Processing Chickens | First Time | DIY 

Great job Rox. Great homesteading skills.

You guys are so lucky to have done this for the first time with experienced folks. My husband and I raised our first meat birds this past spring. We only did 6 because we had to do it by ourselves. It was kind of a stressful day but we made it through. But while we were in the middle of the process we had an unexpected visitor. In the spring I sell veggie plant starts. We shut the stand down for the day so no customers would stop by. Well, while I was gutting a chicken, literally my hand up the chickens butt, one of the older ladies I had sold plants to decided to stop by to return the pots. All of a sudden, I hear someone calling my name. I looked over my shoulder and could see my customer. Luckily, she couldn’t see what I was doing. I said, “I’m sorry but we are closed today.” But she insisted on returning the pots. My husband had to go out and tell her what we were doing. It was a bit crazy. But, best chicken I ever tasted. I’ve decided to serve a few chickens for Thanksgiving instead of turkey. I’ll definitely do it again but it was a crazy day. Hope you enjoy the chicken.

Very good video guys! Way to go!! Super proud of you for learning this skill, gaining control of your food supply, and self sufficiency! Love yall

Hi Anthony and Roxanne I remember cutting their heads off and they would run around the yard with blood squirting 8 feet in the air until they bled out. We had one that it took over 4 hrs. Also we were the pluckers. We used a big wash tub to heat the water so we could scald several chickens at a time. We would do over a 100 because we sold some. I'm glad there's the technology now to make the process more efficient. I think Roxanne did a fantastic job for the first time. Now she can say I processed this chicken from coop to table. You raised it. You harvested it, Then after cooking it. It will be ready to eat. Very educational. Another example of farm life. Wishing you great success when you do your next batch. Stay warm and safe

I grew up on a farm with chickens and my brothers chopped the heads off and us " little kids" (I'm 61 now ) LOL had to follow the chicken into the tall grass and grab them up once they stopped running around headless! There was blood everywhere!! Then, we'd take them into house and my mother would gut them,, soak them in the tub, and then she'd dunk them in the pot of boiling water...next, to the kitchen table for us to "pluck" them.. She canned the chicken....it was quite the production and took all day. You guys had a high-tech operation going!! Ours was a hatchet, block of wood, and a lot of little kids chasing headless chickens and sitting on stools plucking feathers!!! LOL 🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

CRC, Hubby and our youngest son helped process our 10 hens last November...It was very cold so we did plucking in the garage...I dispatched and scalded on our large portable fire pit out in driveway; they gutted after hand plucking and put the birds into a cooler filled with ice for the night...5 were bagged whole and 5 were cut up into pieces...Teaching how to process to hubby and son brought back great memories of growing up on my family farm when we had 30 hens and 20 roosters to process every year...hard work then but it brought the family together to complete the job...home-grown chicken will taste great at Sunday dinner on a cold winter night...Cheers from Maine.

Good job! How rewarding to put home grown food in your own refrigerator. You grew it and now will reap the benefits 👍🏻🙌

Good job guys! Those pluckers are the way to go, also the kill cone is neat. I remember when my Aunt would go out & get a chicken, she could ring it's neck, didn't have a plucker, so you had to scald the chicken & pluck by hand, what you learned today makes it way easier. Just have to remember no jewelry, & wear the oldest cloths you got! LOL as my Aunt would say, it's all about the farming.

Roxy is an expert now… Way to go👍👍👍👍👍❤❤

Roxanne, you put your hands in there and went to town!! You gooooo girl 🥰 I have watched other channels process their chickens and they always put the chickens in a cooler with a lot of ice and water then they bagged them up. I'm not sure what the cold bath does for them but that's what they all do when they process them. Good job guys!! Roxanne your the shit!!🤗 Love you guys 💞

Very educational, the skills you learned will come in handy and help with self-sustainability. Thank you for sharing!

Poo poo on the whiners that ran away I sat here and had my lunch and watched you guys Buffalo macaroni and cheese with broccoli and chicken got to get that chicken somehow folks now Roxanne can feed her family from start to finish

Freezer Camp! Good job and educational.

Oh my...... It is so time consuming. My siblings and I plucked chicken when we were like the ages of your munchkins. Big pot of boiling water, just a dunk'in and pluck'in. It was a crazy day for sure!!!!

So glad u know now.. ur meat supply will be never ending.. u can always do on command dinner if need be..I’m proud of the generation that’s wanting to learn.. it’s been years since I have done it.. n I’ve kinda wondered if I have forgotten..

When I was young, we had to pluck all the feathers off...so many new ways to do stuff!!

Your guys enthusiasm on everything you undertake is absolutely incredible!

We did this a lot when I was a kid. Except we didn't have a cone, or a plucker. We were the pluckers. Lol Many memories. Good job guys! Nothing like fresh home raised chicken on the table.

Shit n shite!! City English lass here!!! But thank you for sharing that. I didn’t want to see where my battered chicken came from but I bit the bullet 😆 Roxanne looked almost as traumatised as I did! ❤️ Her

Y’all did a great job! Congratulations on taking this step into self-sufficiency by raising and harvesting your own food. Sorry I had to miss the processing day.

My mom an dad raised chickens my dad would lay a chicken on a tree stump an chop It's head off. My mom an dad would hand pluck the feathers. We would have fried chicken for supper that night with fried potatoes an gravy. I was only 10 years old then . I grew up in the country.we also had 4garden north south east an west of the house. We would pick green onions an any other kinds of vegetables you can think of Radishes we grew our own potatoes, carrots, cabbage turnips okra beets corn, Man those were the days, beautiful memories. I sure miss my parents.i really really love watching you an Anthony an Roxanne,an little Wyatt. Your one beautiful Family.Hope you guys have a very Happy Thanks giving. See you on the next one. Byee

Thanks for showing the whole process. I have never used a kill cone, so that was very enlightening. We leave the tail (pope's nose) on. It's a favorite piece and gets fought over. lol We also keep all the giblets, just like a store bought chicken. Although you could just package them separately. I like to cook them and grind them to add to stuffing or gravy. Or use the hearts and gizzards for Hunter's stew. The reason you don't freeze them or cook them right away is because they go into rigor mortis. Then 24-48 hours later, they relax. You can cook them immediately after butchering, but you must do it before rigor starts. We also learned that some birds are just tough...especially if they don't relax...then we pressure cooked them. Raise some actual meat birds or dual purpose birds for a bigger meatier finished product. Great video.

To many people remove themselves from where our food comes from start to finish. You are willing to give them a good life, respect, quickly end their lives, process and be grateful for the food.

I'm used to seeing people just snapped a necks and they jump around until they die but what you guys do is more humane and more appreciative to most out here and I know you Anthony actually have some chickens that you really like as in your pets so I would understand you not want to just do what I said that's the old school way but thanks for the video and I appreciate it and I hope when you guys get your home completely done that y'all don't stop keep that journey rolling on there's always something to do on a homestead always work work work but have a good day guys see you later this week

Congratulations on processing your chickens 🐔! I'm so happy for you guys! 😄👍💕💕💕

I was raised in the country but when it came to processing chickens I couldn't do it then eat the chicken to gross I have a weak stomach. Roxanne you did a good job.

Your going to notice the color difference in your broth and how much richer it is

Good afternoon guys!! Have a great weekend.❤

rox your not afraid to try anything, impressed with you and all the work you do. you are going to make a great jill of all trades

I haven’t seen that done in 40 years 😘👍🏻💕my grandma did her own chicken 😘👍🏻💕

My grandpa always had to have meatloaf or a roast on thanksgiving. he wouldn't eat chicken or turkey because he worked on a chicken farm when he was younger and he said that will do it

Wow, very informative and Roxanne you were the bomb. Thank you for sharing. Take care and God bless.

Awesome video! Lots of learning there for everyone. Enjoying your journey raising chickens 🐔🐓

Awesome video.....here in Jamaica 🇯🇲 the machine is know as the defeathering machine

Hi Micah and boys. Great to see you!!!

Well All of You who Never Processed Chickens Before, can NO longer say that...Totally different than how My family did it when I was growing up on a Farm in my childhood & even after I was married at 17..Still remember how but nowhere to have chickens. We did not Hatch eggs, we bought 100 baby chickens every (I believe about May) feed and raised out solely for meat, except Maybe keeping a few Hens as our laying flock would age.. My Dad My Mom My older Sister, My younger Brother & Myself, Butchered, gutted cut up and packed 100 no less than 95, and had or chicken meat for a yr. ( we also processed our own Pork, about Feb. ON VERY COLD DAYS.) Had a Great Host, as Jeff FEED you good, heard his menu on a video... God Bless...Roxane You did a Great Job for being a 1st timer...

Thank you for letting us know, I appreciate it. Totally understand why you want to do this and love your vlog, but am very sensitive to this type of subject matter, so I will tune out for this one, good luck!

I always like to cook the gizzards liver and heart the day I processed the chickens they’re so good fresh nice and tender

Thank you so much for the warning as I cant watch, but I appreciate you have organic chicken for your family raised better than on most if not all chicken farms so big well done and I look forward to your next video x

My parents used to freeze them in milk cartons. Covered with water. When the water freezes it prevents freezer burn.

Very Good Instruction from Mica. Practice makes perfect. Some people cut up pieces of bird to bag. I think that method would be easier for cleaning out birds too. You could open the bird wide open to get to all the guts. Less little cuts and flipping bird back and forth.

Roxanne...you did so great!!!

Rox you are the best.Way to go girl.💗

Very cool video. Very real. Love your humble attitude and wanting to learn. The first step in any new venture is admitting what you don't know and be willing to learn. We watched you bring the chicks home and raise them. So rewarding for you to have clean, organic hand raised chicken. You guys are learning a lot and gaining a lot of skills. Very proud of you. Great for Wyatt and your nieces and nephew to be around farm raised chicken and understanding where food comes from. Can you imagine what your neighbors in Las Vegas would do watching this😆👍👍. Proud of you. Happy Thanksgiving from Michigan.

Hey guys 👋great job Rox. 🥰😇💚

Learned a lot thank you

This brings back a lot of childhood memories. Way to go guys! You raised them and prepared them! Great video!!👍🏼😃

Good job guys!

When I was growing up we didn’t have all the modern equipment, my mom would ring the neck, and then take and use hot water and had pluck the feathers ten take papers and set them on fire and do what they called zinge the feathers, then clean out the insides and cut up, that was the way the old timers had to do it, wonder if you all would be doing that if all the machines were broken, I never heard of chicken plucking machine until I saw this on your show neat.😊

Doing things like our ancestors did. You should be proud. Thank you and God Bless

When I was in 5th grade us girls helped mom process the chickens, my dad did the heads and scaled them us kids plucked and then inside to disect them. First one I cut into I got a face full of hot water. He didn't get drained all the way. Now I am 67 and I remember the day like yesterday. Good video! See you next time down on the farm.

Great Job !!! Very informative. I'd like to have seen one done without the kill cone and plucker. Like for a guy who doesn't have that equipment and just wants to go out to the coop and pick out a bird for dinner that night.

Roxanne, you are a true sport and rocked the job.

Look at you two processing your own chickens!!! Wooohoooo! Every day you learn new skills and rock them. Processing chickens the first time is hard, but very satisfying. To know how your chickens lived a great life, and to know they ate healthy foods, means that you know the food they provide your family will be healthy and all natural. Just wondering if yous saved the gizzards, livers, and hearts. They make great gravy and stuffing.

Excellent video

This was a very educational video so informative. I love a cooking video of your first chicken to table. That would make a footnote for your family to look back on later from egg to table. How rewarding great job.

You two a getting the skills! 😁

We used to give them rum, they got drunk, and didn't realize when we cut their heads. The meat doesn't get damaged, and it was more merciful for us to do it that way. Same thing with deer.

Oh me ! That was interesting, sure will save on groceries !

Love the video 😘👍🏻💕

I dated a farmer, we used a block of wood and an ax , hot water and stripped the feathers by hand it was easy.

Chicken is so expensive right now this is the way to go. Nice job :)

You will be surprised how much better the chicken will taste.

That was good to see good on you Roxanne

This was really interesting. I never knew how it was done.

Well done both next your going to have to hatch your own and then you done it from start to finish

Good moring I have never seen anything like this in my life! At 70 years old yes the cone and yes pull their head down and be ready to just cut the head off bang it is done. I have never seen a chicken jump out of the cone either lol. I used to do 100 chickens a year at 25 a day I used a little bit of dish soap JUST A LITTLE in the hot water DIP the bird for about 30 sec and check to see if the feathersare coming off easy if not dip again. Just took a hand full of feathers and began rubbing the feathers off the chicken it gos very fast and very easy. NOW as I defeathered them I put them into a clean cold bathtub of water so I could rest for a couple of hours then I would cut them up and or leave them hole for the freezer. Cutting them up looked right. I did it by myself with no help you should be able to do 25 in two hours or so before you rest a while. Oh one more thing do it when it is cold no BEES

Chicken processing was the job of my grandmother, at east that's how I remember it. She tied them, by the feet , to the clothesline and dispatched all the birds and let them drain. She did hens, so there was a harvest of developing eggs. I remember going home with a bucket of eggs from those hens. I must say, I remember delicious chicken meals from any She processed. Someone has to do it if we want chicken.

Thank you for this video, everyone needs to see this. I’m going to show my grandson the video. We all need to know how to process meat. Specially the way the world is changing. This is a lost skill.

Awesome!!!! They will be delicious

Proud of you guys! I'm so glad you got the chance to learn hands on experience!🤗❤👍 have a great evening

Thanks for the info. I personally wouldn’t be able to do it. But found this informative. Thank you for taking the time to provide this content.

Lots of new stuff here for me to see, as well. I appreciated the care the birds are treated with. Amazing process with the feather removal, too. My mom grew up on a farm in the early 1900s, and all that was done by hand and the plucking, etc. No electricity. Can you just imagine...!? Good job, you all!

hope you kept the neck and the tail and the heart those all make great soup and stock so diffrent from when i was growing up we done all that by hand even the plucking of the birds and burning the hair off the skin amazing how times have changed lol

When I processed my chickens- I only had a few- I skinned them like Drew said. I don’t like the skin anyway and it was much less messy than plucking. Congratulations on your first homegrown meat.

So very cool

👍👍👍 Good on you guys,on your way to self sufficiency. I did 165 meat birds this yr,40 in my freezer and 25 each to my 5 kids... You cook down carcasses for broth to can and add to other meals 👍👍👍

living the dream

Thanks for the informational video. Looks like a chicken plucker is a must have item! Maybe you can go halves with SLR for the processing equipment?

Thats the second time in my life that I've seen that done. The first time I was probably seven or eight years old. As I remember it was done with a board with two nails to hold the head. An axe was used to cut off the head. The birds were then thrown into the air to bleed out,us kids then chased them to bring them to be hand plucked and gutted. That is what we had for Sunday dinner at my Grandparents house with the entire family,about twenty five of us.

Useful information.

As this was interesting there are others thar do it pretty much the same but les stressful on you and the chickens. ie: Sow the Land, Justin Roades, ect. Watch other u tube channels keep learning. Great job. It was a good learning experience.

Very educational

Great job

Good evening watching from Ontario

Great job and food for your table, much thanks to the chickens for providing for your family.

Very proud of you guys! Great job! Not an easy job for a newbie but oh so rewarding. Great skill to have!

Great skills..good job

love the video guys i miss doing this

Now that was a great video Thanks, enjoyed that very much. Nice to see how it’s done. You guys sure live a healthy life style. ❤❤. 🌞🇨🇦

You're so lucky to live in such a great and helpful community. Thank you for such a great educational video. God bless. 🙏👍🙏

Excellent job guys. Thank you. The Education is priceless. TY, TY, TY. Blessings

Wow that's a huge skill to learn. Great job and great video

Well done guys a sustainable food processing feature shows your life skills going forwards,an yay thanks giving around the corner for the 41.36.

Hello Anthony and Roxane, Roxane you did a superb job in processing the chickens. Thank you for this educational video. Game hunting is done the same way, except for the feather removal.

I had a good time. But no one told me I was going to be leading it. 😆

That's a lot of chicken. Glad y'all are getting stuff ready for winter. Y'all did good.

Great video. Seeing the community gather and work together was awesome.

WOW!! Very cool & educational video guys! That chicken plucker was awesome. I remember helping my mom pluck pheasants that my dad got while hunting. The only problem with that was we had to hand pluck them lol. Great job Roxanne on learning how to process chickens. I sure hope Anthony was paying attention so he can help. 😂 Love your channel!! 💜

that was a very educational video...congrats on the first time ever processing yalls yard birds & might I may add yall did a great job on em 👍 ya just can't beat a freezer full of fresh meat 🙂 yall have a blessed and wonderful weekend ok