Yes, I understand that never eating the hens is the goal of many, but If i don't occasionally thin the flock and nudge a few of the girls toward the stock pot i will always be up to my knickers in feathers and poo. So, Is there anyone who will humanely help the girls on to the afterlife? It seems that having someone who can skillfully process small animals would be a good thing since it is part of the sustainablity concept of VPA. Could be something I've missed--therefore I ask. Thanks for any info.
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Processing chickens isn't something I would advertise doing to make a living, but I do process Cornish X birds for my freezer every December. We, meaning a whole bunch of people, get together kind of like the Amish do at a barn raising and process a lot of birds in one day. Using my automatic plucker really makes it faster. I would not haul out the plucker to do a few birds, then spend an hour cleaning it up, but when we butcher in December it would be a possibility to fit you in.
We also understand that flocks may need to be thinned out, or sometimes birds have to be dispatched because of an injury or illness. Doing it humanely and confidently is important.
My husband and I offer poultry processing classes and are offering our next classes on 4/27 and 5/4. http://SupUrbanFarm.com. We teach how to dispatch as humanely as possible and to pluck and eviscerate. We don't process for people, though, because we feel it's best for those raising birds to be capable of doing this themselves. In the past we've connected bird owners with willing dispatchers.
Other options are to give the birds away (knowing they may end up processed anyway), or to sell them for a small price if they are still laying.
Just now I have at least 2 young roosters--I would like to fatten them up some before they bid farewell. I do share my hens with friends who have lost theirs to Preditors. Part of the reason for raising them in the first place was to add protein to my diet, and given the amount of money and effort that goes into raising them whatever meat i get back will probably cost more than Prime Rib!! I do appreciate the importance of being able to take care of the problem myself and maybe someday i will toughen up to be able to do that. Maybe i will take one of the classes--but i would still rather someone else did the deed. do you teach classes in how to caponize roosters?
No we don't, you have to open the sides of the bird - basically it's surgery. It's one of those things that just isn't worth the time, effort, and stress on the bird for a bit of additional meat. We just raise our roos up to 5-6 months and process them at that age. If it's a dual purpose bird, we get plenty of meat anyway.
Touch bases with me near the end of April if you still have your birds, and I'll see if anyone I know would be interested in processing them for you. And yes, you're right, prime rib is probably cheaper. :)
Is this something you would rather not do yourself?
Absolutely! I had to kill chickens when I was a little kid--we wrung their necks then--yuck. I love my birds and they are practically friends. I would be willing to share with someone who would deal kindly with their passing. I don't name my girls but I really don't want to know that it was the Buff Orphington or the Jersey Giant.