WitchHazel Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Hi, I'm hoping that some of the experienced Dinner Chicken breeders can help. Our Dinner Chickens are still some weeks away from The Deed, but I like to be prepared. Do you dry pluck, or do you do the hot water dipping thing? Why did you choose the method you use? Thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 We prefer to dry pluck while they're still warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 Hope you don't mind me asking - what's the reason behind that Lesley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I waffle on about it all the time but you did ask ... At the turkey farm they've been doing it for a few years and tried everything, didn't get on with plucking machines because they leave 100's of stubs behind so they need doing by hand again afterwards. We dry pluck straight after they've been dispatched, tail and wing feathers first because if you leave it a bit the fat around the feathers solidifies and makes it harder to pluck them. They said they didn't get on with the dipping in hot water, I think it was because it was more fiddly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 Thanks for that Lewis. Do you know what was fiddly about the hot water method? Reason for asking is that we've been discussing what to do. We are raising these birds with another chap, and his friends have been telling him that plucking is easy if you dip in hot water. I don't know enough about it to judge whether his friends are right or not. Thanks for the bit about the plucking machine. ANother chap where we keep the chickens is going to be getting one of those, and we talked about using it. I wasn't sure I'd be able to watch it, as it looks pretty horrible to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Hope you don't mind me asking - what's the reason behind that Lesley? Sorry- I was in a rush.... As Lewis said, it's easier when they are still warm, before the fat solidifies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I've only culled one of my own so far but did the same as I learnt on a course which was despatch and pluck while the bird was still warm, I didnt try the hot water method as I thought it might make it uncomfy on my fingers plucking wet feathers I used a little gas wand thing (like you use for lighting candles/fires etc..) to burn off any stubs and wisps of feathers left As my cockerel was bred for the table I culled it quite young and found there were lots of wispy feathers which made it time consuming to pluck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 Thanks for your help chaps. I'll let you know how we get on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Thanks for that Lewis. Do you know what was fiddly about the hot water method? If the feathers get wet, they clump all together and slip out of your fingers. It can make you rip the skin. If you pluck straight away, you won't need to dip in hot water as it has the same effect. Thanks for the bit about the plucking machine. ANother chap where we keep the chickens is going to be getting one of those, and we talked about using it. I wasn't sure I'd be able to watch it, as it looks pretty horrible to me. The one I was like a box with yellow fingers, they look like rubber gloves. You sit the bird on top and it turns and rips the feathers out (and ripped a lot of the turkeys skin). Redwing, you could try skinning young birds, people do it a lot with quail as they are too fiddly and small to pluck . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I scalded mine before plucking, and it resulted in stinking feathers and ripped skin. If I were doing it again, and I'm not sure I can ever face it frankly, I'd try plucking once they stop flapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 Thanks for both those posts. I think I'll try nd persuade DH that we should stick to plan A, which is to puck as soon as we kill. If OC (other chap) wants to do somethign else, then we'll let him and see how he gets on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I scalded mine before plucking, and it resulted in stinking feathers and ripped skin. If I were doing it again, and I'm not sure I can ever face it frankly, I'd try plucking once they stop flapping. Oh yes, I hadn't thought if you were using the broom method, it might be a bit trickier because they're flapping. We used an electric stunner as I said before, and I was more nervous than scared to first time, as it was the first time I'd properly killed an animal. I thought it was calm and stress free for the bird, and was over very quickly which was important for me, it made me more calm and concentrated on what I was doing, rather than a flapping bird . Although saying that, I've never seen the broom method in real life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 I have used the broom method. We did a course on it about 8 months ago, to see if we could do The Deed before embarking on getting dinner chickens. We dealt with the flapping by swinging the bird under our arm immediately after killing it, so its wings couldn't flap. Tthen we laid the bird on the ground until the twitching stopped. That bit was horrible, it went on much longer than I expected it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Once 'necked' you can always drop them headfirst into a traffic cone to stop the flapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Once 'necked' you can always drop them headfirst into a traffic cone to stop the flapping. Good idea. Should have mentioned that we had them upside down in a code when using an electric stunner. It was like a single version of: this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 We use a cone for despatching....... this one.... http://www.ascott.biz/acatalog/Tripod-Poultry-Dispatcher-PY127.html a little on the expensive side......we thought we were going to do more than we actually have done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 We were advised on the Kill Pluck Gut and Bone course to pluck immediately....and if you were preparing more than one, kill and pluck the first one and then kill and pluck the second and so on rather than killing a few and then. trying to pluck them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Makes sense as it's so much eaiser. I was down at my folks just before the course and Pops had a brace of pheasant he'd been given, hanging in the garage (not sure that it's the season... ), I was asked to pluck them as neither of them fancied it - loads of lovely feathers but such hard work and tough on the bords skin too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 We use a cone for despatching....... this one.... http://www.ascott.biz/acatalog/Tripod-Poultry-Dispatcher-PY127.html a little on the expensive side......we thought we were going to do more than we actually have done! Hi Lesley, thanks for this. I heard about those about a year ago, probably from you on this forum in fact. I had decided that it would be a good investment as they seemed like a really neat soilution. When I looked at it* in more detail though, I was concerned about the actual method it uses for killing. It looked as though it works on the same princuple as the "humane" dispatchers that are sold..and it turns out that the "humane" dispatchers are anything but because they crush the neck rather than dislocate it. *When I say "looked at it", I mean when I looked at the pictures and read what it said on the Ascott website. I'm interested in your view on how it does the deed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 We were advised on the Kill Pluck Gut and Bone course to pluck immediately....and if you were preparing more than one, kill and pluck the first one and then kill and pluck the second and so on rather than killing a few and then. trying to pluck them Thanks for that Egluntine. We should be able to do that as we aren't planning to cull all the birds in one go. Mind you, it takes a while for the bird to stop twitching, so it should be possible to kill a couple, say 10 mins apart, and then pluck them one after the other. Mind you, I found the plucking even more difficult than the culling, so I'll have to see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 We use a cone for despatching....... this one.... http://www.ascott.biz/acatalog/Tripod-Poultry-Dispatcher-PY127.html a little on the expensive side......we thought we were going to do more than we actually have done! Hi Lesley, thanks for this. I heard about those about a year ago, probably from you on this forum in fact. I had decided that it would be a good investment as they seemed like a really neat soilution. When I looked at it* in more detail though, I was concerned about the actual method it uses for killing. It looked as though it works on the same princuple as the "humane" dispatchers that are sold..and it turns out that the "humane" dispatchers are anything but because they crush the neck rather than dislocate it. *When I say "looked at it", I mean when I looked at the pictures and read what it said on the Ascott website. I'm interested in your view on how it does the deed. Sorry to butt in again I thought with the cones you pull the 2 handles together around the neck and pull sharply downwards, so you do dislocate the neck rather than crushing it. Thats the type of cone we have at the farm, quite a few of them in different sizes, but don't use the handles, we use an electric stunner (I knew they were expensive, but didn't know they were that much ) A cheaper version here , but I've not used one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Sorry to butt in again I thought with the cones you pull the 2 handles together around the neck and pull sharply downwards, so you do dislocate the neck rather than crushing it. Thats the type of cone we have at the farm, quite a few of them in different sizes, but don't use the handles, we use an electric stunner (I knew they were expensive, but didn't know they were that much ) A cheaper version here , but I've not used one. Very happy for you to butt in. I'm really keen to learn, I want to do the best for the Dinners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Good points about despatchers Hazel - I'm glad you asked. We started with a Humane despatcher (wall mounted) because I can't use the broomstick method due to my knee problems. It was useless and we ended up in tears as we mangled a poor chooks neck and it was still looking at us The cone is just so effective and very quick - well worth the money. We set it up away from out hens as we don't like them to see - Carl fetches the chook to be despatched and cuddles it on his way to the despatch area - we both say goodbye and then it's upside down in the cone, Carl holding it's legs and guiding the head through the cone - I offer up the two bars which do the deed and Carl takes them, postions the head and pulls. It is so quick, quicker than lots we've seen done on the many programmes around. The flapping is minimised, you can feel the break in the neck and the eyes close straight away. We're glad we spent the money - even if we're not yet processing the dozen every couple of months as we'd envisaged. hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Good points about despatchers Hazel - I'm glad you asked. We started with a Humane despatcher (wall mounted) because I can't use the broomstick method due to my knee problems. It was useless and we ended up in tears as we mangled a poor chooks neck and it was still looking at us The cone is just so effective and very quick - well worth the money. We set it up away from out hens as we don't like them to see - Carl fetches the chook to be despatched and cuddles it on his way to the despatch area - we both say goodbye and then it's upside down in the cone, Carl holding it's legs and guiding the head through the cone - I offer up the two bars which do the deed and Carl takes them, postions the head and pulls. It is so quick, quicker than lots we've seen done on the many programmes around. The flapping is minimised, you can feel the break in the neck and the eyes close straight away. We're glad we spent the money - even if we're not yet processing the dozen every couple of months as we'd envisaged. hope that helps. THere was a good series of articles on different methods in Practical Poultry last summer - the 'humane dispatchers' are anything but and not approved by the humane society - whilst neck dislocation is. Lesley's machine is neck dislocation, just like the broomstick method and hand neck dislocation. As to plucking we dry pluck within 1 hr of dispatch - the feathers come out easier from warm skin. The wet method is really for people dispatching a number at the same time so the chicken goes cold before plucking - for small scale it is just as easy to kill & pluck. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted May 21, 2009 Author Share Posted May 21, 2009 Thanks for all your replies everyone. I;m going to invest in one of those cone despatchers. We aren't going to be doing that many chickens, but I'll have the reassurance of knowing I'm doing it right. WIth the broomstick-on-the-ground method (which is what I was shown), it's a bit tricky to see if you've got the broomstick just behind the ears, unless you've got someone with you who can look while your holding the chicken. We're also going to be raising 4 geese, and I think the cone will be easier than the broomstick method for those. Thanks again everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
