The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Miss Piggy on August 28, 2011, 09:36:06 pm
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Hi all,
We have kept poultry for nearly 15 years but only fancy fowl and laying birds. Im thinking of keeping some table birds now as well. I want to be sure I will be able to pluck and dress the birds once reared. :)
Does anybody know of a good course within about 150 miles of West Wales or a good DVD. I would like some hands on experience if possible before I take the plunge. I'm only thinking of having 10-12 birds at a time for our own personal consumption. :yum:
Many thanks in anticipation of replies.
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Hiya, To be honest, I managed OK having watched a few Youtube videos. OK, so the first one took over an hour to do, but I got quicker after that :). The main thing for me was dispatching the first few humanely (not enjoyable), but once it's dead, the plucking is really easy, and the drawing gets better with practice!
This website on chicken butchering (http://butcherachicken.blogspot.com/) is pretty useful too.
HTH!
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Cheers Womble, never thought of you tube, although I use it for demos of lots of other things. Thanks for the link too. :)
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The first tiime I did mine I had my lap top on the side with a combination of Hugh F Whittingstall free on line lesson & utube...lol
It was quite easy as you can stop/pause/replay etc etc.
M x
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Would someone near you have spare cockerals they wouldn't mind you having for the pot, so you could practise? And have some nice coq au vin into the bargain. The worst that can happen is a bit that shouldn't burst, bursts, and you have to wash some meat very thoroughly or, if you don't fancy it after that, feed it to your very appreciative cat. :cat: Butchering failures just mean chicken stew or pie instead of roast. ;D
(Guess how I learned...!)
Actually, I was lucky enough to be working on a country estate that had a pheasant shoot; most shooting days there'd be a pair of brace hung on my car wingmirror when I came to leave. We ate a lot of pheasant, pusscat had the best of scraps :cat: :yum: ;D, I even used to make pheasant sandwiches :yum: - and I got quite good at gutting. Less good at plucking, it's a different ball game with a well-hung bird. I learned the plucking and jointing later, when I had a friend with spare cockerals...
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We lived before on a road where there were a lot of road kill phesant ( one car dead no problem..two car leave it for the fox) I used to pick them up and "peel" them rather than pluck. You could see where the car had been easier. They made great game pies and caseroles, yum (I miss them now)... ((kids used to think roadkill was a bit yucky but still enjoyed the finished dish))
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Thanks Sally, what a good idea, got lots of friends nearby but none with cockerals. There is a local poultry market a few miles down the road though where cockerels go for peanuts. :) Anne
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like MelR, I prefer peel to pluck....
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hi
when we did our first chickens, from collection to finnshed plucking was an hour!! ::)
it does get easier (and quicker) and i found i am actually better at plucking than OH ;D
Mx
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The trick with plucking is do it warm - as soon as the bird is dead, if you can. Otherwise you can dunk the bird in a bowl of warm water. If the bird is warm and you pull with the direction of the feathers they come off really easily.
With a well-hung pheasant, plucking is not easy. I would always peel unless I am determined to roast the bird, in which case I think you need the skin on. I suppose you could always use strips of bacon if you have peeled and want to roast.
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Cheers Sally thanks again. Maybe have a go at both plucking and skinning, not the same bird :o and see how I get on ::)
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Hello,
I have done plenty of game (pigeon goose pheasant partridge duck), but no chickens.
My rule of thumb is ...roast - then take time to pluck
stew/casserole/pie then skin/breast
saves a lot of time unlesss you are doing lots and then consider a plucker. They can be had quite cheaply
eg.http://www.bushwear.co.uk/nostyles.php?ProductID=348302&ClassID=139 (http://www.bushwear.co.uk/nostyles.php?ProductID=348302&ClassID=139)
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Thanks Nicandem for your reply, much appreciated. The plucker attachment looks very interesting, have you used one? Cheers Anne :chook:
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I tried making one by using a metal tube and buying the 'fingers'
unfortunatly these are longer than the ones on that model and therefore go round much faster!
need a slower speed drill ;D
however the feathers did come off.... but it was a snowstorm effect ::)
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nicandem - you mention pigeons. How do you draw them, being so small? I have 9 young Scots Grey cockerels to do, not much bigger than pigeons, and can't let them grow any bigger as they are starting to get bolshy, but they will be too small for my hands (sturdy female size :D) Any hints and tips? I have plucked lots of pheasants (etc) as a child but my dad hung them for so long you just had to shake them - I always hated pheasant back then - far too strong, hung too long for me. I always skin the young cockerels and in the past they have been big enough for me to just get my fingers in, but not this time. :chook:
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We used Katie Thears pictures the first few times. Having a book beside you whilst trying to identify bits was easier than a t.v.
One thing to mention is that it is a good idea to separate the bird to be killed and leave with just water the day before the deed is done. This makes dressing a lot less messy. Our first birds that we raised for meet were J757s ( or something similar bred to eat and poo grow) and they were very smelly when alive, and not much nicer when dead. Leaving them without food helped clear their insides a bit.
I have plucked cold and it can be done, but I found that breast skin was more likely to tear.
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to be homest, pigeon I just breast. I dont think that the extra meat on the rest of the bird justifies the effort of plucking/skinning.
I know with some very small bids eg snipe people eat them whole, innards and all.... but its not to my taste.
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I used the same link as Womble - found it much easier than a book.
But with experience and advice from those with more experience I've tried various methods and have worked out what's best for me & depends on what the chicken I'm plucking is to be used for.
I've tried dry & wet plucking.
Wet is just so fast it's amazing ( it's important to get the tempreture right). But dry makes a better finish ( so better for roasting birds), can do it in about 20 minutes now - it's the pin feathers that take the time I find - though these could be burnt off.
Nearly everyone one says it's easier when warm - but I find that the skin tears more easily then.
So when dry plucking I remove all the big strong wing & tail feathers first, while they are still warm.
I then prefer to let them cool before I pluck the rest. Left hanging by their feet of course.
As the cockerals I dress are surplus from my breeding programmes the skinny ones, I skin and remove the breast & leg meat & use the rest for stock.
The actual gutting takes hardly any time at all once you get the hang of it - again that link of wombles I think is the best for that.
Good Luck, before you know it you'll be a pro!
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Thanks Violet for your advice, sounds like you are a pro! Look forward to the day that I am ::)
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If you want some cockerals to practice on I have a few, my OH doesn't like the gaminess and brown meat, they come out tender when pot roasted and are corn fed and currently in good condition. If you would like some please let me know. Welsummers and sussex. I'm going to get some proper meat birds and prove how much better they are than supermarket chickens.