Processing Day 1st Batch of Chickens...

Whew, we did it!  We were able to process all 42 chickens today.  We have a few sore backs and some stiff shoulders, but overall it went really well and I'd call it a success.  We have some more adjustments to make on the chicken plucker, but I think we have it all figured out now.   I just placed the order for the parts we need, and it will be up and running by the next batch.   The first 2 hours we were just trying to figure out what we were doing and who did what role the best.  A couple of us did a few job swaps and finally found a good rhythm to the process.

We were able to process all 42 chickens in 5 1/2 hours but I think we could have cut that down to about 3 hours if we had a mechanical plucker.

Here Tobers and Whippersnapper are sanitizing a food grade barrel to be used as a ice tank to chill the birds when they are all done.

They also hauled all the birds from the field to the processing area on the wagon with a cage strapped to it.

Sharpening knives, a very important prep step.

Always important to line the crew out.  Actually, we were probably just standing around listening to a tall tale. 

Mr. Wonderful did most of the killing part.  I started out in that role but soon decided that was not my calling.  I filled in when I was needing in that role, but it wasn't my first choice.  I preferred the gutting part much better, which really surprised me!

Sunshine did a lot of the scalding process, which helps loosen the feathers for the plucking part. This involves dunking the chickens in hot water for around a minute.

Plucking was time consuming, but by the end everyone got quite good at it.  Mr. Wonderful's sister and her boyfriend helped do a lot of the plucking which was a godsend!  We ended up plucking the birds by hand the old fashioned way.  Whew, what a job.  I am so thankful we had extra help because I am pretty sure we'd have felt really overwhelmed otherwise. Here is Mr. Wonderful just finishing up plucking a bird.

Then, on to the next phase, evisceration process (removing legs, heads and then gutting, and rinsing it all out).  Sunshine and Spud Man working hard.

Somebody is not going to be very happy I posted a picture with his hand up a backside of a chicken!  Hee Hee  It's just proof of what great help we had!

Many hands make light work. 

Sunshine working on getting those legs off.

Proof I did some work, and didn't just take pictures all day!

A frig full of chicken meat!  Luckily we have an extra frig to store them in to chill out until the customers come.

Mr. Wonderful showing off 2 of the finished birds in their shrink bags.

We are glad you could join us on the processing day fun!  Overall it was a very rewarding day and of course we figured out ways to do it better and faster next time.  We won't have to wait long, the next time is just weeks away!

I can't wait to have a few chicken meals this week and try a few new recipes too.