Ramblings of a newbie starting a self-sustaining meat bird flock…

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I’ve not tried plucking yet at all…I’m typically only doing a handful of birds at a time, and all the setup (and tear down) for plucking would add significant time that I’m not sure is worth it, especially since I pressure cook 100% of my birds.

Also I’m not sure I could handle the smell of wet birds…I’m likely still carrying some trauma from that one time back in the day that my father in law decided we were going to butcher a bunch of old hens…when it was 90 degrees in the shade and I was 8.5 months pregnant. Zero stars, do not recommend!

Makes sense! I wasn't criticizing, was just genuinely curious since I haven't tried to pluck anything more than 8 weeks old yet haha.

And yeah, that sounds like a yucky experience. The smell of wet birds is already gross and in the heat... I don't even want to know!

 

[FunClucks]

Makes sense! I wasn't criticizing, was just genuinely curious since I haven't tried to pluck anything more than 8 weeks old yet haha.

And yeah, that sounds like a yucky experience. The smell of wet birds is already gross and in the heat... I don't even want to know!

I think it depends on the breed of bird instead of the age of the bird? I've only plucked CX, but 9 wk CX had barely any feathers compared to a 1 yr old Production Red rooster. I would think the difficulty of removing the feathers was the same as long as you get a good scald (145F until wing feather pin feather comes out easily). However, the Production Red had 3x the amount of feathers the CX did.

I hate the smell of wet feathers too. One reason I'm happy to skin. No matter how much of a "bath" I give them (after they don't care anymore) prior to scalding, using dishsoap and a sprayer hose, I can't seem to get enough dirt off to eliminate the wet feathers smell. I processed all mine in March, and the scalding water put that smell into everything I was wearing and all up in my hair and nose. Even after a good shower I swear I could still smell it for a while. Processing in the heat would (will) totally suck!

 

[imacowgirl2]

CX have less feathers than heritage. I prefer heritage but all those feathers plug up my plucker and I have to clean it after 2 to 4 heritage birds

That’s good to know in case I ever do decide to try a larger batch with a plucker!

 

[imacowgirl2]

Makes sense! I wasn't criticizing, was just genuinely curious since I haven't tried to pluck anything more than 8 weeks old yet haha.

I didn’t think you were criticizing

In my mind I’ve been toying with the idea of plucking one, just to see if it is faster/easier and see if the wet feather smell bothers me (or rather, how much it bothers me). Because there is someone somewhat local that I could rent a plucker from, and it would be nice to be able to do a big batch of birds if I needed to. And the thought of not having to deal with all those feathers while gutting — that sounds like heaven . I just haven’t convinced myself yet that the wet feathers smell trade-off is worth it.

 

[FunClucks]

I didn’t think you were criticizing

In my mind I’ve been toying with the idea of plucking one, just to see if it is faster/easier and see if the wet feather smell bothers me (or rather, how much it bothers me). Because there is someone somewhat local that I could rent a plucker from, and it would be nice to be able to do a big batch of birds if I needed to. And the thought of not having to deal with all those feathers while gutting — that sounds like heaven . I just haven’t convinced myself yet that the wet feathers smell trade-off is worth it.

Oooohhh, plucker...... that's on my wish list!

There's no one around here that rents them. I wish they did. Would save so much time and effort!

Why are you dealing with feathers while gutting? Are you gutting after either skinning or plucking the bird? That's when I gut, and there's usually only a few feathers retained close to the vent, and I trim those to keep them out of my way, and just fold a flap of skin over them (if I skinned). There are never any feathers in my way.

 

[Molpet]

And the thought of not having to deal with all those feathers while gutting

I always skin then gut

 

[imacowgirl2]

I always skin then gut

I’ve always skinned all the way down to the back, then gutted and cut it all off in one piece…but reading your post I just realized there is no reason I can’t cut most of the skin off and leave just a little piece near the vent! I have a feeling this might be life changing on processing days!!

 

[FunClucks]

I’ve always skinned all the way down to the back, then gutted and cut it all off in one piece…but reading your post I just realized there is no reason I can’t cut most of the skin off and leave just a little piece near the vent! I have a feeling this might be life changing on processing days!!

Yea, it's nice to work on a table to gut sitting down instead of having to work vertically while the bird is hanging from a tree. I hang from the feet and skin while on the tree, starting from the scales/feather junction on the leg and peeling down the bird. I'm particular, so I wrap the tree with a heavy duty garbage bag before hanging the bird, so I can clean it with soap and water between birds, or at least spray it off well whenever needed.

I give my birds a "bath" prior to skinning, to make sure the area surrounding the vent is as clean as I can make it/keep it. Especially for the meat birds, somehow they always have a mess on their rears. Love my high pressure hose sprayer nozzle. Keeps the feather dust down during skinning, and I'm always spraying something off.

 

[imacowgirl2]

Yea, it's nice to work on a table to gut sitting down instead of having to work vertically while the bird is hanging from a tree. I hang from the feet and skin while on the tree, starting from the scales/feather junction on the leg and peeling down the bird. I'm particular, so I wrap the tree with a heavy duty garbage bag before hanging the bird, so I can clean it with soap and water between birds, or at least spray it off well whenever needed.

I give my birds a "bath" prior to skinning, to make sure the area surrounding the vent is as clean as I can make it/keep it. Especially for the meat birds, somehow they always have a mess on their rears. Love my high pressure hose sprayer nozzle. Keeps the feather dust down during skinning, and I'm always spraying something off.

Do you know of any videos or pictures or anything that show this way of skinning? I found some black and white drawings showing the direction to make cuts but not really much other than that where I can actually see what they’re doing. Right now I skin on a table, starting at the neck, but I’d love to be able to figure out how to hang them and start from the legs…

 

[Molpet]

I’ve always skinned all the way down to the back, then gutted and cut it all off in one piece…but reading your post I just realized there is no reason I can’t cut most of the skin off and leave just a little piece near the vent! I have a feeling this might be life changing on processing days!!

I have done it similar to this.