Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
If you'd rather not make a large monetary investment in special slaughtering equip-
ment, you can always heat water to boiling on the stove in containers such as soup pots
or large cookers. Figure that a 5-gallon (19 L) container about half full works for sev-
eral chickens. You will need to add water periodically as some of it will be lost through
evaporation and as you pick the feathers, and if you keep heating water and switch-
ing containers when the water cools, you can keep the process moving. While you are
slaughtering and picking feathers off some of the birds, you (or a helper) can be heating
more water.
To prepare the slaughtering area,
pick an area away from the main facility but near
a good source of clean, cold water and where surfaces and tools easily can be washed
down after you're done. You may want to locate it fairly close to the stove or hotplate
used to heat your water so you don't have to carry the pan or kettle filled with boiling
water a great distance. It's also a good idea to avoid being next to the pens with live
birds are so they don't get a taste for blood.
Slaughter
The following slaughtering steps are appropriate for the simplest, smallest-scale job, for
the person who has fewer than a dozen birds to process.
Killing the Birds
1.
Begin heating to boil enough water to partially fill a 5-gallon (19 L) bucket. The
water should be the right temperature — around 140°F (60°C) — by the time it
hits the bucket. In the winter, I fill the bucket close to full with the hot water, as
it cools fast. In the summer, I mix it about 50-50 with tap water. With very hot
water the feathers slip off easily after scalding.
2.
Gather the birds and put them in a cage in the slaughtering area.
3.
While the water is heating, place the first chicken on the chopping block.
4.
Place the chicken's neck between the two nails on the chopping block.
5.
Holding the wings, grab the chicken by the feet and pull them back tight away
from the head with one hand. Do this all quickly so the bird doesn't pop his neck
out of the nails.
6.
Keeping the feet pulled tight with one hand, pick up the chopper with the other
hand. Make a quick, clean chop, severing the head from the body between the
nails and the body. The chicken dies quickly.
7.
To prevent bruising in the meat, particularly in the wing area, don't let the chicken
flop around. Instead, hang on to it or place it in a 5-gallon (19 L) bucket neck-
down to bleed out. You don't want to allow it to sit there too long, however, or
