Poultry slaughter central belt Scotland?

[Dave88]

Hi, was just wondering if anyone knew of anywhere I could have chickens slaughtered and prep'd for the freezer? By the looks of it I'm just going to have to do it myself but just wondered if anyone knew of anywhere?

Thanks.
Dave

 

[Essexsussex]

How many are you talking?

Anyone who preps pheasants should be able to do it (but maybe not licensed to so if for personal consumption might be ok).

Would this be a first foray into chicken processing? if so, don't be daunted, it's not that time consming once you get set up right. If you've done it a million times and can't be bothered, then I can understand that too!

 

[bigscott270]

Hi, was just wondering if anyone knew of anywhere I could have chickens slaughtered and prep'd for the freezer? By the looks of it I'm just going to have to do it myself but just wondered if anyone knew of anywhere?

Thanks.
Dave

Gilly's chicken plant up at the back of torrance

 

[Dave88]

We have 13 at the moment but more on the way. Yes this will be our first time at chicken processing, I just heard the plucking can be a bit of a pain. Would be quite happy to pay a couple quid per bird to have someone do it for me, perhaps I'm just being lazy.

Scott don't suppose you have a phone number for Gilly's chicken plant? Can find anything on the web for them.

Thanks for the replys.

 

[Dave88]

Looks like they are called Barraston poultry now.

Thanks

 

[Essexsussex]

Withdraw food but not water 12-24hrs prior so the gut is empty when you draw them.

what you need is a burco boiler or a big pot, get it near boiling. Kill them by stretching the neck (note it's hold the back of the skull in one hand and stretch away from the other hand holding the legs, not 'wring' as some people say) one at a time when you have plucked the previous one, dunk the chicken for ten seconds in the hot water once it has stopped flapping. Hang the chicken up and pluck immediately, you will have it plucked in <5 mins, probably 2 mins when you get quick. the feathers just fall out. then pick tiny pin feathers (don't touch the skin or it will mark), another 2 mins.

pluck one after another. Line them up on a table or hang them up in a cool place, when all plucked you rest them in the cool for a few hours so fat cools and solidifies. Draw them like a pheasant, neck/crop first, other end next. Finally remove feet and wings.

You can dry pluck, will take you as a novice probably 15 mins each and more risk of tearing skin. i would think a morning and you'll be done. Or find an old boy/retired keeper etc who knows what they are doing and pay them.

A butcher may do it for you, but if you're going to do it regularly, try to do it yourself and learn, it's worth it. Also not sure a plant will take a random few birds for disease risk etc.

 

[Dave88]

Withdraw food but not water 12-24hrs prior so the gut is empty when you draw them.

what you need is a burco boiler or a big pot, get it near boiling. Kill them by stretching the neck (note it's hold the back of the skull in one hand and stretch away from the other hand holding the legs, not 'wring' as some people say) one at a time when you have plucked the previous one, dunk the chicken for ten seconds in the hot water once it has stopped flapping. Hang the chicken up and pluck immediately, you will have it plucked in <5 mins, probably 2 mins when you get quick. the feathers just fall out. then pick tiny pin feathers (don't touch the skin or it will mark), another 2 mins.

pluck one after another. Line them up on a table or hang them up in a cool place, when all plucked you rest them in the cool for a few hours so fat cools and solidifies. Draw them like a pheasant, neck/crop first, other end next. Finally remove feet and wings.

You can dry pluck, will take you as a novice probably 15 mins each and more risk of tearing skin. i would think a morning and you'll be done. Or find an old boy/retired keeper etc who knows what they are doing and pay them.

A butcher may do it for you, but if you're going to do it regularly, try to do it yourself and learn, it's worth it. Also not sure a plant will take a random few birds for disease risk etc.

Thanks very much it sounds like you have some good experience of it, shame your so far south. I think you're right it will be worth learning to do it myself in the long term. I also don't really like the thought of having to put them through the stress of taking them to some large processing plant, almost defeats the purpose of giving them the nice life then stressing them out in the final stage.

I've got 3 tamworth pigs going off to slaughter next week but fortunately its easy enough to get them slaughtered and butchered. It also means I can sell some of the meat as 3 whole pigs would be a bit much for just me and the wife.

Thanks again.

 

[Essexsussex]

just try one and dry pluck it. you will find it easier than you imagine.

 

[FGYT]

Wet plucking is easier BUT you cant really leave to hang for the 3-5 days before Drawing to get the flavour to develop properly as you now have a moist skin and all the pores are wet so bacteria will grow quickly.

 

[Essexsussex]

agreed FGYT - but if you're prepping them in June/July you'd need a coldstore anyway to do that, and I suspect the OP doesn't. If they're young(ish) birds of a meat breed fed on good grub I don't usually hang them beyond 24hrs and am very happy with the flavour, and they'll be a million times tastier than 6 week old broilers. But then the hanging debate is a whole can of worms!

Very good point though and one I should have made, and hanging is something the OP can enjoying experimenting with as it sounds like a journey into a bit of a smallholding world for Dave

 

[perdix]

No keepers up your way with a plucking machine Dave88?

I did a load of Sussex for a chap once and spent the day scratching as they had bloody lice/mites on them with them being on shavings.Never again.
Got to say I have plucked literally 100s of game birds but never tried wet plucking.Sounds like it does make things easier as it is all too easy to tear the skin if they are holding some fat under their skin

 

[FGYT]

agreed FGYT - but if you're prepping them in June/July you'd need a coldstore anyway to do that, and I suspect the OP doesn't. If they're young(ish) birds of a meat breed fed on good grub I don't usually hang them beyond 24hrs and am very happy with the flavour, and they'll be a million times tastier than 6 week old broilers. But then the hanging debate is a whole can of worms!

Very good point though and one I should have made, and hanging is something the OP can enjoying experimenting with as it sounds like a journey into a bit of a smallholding world for Dave

ITs something Im moving onto and was advice given to me

but yes in this time of year a chiller is needed Im on the look out for a big fridge or Shop drinks cabinet
As I hope to do regular batches of 10-15 for my own use and give/ sell a few to friends and family (just checking up on the legislation for that )

should be fun i haven't plucked much since a kid when Mum did geese for Christmas not keen on pheasant and just breast out Pigeon

however just scored a traffic cone

already do pigs and the bacon n sausages are special

 

[Essexsussex]

Geese are a ball ache worsg of the lot but tastiest!

 

[perdix]

Got to confess to skinning them and working along the lines of producing a "crown" type carcass

 

[woodmaster]

Yep just do them yourself. Just do a few per night and they'll soon be done. I normally try and pick off the fastest growers (biggest birds) earlyest and eat them one by one then when the rest are ready just do them over a few evenings.
I only do a dozen at a time to supplement the venison and lamb. Well done for doing your own birds, much better than supermarket crap even if they cost £1 more to produce.
As said by Perdix I do a few whole birds for Sunday roasts or if having people round, and tend to keep the hen birds for this. Then the rest I have a few crowns off for 2 person meals and a bit left over. Drum sticks just plucked and marinated in bags of 6. Thighs bagged up for casseroles etc. Then I just skin the body and keep for making stock with the neck.

 

[Jagare]

Hand plucking Chickens is easy. Give it ago. After basic plucking use a blunt dinner knife to take off all the stubs. Fold the wings back and hang up to cool.
When we plucked ducks we put them in a hessian sack for an hour to warm them up so they pluck easier.
Killing geese,turkeys put their neck under a broom handel and pull. Never pluck geese inside the house.
As said before plucking chickens with red mite is something you don't forget in a hurry.

 

[bruce w]

look over your birds and leave ones with a lot of penn stubs to grow on,dry plucked birds look nicer hang them up on one leg to pluck easier to work on ,ripped skin is usualy eather side of the breast and around the neck ,let the carcass cool down after plucking before you pull out stubs and penns ,the only fiddley job in dressing is removing the crop if they havnt been fasted and take the feet of last

 

[Dave88]

Thanks for all the advice folks. Following my initial post my wife gave birth to my daughter. I made good use of my paternity leave and did 9 of our chickens over a couple days. We withdrew food from the chickens 12 hours before we killed them. We just took one out the coop at a time, I had a friend hold them on the ground whilst I shot them point blank with the .22 air rifle, it seemed to be as efficient as any other way I've heard of. I then bled them and let them hang for a wee while before I dunked them in a urn I managed to pick up off gumtree for a minute at 65degrees C. The plucking was way easier than expected after being dunked the feathers pulled out really easy. After gutting them I wrapped them up a put them in the fridge for a couple days before freezing them. I'm really pleased with the results of my first batch, couldn't get over the size of the breasts compared to shop bought ones. I've now got another batch of 20 chicks we bought as day olds which should be ready in 10 weeks. I'm really pleased that we've done it all ourselves, it was very rewarding sitting down to our own roast chicken dinner last night.
Thanks again for all the advice.

Dave

 

[salmon_fisher]

13 is not too many get the missus to give you a hand !! And if you are get her involved you are Much better than me hehe

 

[Basil12]

Any pics of the end result?