2012 Chicken Days

The last batch of 2012 chickens is more than half completed.  We finished up yesterday afternoon later than we'd hoped. It's not that things didn't go well, it just seems to take a very long time to process the chickens to our satisfaction. I think we have the scalding, plucking and cutting-up moving at a very efficient pace. It's the gutting that seems to take the longest amount of time. We've seen how others process more quickly, we're just not happy with how they look when they're processed that way. Maybe we'll change our minds - some day, but for now we're sticking with what gives us the best looking product. On the subject of efficiency and best look, we purchased a poultry cutter this year to make the cut-up process just a little neater.  Based on yesterdays processing it makes cutting up much quicker, but I still like the way a knife takes the thighs off of the chicken better than the cutter does it, so I use a combination of the cutter and the knife.  Using the cutter is nerve-racking. You can send your hand or arm into the cutter without much effort, but it makes a split breast look great and it has definitely made the cut-up process more efficient than it even was before. Today should be a nice day to finish the last of this batch. I started the scalder at 5AM and we should be in full swing by 7.  Oh, and of course we have to thank the Boernsen's for their help with chicken processing. Okay, and it wasn't all work yesterday.  Once we had cleaned up we switched to some real redneck farm fun with the Boernsen kids. We jumped rope with a long lariat (this was group jumping at it's finest) and then shot some clay pigeons before going out and catching today's birds under the moon light.