There is much to do as that Clarence Shepard Day Jr. approaches . That daylight — you know , the one you marked on your calendar with a red “ X ” eight weeks after your doll hatched — comes quicker than you wait , and before you could say “ wimp pot pie , ” it ’s time to prep your meat chicken for harvesting .
The very first thing you postulate to do — even before getting volaille in the first place — is decide where and how toprocess them . reckon on your positioning , the number of poulet you have , whether you are selling your chicken , your experience and other broker , your choice let in processing your chickens at home , in a mobile processing building block or at an inspected processing facility . As you decide on the secure method for your farm , take the follow considerateness into news report .
1. Access To A Processor
Finding a processor who is able to work with small heap of chicken is unmanageable because there just are n’t very many in this country , and existing processors are very busy .
“ The best way to find out what your options are is to speak with your local extension part and colleague poultry producers , ” says Tori Lee Jackson , extension educator and associate professor of agriculture and natural resources with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension . Also learn out theNational Center for Appropriate Technology ’s lean of minuscule - scale processors across the United States .
“ Besides the cost , you want to be sure the processor you choose has a good reputation , can conciliate modest flocks , raise a systematically high-pitched - lineament carcass and is someone you want to make for with , ” Jackson says .
If there is n’t a processor within a few hours of you or none that are a skilful fit for your budget and touchstone , your estimable option may be to process your birds at nursing home or in a mobile processing unit of measurement operated by your Department of State concerted extension or land - grant university . If there is a processor within a reasonable drive distance — important for both your and your chicken ’ tension levels — get on its agenda as soon as you know the date your chick are hatch . ( Just count ahead the figure of weeks you wait your volaille to be an appropriate weight . ) Lauren Gwin , Niche Meat Processors Assistance web cofounder and Oregon State University Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems fellow music director , says it ’s never too early to discuss potential assignment dates with your processor .
2. Your Market’s Needs
Your customer determines what level of review your center is required to have . If you ’re only raising birds for your own table , you do n’t need to care about inspection .
“ sweeping purchaser , restaurants and other institutions will in the main require that skirt be mow down and processed in a USDA - licensed deftness , ” Jackson explains . “ Even retail sales that cross state lines must meet this requirement . If that is the case , producers must apply a USDA processor . For sales directly from the farm or at farmers markets , there may be more tractableness in what is necessitate , giving producers the option for country inspection ( in some states ) or exempted on - farm processing . These exemptions but allow manufacturer to — in a facility meeting specific standards — slaughter and sue whole birds on their own property . ”
Check with your State Department department of agriculture for ordinance regarding meat gross revenue that apply to your state and the size of it of your flock .
3. Transportation Of Your Chickens
Chicken crates and an envelop trailer or hand truck are necessary iniquity of delight Gallus gallus to processing . If you do n’t have this equipment and ca n’t well take up it , house processing or play a Mobile River - processing social unit to your farm are your only option .
Good crates are expensive , particularly if you only going to expend them a few of times per twelvemonth . Borrowing crates and transport vehicles is high-risk — particularly with the current concerns over avian influenza — as some disease are easily shared . Carefully powerfulness - wash and sanitize borrowed equipment before bringing it to your farm .
4. Your Processing Budget
If someone told youraising your own nitty-gritty birdsmade good financial good sense , they were mistaken . On a modest scale , nitty-gritty chickens are rather expensive to feed and maintain , and they ’re expensive to harvest , as well .
“ The cost per bird at a slaughter facility ranges and broadly speaking increase as you move to a high level of inspection , get USDA - inspected birds the most costly , ” Jackson says . Per - bird processing fees change greatly calculate on your location , generally ranging from $ 3 to $ 5 per chicken .
“ The more bird you have , the less you might look to give , but producer raising few than 3,000 birds per twelvemonth do not generally meet the requirements for a volume discount , ” she says . DIY processing seems like it should be less expensive , though there are solid food - refuge details that add together up . If you ’re only process a few chickens at a meter for home consumption , it ’s gentle enough to dispose of ( compost ) theoffal and feathersand to have an fair to middling water supplying and sewer water disposal .
“ [ For large harvest , ] a home septic system must have the electrical capacity , or other arrangements must be made to put away of the offal and water in a manner that meets environmental regulations , ” Jackson say .
Jackson points out you could potentially work up a little processing readiness yourself for $ 1,000 if the urine and disposal issues are under ascendancy . With your own facility , though , you also need trade union movement .
“ Who is function to actually do the drubbing and processing ? ” Jackson demand . “ Do they get it on how to do this ? Is your liability insurance sufficient to cover any mischance during processing ? Do you have the ability to enwrap and label [ the nitty-gritty ] yourself ? ”
Mobile - processing unit are also not a super - economical pick , and they ’re not useable everywhere , either . These are challenging to lend to the farm because , Jackson say , “ skilled labor needs to go where the unit cash in one’s chips , and even if you bid to rent a unit and provide all the labor yourself , you still necessitate a concrete inkpad for it to seat on and the piddle resources and waste - direction system in station . Most backyard and modest - scale producers do not have these in home , and once a site does have those thing , it broadly makes more sense to only create your own quickness . ”
5. Your Level Of Involvement
As Jackson level out above , chicken processing demand skilled labor . you’re able to crop with other crybaby keepers to learn the steps , but it take some drill to make harvesting a fluent process . Processing at home , you ’d apparently need these accomplishment .
Taking your wimp to a processing facility , you could help in the process , or you could simply fell off your dame and come back when they ’re chill and ready for the Deepfreeze . “ It ’s a very common practice [ for granger ] to be there on the excision floor and working side - by - side with the workers , ” Gwin says . “ It ’s a great elbow room for processors to get stuff done , for processors and farmers to build rapport , and for farmers to see what go into this . ”
If home - processing is your goal , starting out at a processing facility may be how you get your practice .
“ Anyone think about call forth and processing their own chickens should first visit other producers and surgical procedure to see exactly what is involved and , ideally , get some experience in reality doing the slaughter and processing , ” Jackson articulate . “ If you regulate early - on that this is not for you , you could merely focalise your feat on finding the undecomposed facility to take your chickens to , -rather than empower in equipment , upgraded water and sewer , and becoming inspected , only to find that you do n’t have the venter ( or bosom ) for it . Hands - on experience is a must . ”
Your decision between process your chick at dwelling or at an inspect adroitness may be made more complicated by the range — or lack — of options in your area . When that daytime come and it ’s clip for chicken harvesting , you ’ll know you ’ve made the best choice for litigate by doing this necessary enquiry ahead of time .
