Getting ready to process your first animals you raised for your families consumption? Wonder if you have everything to get the processing job done in a timely fashion? Watched videos online or researched equipment which seems expensive for your 10 birds? Here are the items we have invested in that reduced our time while also not breaking the bank. This will assist in the scale of effort and what number of poultry may trigger the next investment.
Investments over the years:
Year 1: two batches of 5 birds, folding plastic table, butcher kit was already from hunting supplies, propane burner and pot.
Year 2: Similar number of birds with ducks, many rabbits. Kill Cone! The previous year axe was less than ideal and would recommend cone be a first year purchase or home made project (see cones below).
Year 3: 15 birds, large number of rabbits. No new equipment, started skinning vice plucking by hand, especially for ducks.
Year 4: 50 chickens, 3 turkeys, 5 ducks. Yardbird chicken plucker, immersion heater to replace propane burner, stainless steel table, processing knives.
Year 5: Deployment and a move, minimal processing. My wife found a triple stainless steel sink and 2nd stainless steel table used (table is heavy and is with honey processing equipment).
Year 6: two batches 25 chickens, 9 turkeys, 10 ducks. Double element scalder.
The slow build up, maybe you have less freezer room and stick around the 10 birds a year range. I have 3 young boys and go through a lot of canned chicken. We stopped doing large batch meat chickens and hatch our own birds for less upfront cost. Half are roosters and we process approximately 25 roosters a year along with excess male Muscovy ducks. No new equipment has been added to our set up and it is very sustainable with a half day of effort once or twice a year.
Below I am covering the larger items and a few extra nice to have items.
Tables
A clean working surface is an absolute must have. Spending hundreds to thousands on commercial stainless steel…not so much.
The first table we used was a cheap plastic folding table. I would bleach the surface and leave it in the sun each time before using it. Biggest issue we experienced was knife grooves slowly building up in it and overall the surface stained like most plastic cutting boards. The clever solution my wife came up with was plastic wrap. Each use we would wrap the tables working surface in plastic wrap to provide a fresh clean area.
You may ask, how many uses till a table like that starts to wear down to consider a bigger investment. Our 50 dollar plastic table is still in use for other home projects just not processing. I used the table monthly with processing rabbits for 2 years. Our first stainless steel table was purchased with the first large batch of meat chickens we raised.
Stainless steel is amazing and comes with a price tag. Our current table which has been used for countless chickens shows no signs of wear. Best of all it was less than 200 dollars on Amazon. The table is thinner than commercial stainless steel making it lighter and easier to move around on process day.
Link to similar table, the bottom shelf looks at a set hight vice set screws on ours which are prone to move: https://www.amazon.com/Atelicf-Stainless-Undershelf-Backsplash-Restaurants/dp/B0D3M8C16P/ref=sr_1_4?crid=26N5TSVJ6E6KN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gRTrgzSus9CGdBNvbApSOtA9BydcTAEJMr7KsWMumEsWorElcRy76hXXqikL9GkblsRDXzKkDdI17FwNbDM6dEVxVVEDE11nPe3dE1S2er9n9ot7BeYx58u2-q4aa1UYJT8nkwY–HQf2BgtGkWJFeuC21gFGURu5jrjGyzmLIqbMWQfMyUJXHn27KTp9lM5SPN01GvpN0XCZgfvj4oI9C_SQQy8sEFtjXiXoBzSB8c.XmsIhXvtxW-5DKAEhGeqMM4a39AxbdFhpccEc7xPkzU&dib_tag=se&keywords=stainless%2Bsteel%2Btable&qid=1728839487&sprefix=Stainless%2Bsteel%2Btable%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-4&th=1
Bargains! Keep an eye on your classified. Craigslist, Facebook marketplace and the like. Another couple wins from my wife, we picked up a stainless steel table for free from a local restaurant and a triple sink for very little. Only requirement for use was some scrubbing!
Knives – overlooked processing winner
A sharp knife is key! I cannot stress enough the value of a sharp knife.
I have not ventured much past a simple butchering set from any of the outdoor stores. This provides many options for getting started in home processing with the added benefit of dual purpose for any hunted game. My only additional knives purchased are two chicken knives by Victornox. They have become my go to knife at the processing table and well worth the investment. You can see them above on my table. Link below, they have gone up considerably in price over the past few years.
Cones
The varity available is overwhelming! Sizes does matter as small chickens will fall through big cones and big chickens, turkeys, and chickens do not fit in small cones! If you have a smaller system a single cone will serve you well. We currently use a large cone that fits our ducks and the batches of meat chickens we have done in the past. The transition to processing old laying hens and dual purpose roosters has resulted in more than one falling through the large cone prompting the purchase of two medium size YardBird cones.
If you want to accomplish the kill cone with a cheaper entry cost there are many options. I used a traffic cone for a number of years before upgrading to stainless steel. The cone was narrow and failed when we tried to process cornish crosses!
My dad and brother have had great sucess with altering 5 gallon buckets. This produces a cone with the size neck you desire while also being wide enough to accept most birds.
Scalders
I have been through the do it yourself and make it work but, purchasing a cheaper scalder that has been working great is a huge win.! Scalding is important if you want to save time getting the feathers off. If you are hand plucking like we first did with 10 or fewer birds, you will understand!
Initially I used a large turkey fryer stock pot on a propane burner outside. The propane burner would fight the breeze and go out frequently making another thing to work with. This fiberglass options available through Murray McMurry is a much more economical option than the stainless steel and great for the occasional homestead use.
A pervious solution to the burner constantly failing was immersion heaters on a temperature control circuit all purchased on Amazon. I used the same large stock tanks that were previously on my burner but placed the immersion heater into water. If you are short on space and will be hand plucking 10 chickens this may be a more economical solution. We employed this method for a couple years before investing in the scalder.
Heater link: https://www.amazon.com/GESAIL-Temperature-Controller-Immersion-Gallons/dp/B0BVRGCYWG/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.MML1k75xcrIJVVEgXNfKjqOm27GqldyT-P61orKaCkNvIBZw3SMD57OorhxSNgxu0zTi_N9uyMar7jBv2LS7CxSqgGIzLjaatnAmh0v6HgH5ylGB7YRFTZCyCHfnL7Yc7bKZkLaIcRym_bq5vWtG8a-eBT39eAHcULXl97DaQEdiLV5kryTf-a66S-u5gd1GZ_TD4tIYxDr9zIFR2baTusgwxNtZRi3-303TavVWOfIhqzTl1TURJVuEvSLRI3hNE9Aqh_lBvGe6NyFJpKdKVQ0NCedJOmX3iZmnJeRC76Y.PP2mmQYar77aUAOsJ8otTKUI1DFx3eJJX1ZcwsIxDyw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Immersion+heater&qid=1728866263&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
Plucker -most expensive processing equipment we own
Hand plucking takes time. If you want to accomplish processing 20+ birds in under half a day, the mechanical plucker is a must! Our is a yard bird model with the water ring attached. Purchased from Tractor Supply. I run any hose quick connect on the side which provides water to the sinks also. A key thing is the scalding must happen first!
Issues
The gfci plug it comes with is short. And the water proof Integrity of mine was quick to fail so I stripped one end of an extension cord, unscrewed the fancy plug and wired them together. Problem solved and the wire reaches to our shed now from the processing area.
There is a magnet on the bottom that must line up with the above tray for it to run! Also if you get feathers stuck between the magnet, it may prevent the plucker from running
The Good
Really good, this plucker is big and can easily work through cornish cross meat birds. I throw in 2 of our dual purpose roosters at a time or even one heritage turkey. Ducks are a bit more challenging as the feathers do not easily come off even after scalding but what is removed makes the job easier. I would not venture into 10 or more birds for processing without a good plucker. With now 3 years of use and over 150 birds processed the plucker is paying itself off in time saved. I have another likely 50 birds this year which will bring the 500 dollar investment down to 2.5 dollars a bird. Over a couple more years the value will be down to cents a bird and well worth the time saved for my family.
Closing Thoughts on Processing
Start where you are at. The tools make things easier but there is a big factor in experiance. My first couple rabbits processed were about 20 minutes of work each. After a hundred or more I was down to 5 minutes a rabbit. You can learn more about the rabbit adventures here. Chickens are the same way, with experaince the time required is reduced. We have acquired each of these tools over the years making the investment over time and easing the burden each time we go into the processing during the year.
All links are to help locate items I have used or are very similar. I receive no commission.