Processing a Chicken, part 2.

Caution: there are some graphic photos.  If you're not interested in seeing them, don't scroll down.

It was time for round 2:


The thirteen remaining chickens sat in their pen, quite a bit larger than the last time we saw them...which was weird, because it had only been 1 week.



Into the holding pen they go, and they were none too thrilled.



But, they're really not that fast.  3 were quickly secured by zip-ties around their legs.



Sister is helping too!



You put each chicken in a "cone" made of sheet metal, upside down.  It keeps them from flapping around.  Also, it drains the chicken of blood which is not only cleaner, but safer regarding bacteria.  Woot.



You cut their neck, swiftly.  It kills them instantly, though the body jolts around for a few seconds due to involuntary muscle spasms dealing with the nervous system.  I'm not a vet, though.  That's just an educated guess.

Somehow we missed getting a picture of the scalder, but you can figure it out.  You dip the dead bird into a giant tub of water around 150 degrees, for a few seconds.  This helps loosen the feathers.

We then plucked the feathers, in a 2-part approach.  We'd run the Clucker Plucker briefly to strip most of the smaller feathers, and then pull the rest by hand.



And as promised to so many people (cough cough, family members who doubted this would ever work, cough cough) video proof.



Though I will say, this was one of the first times we used it, and it took me a few tries to get it right.  Eventually I'd have the whole bird done in ~30 seconds or less.

Next was the eviscerating.  The basic approach was:
1) Cut off head
2) Cut off feet at "knee" knuckle-bone.
3) Separate membrane around neck and crop, esophagus, and trachea
4) Cut below keel bone and open to inside of chicken.  Work hands (carefully!) around innards pulling them away from membrane lining.
5) When innards are loose from inside, pull out through the open area you cut above.  If possible, pull crop along with tubes.  If not, cut them and pull them from the top.
6) Leave everything still attached, and cut tail off.  Be sure not to hit gland inside tail.
7) Cut out gizzard, heart, and livers.  Be extremely careful not to nick the gall bladder.  If you do, green bile will pour out all over the place, and anything it touches is ruined.
8) Pull lungs out
9) Pull kidneys out.
10) Wash bird and chill.

Part of the eviscerating:



Completed chicken:



Later, I cut up some chicken into pieces, and we had a nice meal :)



Wash, rinse, and repeat!