At what age to slaughter?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
A

Anonymous

Guest
Today we slaughtered a couple of our Light Sussex which were approx. 6 months old, once plucked we realised how much fat they had on them :shock:

My query is now at what age its best to slaughter dual breeds? :roll:
 
I don't think there is a right age, just go by the weight that suits you. The old dual purpose breeds do not live up to what we have become used to from the supermarkets i.e. much more rounded breast, more flesh and less fat but he flavour and the texture is better generally on the dual purpose ones.
Much of the expertise has been lost on how to rear them over the years but someone might still have some knowledge.
 
Up to 6 months, as after that they get noticeably tougher and can't be roasted successfully. After that it's for curry and the pot. You may find they start fighting seriously after that age anyway. To maximise weight gain they should be reared with an older cock acting as a peacekeeper, but after 6 months they may try to challenge him so best separated at that point anyway.
 
Plucked immediately after despatch if possible and then drawn when the blood has thickened (few hours) as the guts go off quickly and taint the meat. I've found some go off much faster than others and have put that down to the prescence of worms. Then in the freezer immediately or into the fridge and cooked within two days. Typing this is making me hungry!
 
Once slaughtered we dip the body into hot water and then cold water as this seems to take the feathers off not only faster but easier. After gutting we wash it in salt water and tie it into position, leave it for another 30 minutes in fresh salt water, after that we keep in the fridge for 24 hours before finally freezing.

We found that this works for us every time.
 
Birds once killed, should be plucked and 'dressed' (their insides removed,) Then once washed out and dried, they should either be frozen straight away, or fridged to cook within a few days, with larger birds such as Turkey's, once plucked straight after killing, or you'll never get the feathers out, they should be left to hang upside down until they are completely cold and their inner temp has cooled (usually about 24/48 hours) before being drawn, washed then either frozen or refridgerated.They are hung upside down to let the blood drain into the neck cavity, so as not to colour the meat. Pheasants and game, including ducks can be left to hang with feathers on for upto 14 days,( :-)03 ) the longer they are left, the stronger the flavour. They are usually plucked, and dressed at the same time just prior to eating. All birds should be kept cool, dry and away from cats, mice and rats, and hung by both feet, apart from pheasants and ducks, they are hung by the neck/heads. It's a good idea to not feed birds 24hours prior to slughter so their crops/gizzards are empty, water should provided, but not food. (My Dad is a master butcher of 40 years, so asked him for all the info posted.) ;)

JubesXX
 
Welshy said:
Once slaughtered we dip the body into hot water and then cold water as this seems to take the feathers off not only faster but easier. After gutting we wash it in salt water and tie it into position, leave it for another 30 minutes in fresh salt water, after that we keep in the fridge for 24 hours before finally freezing.

We found that this works for us every time.
Click to expand...

Cheers Welshy and Chris! I like the idea of the salt bath! I usually will soak my chooks or turkeys with salt and spices before cooking them sometimes. Not though of doing it like that. I'm worried about doing the scald as I don't have a way of keeping the temp of the water at the right temp. I heard if you have it too hot it shocks the meat and makes it tough?? The few I've dispatched previously have either been by gas and then euthanized with 'the juice' as we call it at the vets lol. Or they have been too old to eat or unwell. So this will be our first to eat that i've done. I practiced on one a while back but it smelled awful!!! put me right off... :-)03 i'm not fussed about doing the dead because i know i will be fast and not cause any pain or distress as it will be before sunrise. I would rather that then allow him to be beaten and possibly eaten by the rest of the clutch.
 
I am locking this thread for a while which is a shame some very good information on here.

The reason being is that I have had to remove several posts from this thread which I consider as inappropiate, and potentially inflammatory.

Please if you disagree strongly with slaughtering home reared stock for the table DO NOT READ THE THREAD!!! and posters please check that the title is appropiate for the subject this would also be helpful.

Finally, please remember that others may have a different opinion which should be respected. The moderators will remove ANY posts they deem to be inappropiate.

Thank you for reading! :D
 
Some great information. Topic is unlocked again - lets keep to the topic, this is a really useful thread ;-)

Anyone disliking this sort of thing, you're welcome to air your views in the General Chatter forum as long as it isn't defamatory or insulting to anyone.

Thanks for your understanding!
 
Tim said:
Some great information. Topic is unlocked again - lets keep to the topic, this is a really useful thread ;-)

Anyone disliking this sort of thing, you're welcome to air your views in the General Chatter forum as long as it isn't defamatory or insulting to anyone.

Thanks for your understanding!
Click to expand...

Thank you Tim, I believe this is an important thread too as there are people like me out there keeping poultry mainly for home production purpose of eggs and meat, of course there are others out there who prefer to keep chickens as a pet or as a show bird.

I just believe that if people would inform themselves how the fowls, etc in the supermarkets and the butchers get there, they would think twice about buying them and would find that dispatching themselves would be much more humane. My grandfather use to keep all sorts of animals on his farm and he used to say to me that whatever animal you choose to eat, you should be able to dispatch it humanely, gut and dress it as it is part of life.
 
Are there any courses for home dispatching and dressing? I've dispatched an injured pigeon before, had been shot but not fatally, and my staffordshire bull terrier found it in the garden. I used my small axe. :(

I'm interested in raising my own poultry for the table, but wouldnt want to do the despatch and dressing wrong. Any advice gratefully received. I'm not squeamish :)
 
mollteaser said:
Are there any courses for home dispatching and dressing? I've dispatched an injured pigeon before, had been shot but not fatally, and my staffordshire bull terrier found it in the garden. I used my small axe. :(

I'm interested in raising my own poultry for the table, but wouldnt want to do the despatch and dressing wrong. Any advice gratefully received. I'm not squeamish :)
Click to expand...


Dunno! I use the broomstick method after getting a dispatching tool and it actually bending the metal and not doing the job properly. it broke my heart. luckly i was quick and had an axe ready just in case. But i don't want to go through that again so I use the broomstick method, it's pretty fail safe. You can also find youtube videos on Google US and Google UK if you search for "how to eviscerate a chicken".

Hope this helps.
 
We keep a Utility Pedigree breed for just that reason, eggs and meat. Not the best breed now Wyandottes, but we 'aquired' a breeding trio (noise nuisance removal) and tested their fertility. Tried Orpingtons as well as a result of testing out pet Bottom's fertility. Not the best meat birds Orpington. Neither are over 30 weeks. Taste like chicken did when I was a child -not the sticky white stuff you get now.

We don't starve ours before despatch, just do it first thing in the morning before light and the crop has always been empty. They all get their last day out of the pen and given the complete freedom of the Orchard -some crow for the first time, which is obviously lovely but makes the next day harder. But you can't rehome cockerels very often. We found homes for 2, kept 4 and despatched and ate 16. We use a despatcher; a wall mounted tool which gives a certain clean kill every time with no mess. The jaws are adjusted depending on the size of the bird to crush the neck and break the spinal cord but leave the skin intact. When they are hung for a couple of hours all the blood drains into the upper neck.

People forget that for every egg laying hen there has been a dead cockerel, either at hatching, as the Commercial hybrids and other autosexing breeds, at 8 weeks or so when they show, or at 26 weeks when they are largest enough to eat. At least for meat in our Orchard they have had some sort of a life.

At 26 weeks they are roasted. After that they are curry or the pot. To avoid a lot of wasted time plucking and drawing on the older birds we hang them by both legs, slit the skin and remove the breast meat. Then remove the legs and often the wings as they are the best meat. Its taken a while to get the drawing technique right -most important is very very sharp knives, one with a radiused end for the vent work. I started by using Stanley Knife blades until I bought specialist knives.
 
Thanks for the advice....shuffling off to you Google and YouTube. Just to clarify, I won't be attempting this, unless I'm sure I can.do it swiftly, and confidently.
 
Practical Poultry advise NOT using a wall mounted or hand held despatcher because of the risk of painful crushing injury, presumably if the unit isn't set correctly. The idea is that the vertebrae are crushed severing the spinal column at the same time, which won't happen if the jaws are set too far apart. But if they are too tight you can sever the skin with blood everywhere. They state that the accepted method for despatch is neck dislocation by hand, which needs to be taught by either a very experienced keeper or contact the Humane Slaughter Association, www.hsa.org.uk for information and courses you can attend. I agree that that should be the most effective method, but it takes a heck of a lot of strength on a large bird.
I spend a lot of time setting our unit beforehand for each bird, erring on the safe side which often breaks the skin. We have always had an apparent instant kill. There is a theory however that the head can live for 20 seconds after either method and I have heard that electrical stunning may soon become mandatory before despatch. But we await confirmation of that. Suggest you contact the HSA for more info.
 
Gone are the days which my grandfather used to have a special wooden board with two nails in it which he put calmly the birds neck in then with a swift swish move of his axe severed the head from the rest of the body.

Nowadays there is so much bureaucracy around how to humanely despatch a fowl which can only be found in the Western world that I would not be surprised that we soon will have to pay despatch tax per bird, too.
 
chrismahon said:
Practical Poultry advise NOT using a wall mounted or hand held despatcher because of the risk of painful crushing injury, presumably if the unit isn't set correctly. The idea is that the vertebrae are crushed severing the spinal column at the same time, which won't happen if the jaws are set too far apart. But if they are too tight you can sever the skin with blood everywhere......
Click to expand...

I investigated this a little while back and contacted the HSA over this. They say from their research ” it is difficult to consistently achieve an immediate loss of consciousness” with these devices.

I put a post on my blog about it: http://blog.poultrykeeper.com/tim-chicken-blog/the-correct-method-of-dispatching-a-chicken/
 
The hand method of despatch doesn't need a lot of strength, it's a knack which can be learned quite easily. I've taught lots of people, even teenagers how to do it as they had previously been making such a mess of it.
I tell them that they need to know how to do it properly as the chicken are entitled to respect when you despatch them; no need to be wielding axes. I've never tried the broom handle method being so comfortable with the hand method.
I've never tried skinning a chicken but intend to at some stage. I suppose if you can skin a rabbit, you can skin a chicken !
 
Chuck said:
The hand method of despatch doesn't need a lot of strength, it's a knack which can be learned quite easily. I've taught lots of people, even teenagers how to do it as they had previously been making such a mess of it.
I tell them that they need to know how to do it properly as the chicken are entitled to respect when you despatch them; no need to be wielding axes. I've never tried the broom handle method being so comfortable with the hand method.
I've never tried skinning a chicken but intend to at some stage. I suppose if you can skin a rabbit, you can skin a chicken !
Click to expand...

Broomstick just feels more confident for me, i just don't feel confident enough with the hand and i pulled a pheasant's head off once when i pulled over to put it out of it's misery after some jerk hit it with their car and just drove off leaving it wounded on the lane. :-)11 :cry: We skin pheasants usually instead of plucking. So I imagine it would be similar. I don't usually scald i just pluck as soon as it's dead while still warm.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top