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Since moving here in 2016 we’ve raised a few batches of meat birds. While you can eat any chicken these “meat birds” can either be a special variety bred specifically for meat production and quick growth, you can get chicks from the store to raise for meat, or different hatcheries will put a selection of different breeds of chicken together in a bundle that you raise for the purpose of filling the freezer.
Personally we’ve done it a few different ways. This past June we ordered the BBQ Special from Hoover’s Hatchery. It was a selection of different chicken breeds that you would purchase for the purpose of filling your freezer. The chicks were shipped from the hatchery and arrived a day or so later to our front porch. (Quite literally the box of live chicks was left on our porch.) Depending on where you order them from you may have to pick them up from the post office. (Which we have had to do with previous past meat bird orders).
Once the chicks arrived we set them up in the brooder. The brooder is a smaller box, open container, or tub that you place the chicks in with food, water, & a heat lamp (Dad built ours but a similar looking one is linked HERE). Basically, the birds will eat & grow until they get big enough to be moved to a larger coop. A chick feeder similar to the one we used can be found HERE & a similar waterer can be found HERE.
After a month or so when the birds grew too big to stay in the brooder we moved them to a larger coop with bigger feeders & waterers. We went out each night to make sure they had food & water and waited some more until they were big enough for the freezer.
This is where we noticed the biggest difference in the birds. This last batch we ordered all roosters thinking that they would have more meat on them. Once we butchered them at the beginning of the month (they were about 6 months old at the time), we realized that not only were the birds about the same size but the attitude of the roosters was not worth potentially getting more meat.
Roosters are naturally known to be more temperamental because they protect the hens. And our roosters proved to be no different, except they had no hens to protect. So our roosters were constantly cranky. Even though they needed & wanted more food and water they didn’t like the idea of anyone coming into the coop to refill them. They constantly tried to establish the pecking order and the larger birds would often harass the smaller birds. There were many times when we’d have to kick the side of the coop or hit it with a shovel to literally save a chicken’s life. We did learn though, that they were often more docile at night when it was dark.
When Chicken Day finally came a couple of weeks ago we were all relieved that we wouldn’t have to mess with them any longer. We invested in a good quality chicken plucker that sped up the process significantly. One of Dad’s co-workers and his son came to help out and learn how we do it. There are many other resources that explain this process in-depth so I will not be focusing on that today. I’ll focus more on how we prepare for the day, what we do while they do the dirty work, & how we clean up & celebrate once the day is over.
The night before we take out the feeders. Not allowing the birds to eat 24 hours before makes the processing easier & cleaner. Early the morning of Chicken Day we’ll set up all of our supplies; tables, buckets, knives, gloves, etc. We make sure to have a protein laden breakfast due to it being such a long day and never knowing when you will be able to stop for lunch.
While the guys work on the processing us women-folk often stay inside & start preparing the food. This year since it was colder out we made a couple of large batches of chili for lunch & planned out what we were going to eat for dinner with the fresh chickens. The first three birds that were processed were brought inside immediately, seasoned, & put on the smoker (this is one of our favorite seasonings!). Within a few hours the birds had been processed and they were able to break for lunch. Then it was time to put them in the freezer. We use a turkey fryer full of hot water and these vacuum seal bags.
After the birds were nestled in the freezer it was time to clean up! The easiest way to clean and disinfect everything is to use disposable shop rags as they are more heavy duty than paper towels (similar here), lots of disposable gloves (similar here), Dawn Dish Soap, & peroxide. Once everything was disposed of, cleaned, and disinfected we realized that this year we got done in record time! And since dinner wasn’t going to be ready for a couple more hours, we made sure our friends weren’t leaving empty handed and gave them a cooked chicken and one of the frozen chickens.
While it is easier & cheaper to buy chicken from the store there is a sense of satisfaction & pride in a job well done. From caring for, raising, & processing our own meat to continually growing in our knowledge & skills, and finding better & more efficient ways of doing things.
And ultimately we end the day grateful to God for giving us the desire, the wisdom, and the property to be able to provide fresh food for our family to eat!
Until next time,
Bailey Sue
