Hello, Shame you had to give them away!
When we had to 'do' our first chicken we got the book out! The complete book of self sufficiency and followed the pictures!! Sounds daft but we had no idea otherwise, When we moved and started breeding we decided to go on a course to find out how to do things properly, although we greatly enjoyed the day, we actually did not learn much more than the book except presentation skills and how to get the neck bone out, so the book did us well as a starting point.
Some things we have learnt along the way that may help:
The broom handle method of neck breaking is easier if you are not very strong
Begin plucking with the flight feathers on the end of wings first before the carcuss begins to cool down (use pliers if necessary)
Once plucked leave the bird to hang for however long you would like before gutting and dressing(we usually only leave 2 days) and use an old pillow case to hang it in to keep flies off, unless you are lucky enough to have cold storage!!
Make sure any knives/scissors are sharp
Dont worry too much about presentation if its just you and your family eating it, it tastes just as good with a few rips in the skin!!
Hope that helps, if not where abouts in the Mildalnds are you, you can always come down to Oxfordshire and I will show you
Dawn
Topic: Poultry killing and dressing courses ? (Read 6982 times)
