Freshly butchered chicken meat will keep for up to 5 days in a refrigerator so long as the temperature is maintained at 34° F or lower. To keep chicken longer, you must freeze it no longer than 3 days after butchering. Keep your freezer below 0° F and do not store frozen chicken for longer…
If you plan to freeze or eat your chicken whole, then you can skip this step. In this step, we cover quartering a chicken and other various ways to cut up your chicken into common pieces of meat. Think about the ways you plan to eat your chicken before starting to cut it up. Also,…
After the chickens are cooled, you will want to take the proper steps in aging chicken meat properly before proceeding. Make sure to age your chickens before cooking them, before quartering them and before freezing them. The reason for aging, just like in beef, is to allow the muscle tissue to relax and tenderize before…
The process of butchering a chicken is often performed immediately after feathers are picked. Some people, however, prefer to cool the chicken before butchering. Either way, the process is the same. There are some basic tools you will want to collect before beginning the butchering process including: Sharp kitchen sheers Sharp knife Butchering is a…
Once a chicken is killed, the next step in the meat bird process is to remove all of the feathers. Many people refer to this process as “plucking” the feathers. More seasoned poultry folk call this process “picking”. The first important thing to know is that you do not want to delay the picking process.…
If you are not interested in learning how to kill a chicken, please consider visiting other areas of our website, this page focuses on humane techniques. In this section, we focus on humane techniques to end a chicken’s life quickly and in a manor that will facilitate the remainder of the butchering process. Your goals…
Butchering is not for everyone because it brings you closer into the food chain than you may find comfortable. Many people eat meat, but prefer to be removed from the processing of a live animal into food. If you fall into this camp, you may want to skip this section focusing on deciding to butcher…
Probably the most common type of breed to have in a backyard is a dual purpose breed that can be raised for both egg production as well as meat production. While these breeds do not produce as many eggs as the egg-layers nor as much meat as the meat birds, they do offer a nice…
If you are interested in keeping birds to exhibit at shows or simply to add a little flare to your backyard, you probably want an ornamental breed. Keep in mind though, that ornamental birds produce few eggs and most are inefficient meat producers, so it really is all about their looks. Ornamental breeds are commonly…
If you are not interested in having large eggs, and you are not interested in butchering for commercial meat, and you are primarily looking for a pet, a Bantam breed may be your best bet. Bantam breeds are miniature chickens, and they are a lot of fun to raise as pets. They typically don’t get…