It's butchering time again. Time to put the "meat birds" in the freezer (and the barbecue.) We decided not to raise white Cornish Cross birds this time for several reasons. They won't live long enough reach sexual maturity. At around 10 weeks their legs give out under their massive weight. If that doesn't happen then their hearts usually give out shortly there after. They spend all day every day planted in front of the food trough gorging themselves. That being said, a Cornish Cross cockerel can dress out at 9 pounds by the time that they are 8 weeks old. The hens of the same age dress out to around 3 1/2 to 5 pounds.
Butchering day is not our favorite day. It takes a lot of prep work. Since we do it outside, everything has to be scrubbed down. The knives have to be sharpened and the cutting surfaces set up and disinfected. The method we use is the "home version" of the methods employed at a slaughterhouse:
First the birds are placed head first in a "holding cone" also known as a "killing cone". This relaxes the birds and holds them in position. Next I give them enough CO2 gas to knock them out. At that point their jugular is severed. This is the most humane method of killing we've found. The carcases are left to bleed out for about ten minutes before being scalded. They are placed in 150 degree F water for 1 minute. This loosens the feathers for the next step. They are then placed in the automated feather plucker for about 30 or 40 seconds. This removes all the feathers. Next they move to the evisceration station where the head, feet and entrails are removed. At this point it looks like a whole chicken that you would by at the supermarket. Now the bird is chilled to about 40 degrees for about 24 hours. The final steps are to vacuum seal and quick freeze them.
