We have had chickens for several years. They are definitely the gateway animal! Be careful as they will lead the way to more and more animals added to your property. As time marched on, we have lost some chickens to predators, but we still have a large number of laying hens for a property of our size.
As laying hens age, their egg production decreases. We had a situation where we had some laying hens that were about 4-5 years old. Their egg production decreased, and we have younger hens ready to take their place.
We also had two aggressive roosters that continued to attack our daughter. There must be something about that blonde hair that they really did not like as she was the constant focus of their targeted attacks.
If we were going to take the time to process the roosters, we thought we should also cull the least productive hens. So, we attempted our first at-home chicken processing. I have processed meat chickens in the past, but this was at another's home, with their equipment and knowledge to fall back upon. This time, it was all on us.
The only processing equipment that we currently own are some good game knives and a vacuum sealer that has never been used for this purpose. Instead of borrowing, buying or renting the "necessary" equipment for an event that we aren't even sure that we will duplicate in the future, we attempted some modified methods. What could go wrong?!
I waited until the last minute to locate a killing cone. It turns out that the local businesses in my area didn't have any in stock. The hubby fashioned one out of an old bucket and duct tape. I wasn't confident that it would work but despite a large hole in the bottom, none of the chickens fell through and it served its purpose well.
We knew that we could hand-pluck the chickens, but we were also missing the outdoor heat source to maintain the proper water temperature for scalding. Instead of finding an alternative for this device, the hubby discovered this video:
Warning: It shows the entire sequence of events in processing chickens.
A brief description: This method eliminates the need for plucking and scalding by a process that is similar to skinning the chicken. The best way that I can describe it is like de-gloving. It requires a lot of pulling and yanking for which I wasn't a fan. The hubby covered this part of the job.
We learned quite a few things from this experience:
- Even though one of our children was very averse to the idea of processing chickens and the "gross" factor, he did participate in capturing the chickens and watched one being processed to the end. Then, he volunteered to watch the baby, cook food for supper and any other task that would require his absence from this project. At least he tried!
- Our daughter, who was the most excited to eliminate her chicken nemesis, discovered that she actually felt sorry for them. It was good for her to see what it takes to deal with a problem farm animal. It isn't always an easy decision even when the animal is causing a lot of trouble.
- We rediscovered the importance of a sharp knife. It makes a difference.
- The kids were able to participate in all of the process as they felt comfortable. Two of them discovered that they could dispatch the chicken in the makeshift cone. Another child decided to take over the cleaning and packaging process. Challenging ourselves to try a new and difficult task helps to build our confidence in other areas of our lives.
- The roosters were tougher to process than the hens.
- If we are going to purchase, raise and process our own chickens for meat purposes in the future, we will need to obtain the equipment and use the more traditional method. The method we used worked for our current purpose, but it did have its own issues. We didn't get as much salvageable meat from the birds. The "ease" of the de-gloving process required more upper arm muscle than the traditional method and caused a bit of a bottleneck in the process. It took just as long as the traditional method from the start to finish.
- We witnessed the way that the blood congealed over time. This led to a discussion about blood clotting, platelet function and the way the body (chicken and human) will try to stop the loss of blood after an injury.
- We had in-depth chicken anatomy lessons. We thoroughly examined a rooster spur without the risk of injury. The up-close inspection reinforced the power of this attached weapon and how it is used for protection. We sacrificed the last hen for science. The kids were given knives and shears and told to find and identify each part. They identified and removed the heart, examined the bowels, and discovered the egg trail production system. It turns out that one of these hens was actually still laying eggs for us. Ooops!
- The vacuum sealer didn't work. I am not sure why, but I was too tired to investigate. I used Ziploc bags instead.
- I discovered that my family possesses the stealth of magicians when it comes to disappearing at clean-up time. Don't worry, I tracked them down!
Overall, we had a productive day as a family and learned a few things in the process. Is this something that we want to repeat in the future? Ask me again at a later date.