Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[BullChick]

Now, I have a question. Do I get a lung scraper, or just learn to scoop better. I think I got three lungs out of twelve on the first try.

Is there one that someone recommends?

 

[the poppster]

I know I am repeating what others have said in the last few posts, but that is okay. I will forgive myself.

Killing a layer is different because even if we plan on killing them "someday" when they stop laying, we do not expect to have to do it soon. We are simply not mentally prepared.
In the past, I have been around to help process my boys. I knew getting into chickens that I would have to accept it. Fisherlady took a few boys throughout the last few years when I was alone, and did not know how to clean the meat (I could break a neck and pluck). When a hen had to be put down, she was buried. My husband could not handle cleaning a "pet". A month ago, a hen broke her leg and was being pecked to death. Thankfully, someone was here that was able to process her for me. I was not "ready" for her to go, and only was able to help pluck a few feathers. It was very hard.
Now that I know how to do everything myself (I am still not a pro, but I can get it done! ) I am sure that the next time a hen needs put down, I am going to have to process her. She doesn't deserve to have her life wasted by becoming food for animals and creepy crawly things. I know it will stink having to do it. I know I will not be ready for her to die at my hands. But I will use the unpreparedness to my advantage. I will do it quick before I have time to think, and if it starts to bother me later, she can go in the freezer or to someone else.

It is Never a job that I look forward to. I get no enjoyment out of butchering my chickens. But I do it in the most humane way I can. With the least amount of fuss and as quickly as possible. If someone enjoyed killing their birds....I would wonder if they were a bit unhinged. I don't believe that any caring owner could honestly say that they look forward to butchering day. I may be wrong but that's how I feel about it. So when the time comes you need to distance you feelings from the task and just get it done. It will make it easier for you and for the birds.

 

[Beekissed]

Well...it was your first try, so you might want to practice it a bit more before spending money on a tool you will find completely unnecessary once you get the hang of it. Just gotta keep swiping your fingers through the rib spaces until you clear them each out and it should be fine. Pretty soon you'll get so good at it that the lungs will come out all of one piece for you.

 

[BullChick]

Well...it was your first try, so you might want to practice it a bit more before spending money on a tool you will find completely unnecessary once you get the hang of it. Just gotta keep swiping your fingers through the rib spaces until you clear them each out and it should be fine. Pretty soon you'll get so good at it that the lungs will come out all of one piece for you.

I am still amazed that I touched all that stuff! LOL! I cried during dissections in school, and the teacher had to let me do a report instead of actual dissections.
I wore a rubber glove at first, but it really wasn't long before I just got my hand in that warm body, and did it. Fisherlady was the best!

BTW, I have not kept up with you since my last flock. So, hi!

 

[Beekissed]

Hi there!!! Congrats on getting past the ick factor....I don't know that one ever really gets over that, but I managed to get past it.

It gets easier though it never gets pleasant.

Motorcycle chicks are supposed to be tough....this will add to your street cred as a tough lady!

 

[Faraday40]

We have a little choc orp roo that's beginning to crow. He's very sweet, but sadly his comb is not looking up to SOP, so he can't stay as a breeder. (I have too many roo choices & must be picky.) He's about 4 mo, so not full size. (They can take 6 mo to get their height & another 6 mo to fill out.) Although his temperament is outstanding, it's doubtful that anyone will take him as a pet, so can anyone advise the age for processing Orpingtons? I'll need to prepare myself for that day.

I don't have a problem with the "ick" factor. (I teach sci, so dissections are no big deal.) It's the loss of life that hurts. I love my flock & it's often hard to let go. Especially hard if they must die at my hand. For the last few years, we've "given" them away to others willing to process & eat them. This is the 1st year I decided that we should not throw away our extra or retired birds. With the help of a friend, I was able to take care of an injured hen & an old hen. As someone mentioned, the urgency of the injured hen made it easier for me to accept her fate. I needed to end her suffering and I was procrastinating taking care of the old hen. Doing both at the same time made sense.

I can't say I did much of the actual "work." It was hard enough to make the decision & I did what I could. I did get through it. Looking back, I know it had to be done.

 

[BullChick]

Hi there!!! Congrats on getting past the ick factor....I don't know that one ever really gets over that, but I managed to get past it.

It gets easier though it never gets pleasant.

Motorcycle chicks are supposed to be tough....this will add to your street cred as a tough lady!

Hmmm. Yes, I suppose it will.

We have a little choc orp roo that's beginning to crow. He's very sweet, but sadly his comb is not looking up to SOP, so he can't stay as a breeder. (I have too many roo choices & must be picky.) He's about 4 mo, so not full size. (They can take 6 mo to get their height & another 6 mo to fill out.) Although his temperament is outstanding, it's doubtful that anyone will take him as a pet, so can anyone advise the age for processing Orpingtons? I'll need to prepare myself for that day.

I don't have a problem with the "ick" factor. (I teach sci, so dissections are no big deal.) It's the loss of life that hurts. I love my flock & it's often hard to let go. Especially hard if they must die at my hand. For the last few years, we've "given" them away to others willing to process & eat them. This is the 1st year I decided that we should not throw away our extra or retired birds. With the help of a friend, I was able to take care of an injured hen & an old hen. As someone mentioned, the urgency of the injured hen made it easier for me to accept her fate. I needed to end her suffering and I was procrastinating taking care of the old hen. Doing both at the same time made sense.

I can't say I did much of the actual "work." It was hard enough to make the decision & I did what I could. I did get through it. Looking back, I know it had to be done.

I think the "right age" for processing is between 16 and 20 weeks.

 

[Beekissed]

We have a little choc orp roo that's beginning to crow. He's very sweet, but sadly his comb is not looking up to SOP, so he can't stay as a breeder. (I have too many roo choices & must be picky.) He's about 4 mo, so not full size. (They can take 6 mo to get their height & another 6 mo to fill out.) Although his temperament is outstanding, it's doubtful that anyone will take him as a pet, so can anyone advise the age for processing Orpingtons? I'll need to prepare myself for that day.

I don't have a problem with the "ick" factor. (I teach sci, so dissections are no big deal.) It's the loss of life that hurts. I love my flock & it's often hard to let go. Especially hard if they must die at my hand. For the last few years, we've "given" them away to others willing to process & eat them. This is the 1st year I decided that we should not throw away our extra or retired birds. With the help of a friend, I was able to take care of an injured hen & an old hen. As someone mentioned, the urgency of the injured hen made it easier for me to accept her fate. I needed to end her suffering and I was procrastinating taking care of the old hen. Doing both at the same time made sense.

I can't say I did much of the actual "work." It was hard enough to make the decision & I did what I could. I did get through it. Looking back, I know it had to be done.

For me the decision is easier, whether I will kill one of my birds or will not....I would never trust anyone else, except maybe my mother, to give them as good a death as I can. I also like to be the one that takes them through their lives from hatch to death, as it's a very personal relationship I have with my flocks....very interdependent, more of a partnership than an ownership. I can't imagine handing them off to a person with whom they are not familiar with for that part of their life, so it's a natural decision for it to be me that takes them out of this life.

Processing any cockerel is pretty much a preference as far as age goes...they start to get a little tougher after they reach sexual maturity, so anywhere before then and when they reach a size that makes it worth the doing is the correct time. I can mine so I don't have to worry about the toughness of the meat when making that decision, so I just take care of all of mine before I have to start feeding more feed at the end of the fall season, going into winter.

 

[winteree]

i am looking to process about 6 bantams but the thing is my gram's isn't going to be able to help me with the neck cutting so i was going to use an axe but i scared of missing the head if they move at the last second any suggestions?

 

[BullChick]

People wedge the head between two nails.