Cornish Cross Processing Questions

[Farmgrl86]

Hello,

We started raising our own cornish cross this year (just moved out to start a farm) and finally feel ready to sell some to friends and family after processing about 50 for our own family. I still have some lingering questions that I can't find clear answers to, and since these won't just be for us, I'm really wanting to make sure everything is perfect before we sell these.

1. What are the definite symptoms to look out for that require throwing the bird away? I notice that our chickens may look great on the outside but when I start looking on the inside, there are sometimes weird things going on like yellow fluid or a general bloating, enlarged heart or heart attack (that only happened when we waited a couple weeks past when they were due for processing), and in one weird situation this past week, there were all these extra sacs of muscle colored flesh and the inside had this weird hard yellow chalky looking stuff in it (think very similar to how a hard boiled egg yolk looks but harder). I have no clue what it was so we didn't keep that one. I would say there's always 1-2 questionable birds per batch, and I'm not sure if I am wasting the bird by throwing it away or not when I see these weird things. What are some definite reasons to not keep the bird?
2. I'm still confused with what to do with the tail. For my own family I've just been cutting it off since it's the easiest way to avoid poo and the oil gland, but I noticed store bought birds always have a tail, though the top is not cut where the oil gland was. What do you do with the tail? Do you just cut it out?
3. Speaking of the end of the bird, even though we do remove food for 24 hrs, they keep pecking around on the grass and some still have plenty of poo. When I go to remove the intestines sometimes that poo starts leaking out of the vent or the intestines might rupture. First, do I need to throw the bird away if this happens? I've just been rinsing super well and we add the birds to a vinegar and water bath before adding to the chill cooler. Secondly, what's the best way to remove everything to keep this from happening? I'm trying so hard to avoid the green stuff in the bile sac I end up pulling too hard in other places.
4. We typically do the shrink bags the day of processing then chill for 24 hours before freezing. Does putting them in shrink wrap bags interfere with the tenderizing process (rigor)? I noticed a lot of people in blogs and youtube chill first, then bag, and I wasn't sure if it made a difference. We'd rather bag them when we have all the equipment out that day.
5. Do you drain your chickens before bagging, and if so, how long? I'm worried that would introduce contaminants if we leave them sitting out too long to drain.

Thank you!!!!

 

[iwltfum]

Hello,

We started raising our own cornish cross this year (just moved out to start a farm) and finally feel ready to sell some to friends and family after processing about 50 for our own family. I still have some lingering questions that I can't find clear answers to, and since these won't just be for us, I'm really wanting to make sure everything is perfect before we sell these.

1. What are the definite symptoms to look out for that require throwing the bird away? I notice that our chickens may look great on the outside but when I start looking on the inside, there are sometimes weird things going on like yellow fluid or a general bloating, enlarged heart or heart attack (that only happened when we waited a couple weeks past when they were due for processing), and in one weird situation this past week, there were all these extra sacs of muscle colored flesh and the inside had this weird hard yellow chalky looking stuff in it (think very similar to how a hard boiled egg yolk looks but harder). I have no clue what it was so we didn't keep that one. I would say there's always 1-2 questionable birds per batch, and I'm not sure if I am wasting the bird by throwing it away or not when I see these weird things. What are some definite reasons to not keep the bird?

An inspector would say that any health abnormality in the cavity of the bird would be grounds for removing that bird from the line. Namely liver abnormalities and yellow fluid in the cavity are big red flags and definitely should not be for human consumption.

2. I'm still confused with what to do with the tail. For my own family I've just been cutting it off since it's the easiest way to avoid poo and the oil gland, but I noticed store bought birds always have a tail, though the top is not cut where the oil gland was. What do you do with the tail? Do you just cut it out?

I cut the oil gland off the tail a bit like filleting a fish, but, in my opinion, cutting the tail completely off is totally acceptable to sell.

3. Speaking of the end of the bird, even though we do remove food for 24 hrs, they keep pecking around on the grass and some still have plenty of poo. When I go to remove the intestines sometimes that poo starts leaking out of the vent or the intestines might rupture. First, do I need to throw the bird away if this happens? I've just been rinsing super well and we add the birds to a vinegar and water bath before adding to the chill cooler. Secondly, what's the best way to remove everything to keep this from happening? I'm trying so hard to avoid the green stuff in the bile sac I end up pulling too hard in other places.

It takes some repetitive practice for sure. I pull my birds off pasture into crates the night before processing, but -even still- they manage to have a small amount in their intestines, but alot less. If you're rupturing intestines or the bile sack, you're probably simply being too rough. Because full or not, that is obviously not ideal. But I would say to absolutely just rinse out well and continue. Rinsing your table often and rinsing the clean bird after it's eviscerated is crucial.

4. We typically do the shrink bags the day of processing then chill for 24 hours before freezing. Does putting them in shrink wrap bags interfere with the tenderizing process (rigor)? I noticed a lot of people in blogs and youtube chill first, then bag, and I wasn't sure if it made a difference. We'd rather bag them when we have all the equipment out that day.

Doesn't make a difference. I chill mine first because we butcher 60+ birds in a day and I can't handle doing both in the same day, but, if I had the energy, I definitely would!

5. Do you drain your chickens before bagging, and if so, how long? I'm worried that would introduce contaminants if we leave them sitting out too long to drain.

Drain for like 10 minutes tops if you're draining them in the open air. With the open cavity facing down. After that amount of time, you're drying as opposed to draining. Drying isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you don't need to do any more than drain them. I drain them on racks over night in a big refrigerator, but I've seen some PVC racks that people have made to drain a number of chickens at a time throughout the butchering day. For example: get 10 into the chill tank, then drain and bag, get ten into the chill tank, then drain and bag, repeat...

 

[Farmgrl86]

An inspector would say that any health abnormality in the cavity of the bird would be grounds for removing that bird from the line. Namely liver abnormalities and yellow fluid in the cavity are big red flags and definitely should not be for human consumption.

I cut the oil gland off the tail a bit like filleting a fish, but, in my opinion, cutting the tail completely off is totally acceptable to sell.

It takes some repetitive practice for sure. I pull my birds off pasture into crates the night before processing, but -even still- they manage to have a small amount in their intestines, but alot less. If you're rupturing intestines or the bile sack, you're probably simply being too rough. Because full or not, that is obviously not ideal. But I would say to absolutely just rinse out well and continue. Rinsing your table often and rinsing the clean bird after it's eviscerated is crucial.

Doesn't make a difference. I chill mine first because we butcher 60+ birds in a day and I can't handle doing both in the same day, but, if I had the energy, I definitely would!

Drain for like 10 minutes tops if you're draining them in the open air. With the open cavity facing down. After that amount of time, you're drying as opposed to draining. Drying isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you don't need to do any more than drain them. I drain them on racks over night in a big refrigerator, but I've seen some PVC racks that people have made to drain a number of chickens at a time throughout the butchering day. For example: get 10 into the chill tank, then drain and bag, get ten into the chill tank, then drain and bag, repeat...

Thank you so much! This was really helpful.

 

[Isadora]

I wanted to mention as far as the tail goes that, if you're selling the chickens by weight, every little bit adds up and you'll make more money by keeping the tail. There is a learning curve, as with everything, but cutting out the oil gland isn't too hard. You'll get the hang of it after a few birds.