Preparing and Killing Chickens

Before the day

Processing goes well when the setup is done before the first bird is caught.

• Withhold feed 8 to 10 hours (Kansas State) or 9 to 12 hours (Maryland) before slaughter, so the gut is emptier and less likely to contaminate the carcass ^{1 2}. Leave water available.
• Choose the birds: Cornish Cross broilers are ready at 6 to 8 weeks ¹; older laying hens and roosters are tougher and suit stewing.
• Lay out the line from dirty to clean: kill cones and a bleed bucket, the scalder, the plucker, an ice-slush tub, then a separate clean evisceration table, then ice water for chilling.
• Equipment: killing cones (or a rope and block), a very sharp knife, a thermometer for the scald water, a large pot and propane burner for scalding ², plenty of ice, clean water, and freezer bags.

Health checks

Process only healthy birds. Kansas State’s list of signs that a bird should not be used, mostly seen once it’s opened ¹:

• lumps or spots of any size on the liver;
• any fluid in the body cavity;
• orange rather than yellow or white fat in a poorly fleshed bird;
• abnormally large internal organs;
• breast meat the same color as the thigh meat;
• meat with white streaks or abnormal swelling.

Bruises, blisters, and skin tears are different: trim off the damaged tissue and the rest is wholesome ¹.

The kill

The standard home method is a killing cone: a metal funnel that holds the bird head-down and keeps it from flapping and bruising ¹.

1. Place the bird head-first into the cone so its head comes out the bottom.
2. Hold the head firmly, comb in your palm, and with a very sharp knife cut the jugular veins on both sides of the neck, just behind the jaw ^{1 2}. A deep, decisive cut on both sides gives a fast bleed-out; the bird loses consciousness as blood pressure drops.
3. Keep holding the head and let it bleed into the bucket. The body will flap for a while after it’s insensible; the cone holds it.
4. When all movement stops, it’s ready to scald ¹.

Without a cone, hang the bird by the feet so it doesn’t bump anything and bruise ². Stunning before the cut is an option with the right equipment; follow its instructions ¹.

Wisconsin rules for selling birds

Processing your own birds for your household needs no license. Selling them is regulated. Wisconsin DATCP’s rules for poultry ³:

• Under 1,000 birds a year, sold from your premises: you may slaughter healthy birds you raised and sell them without inspection or a license, but only directly to consumers within Wisconsin (in person, by phone, or online), and each bird must be labeled “NOT INSPECTED” with your name and address.
• Farmers markets, special events, door-to-door, or wholesale: each bird must be inspected at a state or USDA-inspected establishment and fully labeled, plus a mobile or transient retail license for markets.
• Over 1,000 birds a year: inspection is required for every sale.

Livestock (hogs, cattle, sheep, goats) are different: meat sold to consumers must always come from an inspected establishment ³.

Try it

Before your first processing day, set up the whole line with no birds: cones mounted, scald pot filled and heated to temperature with a thermometer, plucker or a clean table for hand plucking, ice tubs, a separate clean table. Walk through it and time how long the water takes to heat.

What to take from this

Withhold feed 8-12 hours, process only healthy birds, and lay out the line from dirty (kill, scald, pluck) to clean (evisceration, chilling). Kill in a cone by cutting both jugular veins with a sharp knife and let the bird bleed out completely. Discard birds with liver spots, cavity fluid, enlarged organs, or abnormal meat; trim bruises. In Wisconsin, under 1,000 birds a year may be sold uninspected only from your premises, directly to Wisconsin consumers, labeled NOT INSPECTED.