I’m going to put most of this post after the break, so if you’re interested, click through. If you don’t want to know what goes into raising and butchering your own chickens (or the photos that go with that effort) just check back tomorrow.
But before I make you click, I do want to say that yesterday was a good day. It was wonderful to see people I love, and some I’m still getting to know, come together for what was a sometimes difficult task with humor and a positive attitude. We worked well as a team, and while we might not have broken and speed records, we got a lot done in a fairly short period of time.
Click through for the long, detailed summary.
The Team:
Everyone arrived around 10 am yesterday to help finish set-up and get ourselves prepared. Originally there were only 6 of us planning to be here, that being the 3 couples splitting the majority of the birds. Included were Mike and I plus friends Ron and Mia and Kevin and Megera. Our friend Jeff (the bachelor) offered to join us for the 3 extra birds that made it above the 45 we were working for.
Holly and Denise volunteered to come up for the day – they’re thinking of raising their own birds next year and wanted to get first hand experience on the butchering part. They also brought a rooster and old laying hen to butcher bringing our bird total to 50 for the day.
Also stopping by was our neighbor Joe who raises his own broilers and wanted to see how our methods compared to his. A lot the same and a lot different as it turns out. Then a co-worker that just finished reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma asked if she could come up and check out the operation – she, her boyfriend and her dad stopped by about halfway through the first 24 birds.
The Set-up:
Our arrangements surely wouldn’t have met USDA standards, but they were sanitary by home butchering standards. As a kid we butchered in the barnyard, so being on grass seemed a step up to me 
Essentially what you need to home butcher using the method we did is a fairly limited number of tools: a chopping block, a hatchet, a propane burner, pot for water (we used a keg) and thermometer, a place to pick feathers, a table or two for working on, an array of boning knives, some cutting boards, running water, coolers for cooling finished birds, a selection of bowls and buckets, and an eye for detail.
The Day:
We started off with some basic demos and then got down to business. Our first four birds got their heads cut before the water was hot enough for dipping. They waited about 15 minutes before it was ready and that time set the pin feathers in something fierce. I wasn’t sure what had happened and had a momentary panic about how the day was going to go and how long it was going to take. We struggled through those four (ended up removing wing tips and tails) and then when we got into the next birds realized our problem. Phew!
Once everyone got in the groove the time went pretty fast. We finished the first half and then took a lunch break (Thanks Megera!). We finished the last half and wrapped up the messy part about 4:30. Then we got into vacuum packing and weighing. That part took longer than expected but we finally figured it out.
We finished off the night with dinner and a bit of relieved laughter. Now it just remains to be seen if the chicken is any good…Here’s the day in photos, or here in the Flickr set.
If you’re interested in the gutting part, I find a lot of people want to know how, here’s a photo tutorial of the method we used. The Flickr set is here if you can’t see the slideshow below.
Cost and Yield:
So how did we end up on weight and costs? Well, I can’t say that I’m 100% thrilled, I think the birds actually needed another week or two. But since I’d never done this breed before, and it’s hard to gauge a living chicken, we butchered them at 11.5 weeks. If we do Red Broilers again, I’d let them go more like 13 weeks.
The roosters were all over 4 pounds, with our biggest bird weighing in just shy of 4 pounds 12 ounces. The hens averaged closer to the mid threes with the smallest weighing in at 2 pounds 10 ounces.
All in all we had almost 180 pounds of finished chicken, for an average of 3.75 pounds per bird. Factoring in all of our costs, we ended up at $3.55 $3.40 (apparently I shouldn’t do math after wine) per pound for semi-organic, free range birds. Pricey compared to your average grocery store bird, but cheap compared to the $4.50 they’re getting at the farmer’s market.
What would we do differently? Mostly I’d let the birds go a bit longer, although the more they eat the more expensive they are… Other than that I’d look around for a way to buy bulk feed instead of 50 pound bags. I’d also find a way to minimize the amount of straw / shavings we went through.
Hopefully our friends will be happy with their meat, or at least happy enough to want to try this again. If not, well Mike and I will definitely be starting another set of birds in the spring. We just need to figure out when and which breed…
All photos courtesy of Holly
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Hey Laura,
The steady hand that controlled it was the most fascinating thing. The main thing that sticks out in my mind about killing chickens is that there was always a job for everyone even if it consisted of watching the younger cousins or helping to sort feet from necks and of course it was always followed by the best family dinner!
I’m glad that the family tradition of killing chickens has spread all the way out to the west coast from the beginnings at grandma and grandpa’s farm. I briefly looked over your pictures and read your post which brought back some of my vague memories of helping out as a kid. First up, your chopping block looks quite sophisticated compared to the one on the farm. Next, no automatic plucker! that was always my favorite part to watch
Anyway, Happy Fall
Laura, this is fascinating — thank you SO much for going into so much detail. I’ll have to bookmark this for potential future reference. Looks like you had the perfect day for it all, with plenty of willing hands — the only way to do such work!
Laura – thanks for sharing. How interesting! I got to hear about it first hand from Denise yesterday, so it was really great to see the pictures (good job holly
).
So were the birds weight that you talked about before or after all of the innards removal?
It’s shocking how much grain prices have increased. We raised our broilers in May – June and kept the cost to $1.95 per pound. But, I used the Cornish X for a faster growout, and I did purchase a ton of feed, knowing I could use the balance for my turkeys when they arrived.
Maybe your group could pool your feed order and get a better price by the ton. When we raised Cornish for sale, we roughly figured a ton would raise 200 chickens for 8 weeks. Using the slower growing chicken breeds would require more feed. To store this we used food grade barrels with lids to keep out rodents etc.
Looks like you had a great day for butchering – great pics!
Did you do anything with the coxcomb’s? With 50 birds there might actually be enough for a few portions.
thank you so much for sharing this with us! And $3.55/pound sounds downright cheap compared with our farmers market prices.
The first pic was an unexpected delight–dirt on the chickens feet. The grocery store carries “organic chiken” But I have to question whether it truly means better quality when they are mass produced.
I will be saving this post on my bookmarks (though I can’t read the “details” just yet. I am going to need to remember how to do this!
Did anyone happen to slice open an ovary? The eggs are inside developing–sometimes 5 or more at a time. That my my parents version of the ‘talk’.
I hope everything turned out well and that all of them got to the freezer.
Monica – My old laying hen was the only one with developed ovaries (and the rooster was the only one with developed testes – they were huge!). Anyway, we did pay extra attention to her when we gutted, and found the one tiny egg-in-progress and a cluster of egg-like stuff around the ovary. Not as many eggs in process as there could have been, because she has slowed down to 1 or fewer eggs a week.
It was a very informative weekend and we’re looking forward to trying to raise our own next year.
I shared this post with my husband. We’re very interested in raising meat chickens. I like my chickens at 3 to 3.5 lbs, so I’d love these.
We would love to come up next time you do this.
I just read a great cookbook, “Nourishing Traditions” and she recommends adding the chicken feet when making stock from a whole chicken. She claims it has qualities that are good for us. If I do my own meat chickens, I’ll have to give it a try.
Thanks for sharing.
It’s like taking a class online.
Nikki – glad you stopped by! How’s BU? I too remember that there was a job for everyone, and watching grandpa’s steady hand on the plucker and gutting. I felt like we channeled that same stead pace and willingness to all do what needed to be done on Saturday. When are you coming to visit?!? We promise not to put you to work…
Jennifer – we did have a beautiful day, it was maybe mid-50s and sunny. Such a treat! And many hands definitely made a difference.
Meg – weight is completely dressed out, basically looking just like your standard store chicken. So glad that you’re in with Denise – she was a bird cleaning champ. And aren’t Holly’s photos amazing?
Nita – thanks for the comparison. I’m looking into getting bulk feed for the next round. And also investigating going with Cornish Roasters instead of Red Broilers – supposedly they get bigger in the same amount of time without the Cornish X issues I’m trying to avoid…
Louise – what do you do with coxcombs?
Anita – that’s what I think!
Monica – that’s the same conversation I’ve had with people about our cost. You can’t really compare our birds to the cheap ones at the grocery store, you have to compare them to the pricey ones at the market… The ovary was fascinating!
Denise – thank you again for all of your help, it was a delight to have you and your wife here! Can’t wait to see you again! And the bread and pear butter were delicious!
Anita – I’ll drop you a line the next time we’re butchering – I’ll always welcome free labor… Denise took (and peeled!) all 100 feet. I can’t wait to hear how her stock turns out – maybe next time I’ll get past the creepy factor and find a use for them…!
I loved the documentation! It definitely has me wondering if I’ll be able to do something like that myself someday. Either way – it was really fun to look through your slideshows and see how it’s done. Bravo to everyone who worked so hard!
The below is from wikipedia
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Cockscombs are used in cookery, often in combination with wattles or chicken kidneys. In cookery, they are sometimes called chicken crests.
Cockscombs were formerly used in French cuisine as garnishes. They were also used to prepare salpicons served in vol au vents, profiteroles, and so on; in that case, they were often combined with other luxury ingredients such as truffles, sweetbreads, or morels in a cream sauce.
In Italian cuisine, cockscombs are an important ingredient in the famous sauce called ‘Cibreo’, which also includes chicken livers, wattles, and unlayed eggs. It is used as a sauce for tagliatelle and in the molded potato-ricotta ring ‘Cimabella con cibreo’.
Cockscombs are prepared by parboiling and skinning, then cooking in court-bouillon. After preparation, they are greyish.
I had no doubt that last Saturday would be a day of many hands make light work, and that it was infused with some humor, education, love and productivity.
Thanks so much for your online tutoring session! I am combining all the info with what I am reading in Joel Salatin’s “Pastured Poultry for Profits”. They even have videos on chicken butchering too. We already have free range laying hens, but are looking to get into some broiler fryer production at some point. Happy eating!
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