or so at a time, so I've always chilled/rested in the fridge. I think others have used the ice water bins and it's worked out for them.

 

[RUNuts]

4 to 7 is my limit per day. The 7 is with help, but we are hand plucking. Withhold feed overnight. I don't have any issues finding the crop without the scratch. Easier with it full to pull it out.

With 11, I'd suggest doing 2 days. If you want to get it over with, I understand also. We did 21 over 3 weekends. Hoping for 2, but family needed tending too.

Don't swear Cornish off too fast. Taste them first. The heritage take longer and get feistier. The CX are just chill. Starving, but chill.

 

[Parront]

I did 15 Cornish-x in one day, that is my hand-pluck record. Our refrigerator could not hold them, I used a large Coleman cooler and put them on ice. Like fish, just on top of the ice is fine, if you do not want them to absorb a lot of water. Our cooler was one of the kind hunters use, pretty big. Then, bag in ziplocs and freeze because our freezer was the huge chest kind. The drain at the bottom of the cooler came in handy, we let out melt water and added more ice. The birds stayed in the cooler for a day and cooled quickly. Then the next day I parted and bagged. One weekend and done.

 

[Parront]

BTW, those 10 pounds dressed Cornish tasted great roasted, like a small turkey only better!

 

[Kris5902]

Agree, it’s what you can do with your fridge space that’s the limiting factor. We ended up having to take the backs off ours to fit them in the fridge because our walk in cooler was down. I bagged then chilled in the cooler to start as well, you don’t really want your carcasses sitting in water too long, unless you’re looking for that cheap chicken texture that shrinks by 1/2 when you cook it. If you can’t air chill, bag before the ice bath. I would consider finding a large, older, cheap fridge just for chilling if I was going to be doing 10+ birds at home on a regular basis.

 

[aart]

My fridge and freezer is also the limiting factor(and matches my whimpy stamina limit).
The cleaning up after is what really does me in.
I part them out shortly after slaughter,
(separating legs/thighs and cutting up breasts and backs)
take less room in storage and thaws faster for stewing.
Oh,and... I only slaughter layer breeds, cockerels and older hens,
I let the hens rest 3-4 days before freezing, makes a huge diff in tenderness of meat.