The nutritional and taste qualities of chicken meat depend on the correct slaughter, cutting and further processing of the carcass. Immediately before slaughter, the bird is completely restricted in food intake.

Lighting must be switched on in the room intended for keeping selected birds at night. It was at this time that their goiter and gastrointestinal tract were released very quickly. During this time, they should drink enough fluids.

Ways to slaughter chickens at home

In household plots, external and internal (“splitting”) methods of slaughter are used. When using the first method, which is the easiest to carry out, the best exsanguination of all bird species is ensured.

Using the second method allows you to quickly separate the plumage when slaughtering chickens.

• During the outdoor method of slaughtering poultry, you need to hang her by her legs and lay her wings on top of each other. Then the chicken is taken by the head, the neck is stretched and the carotid artery is cut with a sharp knife.
• With internal slaughter scissors with a sharp blade are inserted into the bird's mouth, with which they cut the jugular vein (above the tongue in the back of the palate). Next, scissors make an injection into the palatine fissure towards the back of the skull. After the destruction of the cerebellum, the muscles of the bird weaken, which favorably affects the cleaning of feathers.

Figure: 1. Methods for slaughtering chickens: external (left) and internal (right): 1 - palatal slit, into which an injection is made at slaughter, 2 - the site of the cut of the vessels, 3 - the bridge vein, 4 - jugular vein, and - slaughter through the mouth b - places of incisions of blood vessels during slaughter

How to kill a hen externally and internally is shown in Figure 1. Then the bird is left hanging upside down for better exsanguination.

Note: Insufficient draining of blood affects poor storage, since the fluid remaining in the body is a good breeding ground for various microbes. The type and age of the bird influences the choice of the method of slaughter and the time for exsanguination (can vary within 1-2 minutes).

Immediately after the bleeding is completed, plucking is started, and the feathers can be separated by a dry method, as well as by pretreatment in hot water. The temperature for processing should not be higher than 53 C, and the chicken carcass should be kept in water for no longer than two minutes.

There is also a way to slaughter chickens without using a knife. In this case, bleeding and cutting is carried out immediately after slaughter.

How to kill a chicken in this way is shown in Figure 2:

1. Take the bird's legs in your left hand. With your right hand, grasp the chicken by the neck, and squeeze the head between your index and middle finger.
2. Pull your head back and down a little. This will quickly break your cervical vertebrae.
3. After that, immediately tie the paws of the bird, hang it and begin to pluck, first removing the feathers on the wings, then on the legs, and at the end - from the body.

Figure: 2. Slaughtering chicken without using a knife

Before slaughter, the bird should not be fed for 24 hours. This will cleanse her digestive tract and improve the quality of the meat.

Cutting chicken - diagram and video

After removing the plumage, they begin to gut. The intestines and gallbladder are discarded (Fig. 3). The heart and liver as well as the gizzard (without the cuticle) can be eaten.

Also, the following internal organs prepared by cooking are used as an additive to bird feed:

• Spleen
• Trachea
• Lungs
• Glandular stomach
• Esophagus
• Testes and ovaries

Figure: 3. Gutting the chicken: 1 - make a transverse incision on the neck, 2 - remove the neck bone and head, 3 - stick your fingers into the hole and expand it, 4 - carefully cut the tail part so as not to damage the internal organs and spoil the meat, 5 - remove the intestines, 6 - remove internal organs, 7 - gently bend the skin on the neck inside the carcass, 8 - tie the legs and wings for easier storage

After evisceration, the carcass is washed in cold water and left to cool at room temperature for eight hours.

Once it has cooled down, it can be used for cooking or placed in the freezer for storage.

Storing a chicken carcass at home

Meat must be aged before use to ripen so that it becomes tender and juicy, and has a pleasant taste and aroma. Rigor mortis occurs in birds much faster than in other animals, and the time period for the maturation of meat is shorter.

In young birds, the ripening period lasts 2-4 hours, and in an adult bird 6-8 hours.

• If you do not plan to store the meat for a long time, you can simply put it in the refrigerator or wrap it in a clean cloth soaked in vinegar (the cloth must be constantly damp);
• For long-term storage, carcasses are first slightly cooled, and then frozen (temperature at least minus 12 degrees). In winter, they can be taken out into the cold, dipped in water several times and frozen in air (until an ice crust forms);
• To cook meat for long-term storage, the chicken must be salted with a solution of sodium chloride. With the help of douching, the brine is poured through the mouth, after which the neck is tied up and the salted bird is suspended by the legs. After 20 hours of salting, the injected brine is drained.

Also, smoked carcasses are good for long-term storage. For smoking, the gutted bird is cut in the breast and salted in a dry way for about two days, after which the load is placed and salted for another 3 to 6 days, depending on the size.

Before direct smoking, salted carcasses must be washed with clean cold water and dried.

Figure: 4. Options for storing chicken meat: 1 - frozen, 2 - salted, 3 - smoked

Carcasses intended for long-term storage are smoked with cold smoke for 2-3 days, the smoke temperature should be approximately 20 C. For short storage, it is best to smoke with hot smoke, in the first hour of smoking, the temperature should be 80 C, and the entire remaining time should be 35- 40 C.

The duration of smoking is 3-4 hours. At the end of smoking, the meat must be wiped with a dry cloth to remove soot and carbon deposits. The storage of smoked carcasses takes place in a suspended state, in a cool dry room at a temperature of no more than 5 C.

The author of the video will tell you in detail how to properly gut the chicken and prepare the carcass for further storage.

How to pluck chicken at home

On an industrial scale, chickens are plucked in special devices. At home, you can pluck a chicken in several ways (Fig. 5):

1. Scalding:immediately after bleeding, the chicken is placed in a container with boiling water for a minute. After that, the water is allowed to drain, the carcass is suspended and the feathers are removed. However, plucking a chicken that is too oily during feather removal can damage the skin.
2. Combined:the carcass is immersed in boiling water for a minute, then quickly taken out and wrapped in a cloth or bag. This expands the pores of the skin and removes feathers more easily without damaging the skin.
3. Nozzle:there are special attachments that are attached to a drill or screwdriver. With this nozzle, feathers are removed in just five minutes, while with the usual mechanical method, this will take 15-20 minutes.

Figure: 5. Methods for plucking chicken: 1 - scalding, 2 - combined method, 3 - using a special nozzle

The slaughter of chickens is the logical completion of the stages of raising and feeding poultry. It is required to update the livestock, cull unpromising individuals or prepare carcasses for sale.

In any case, you will have to go through the process plucking chicken, evisceration and cutting of carcasses into pieces. If you slaughter 3-4 chickens at a time, then plucking is done manually and processing each bird will take 25-35 minutes.

If it is necessary to process a large number of chickens, it is rational and effective to use the mechanical method of plucking using drill attachments with adjustable rotation speeds.

For the convenience of plucking and cutting chickens, prepare in advance:

• enameled bucket for hot water;
• a sharp knife of short length, designed for eviscerating a carcass;
• a nozzle for a gas cartridge with flame control;
• a can with liquefied gas for the existing temperature operating conditions;
• tweezers, pliers or forceps to remove the "hemp" left after pulling out the feather;
• package for feathers and unused parts of the carcass;
• oilcloth and thin latex gloves.

Manual method of plucking chicken

Start plucking chicken it is necessary immediately after slaughter until the carcass has cooled down, and the feathers will be easily pulled out of the skin.

If several birds are slaughtered, then to facilitate the plucking process, immerse the carcass immediately before the procedure in a container with hot water.

The water temperature is about 50 C, and the immersion time is 30-40 seconds until the release of air bubbles from the feather cover stops.

Plucking home chicken correctly

The skin around the neck should be pulled back and tied so that it does not come off along with the feathers.

1. We start with the wings and tail, pull out large feathers in the direction of their growth, so as not to damage the skin, which leads to the loss of the presentation of the carcass. Do not capture large bunches, it is enough to remove 3-4 large feathers at a time.
2. Next, we go to the back of the carcass and sequentially clean the carcass from feathers and fluff from the tail. We pay special attention to the neck, where the skin is delicate and the feathers are held firmly and deeply.
3. The next step is to cleanse the breast and abdomen.
4. We pull out the remaining large hemp of feathers using tweezers or by scraping from the skin with a blunt knife.
5. The final stage of plucking and preparing the carcass for cutting is the firing of fine fluff.

Use a burner and can of liquefied gas, which are available from tourist shops.

The carcass is pre-rubbed with bran or flour, which allows you to raise the feathers adhering to the chicken's skin.

The distance to the carcass from the burner and the intensity of the flame are adjusted so as not to damage the skin. After the carcass is washed with water and goes to gutting and cutting.

Mechanical plucking of chickens

You can mechanize the monotonous and time-consuming work of plucking a poultry carcass using a conventional drill or screwdriver and a special nozzle.

1. The cylinder with rubber "fingers" rotates at a predetermined speed and the feather is captured, which is pulled out of the chicken skin without damaging it.
2. The drill is fixed on the surface of the table, workbench, and you just have to bring the carcass to the drum and control the plucking process.
3. Fine feathers and "hemp" are removed manually and by final firing with a gas burner.

Removing a goiter in a chicken

Instructions - how to cut homemade chicken into portions step by step

The classic option for cutting chicken is:

• Separation of the wings from the carcass. Move the wing to the side and make a circular incision around the joint. We twist the joint and cut the connective tissue;
• Separation of the thigh. We make a circular incision around the thigh, the joint will be deeper, we repeat the steps as in the case of the wings. The legs can be divided into two parts by making an incision along the joint;
• Divide the remaining chicken into two parts, making an incision along the ribs along the bottom of the sternum. Break the back and cut off the connective tissue with a knife;
• Make another cut along the sternum and ridge, making two portions of chicken for use in first and second courses.

Fillets can be removed from the breast, and the bones of the sternum, tail and ridge can be used to cook rich chicken broth.

VIDEO REVIEW

If, when gutting a chicken, you find abnormal development of internal organs or their damage, then you should contact your veterinarian for clarification about the possibility of eating chicken or identifying a disease that may threaten the poultry population.

The chicken can be cooked whole, but only if you intend to bake it, otherwise this method of cooking will be inconvenient.

Therefore, it is worth knowing how to cut a chicken into parts, because buying a whole bird is much more profitable than buying in parts. Yes, and you can cook pieces as you wish: stew, boil, fry, cook in the oven.

Training to cutting

If you had to buy fresh poultry, it will most likely be gutted. In this case, it is advisable to buy a young chicken. It is ideal for preparing different types of dishes. If you buy a frozen carcass, then usually it has already been gutted.

Thus, you can choose the option that is more suitable for a particular situation.

If there are still feathers on the body, then you need to clean them, starting from the neck. You need to pull the skin with one hand, and pluck with the other. After gutting the bird, you can begin to singe the remaining cannon on the skin. This must be done carefully, making sure that the carcass does not burn.

Gutting

You will need a sharp knife and cooking scissors to gut the bird and cut it into pieces. It is necessary to carry out gutting carefully, because there is a risk of touching the spleen or bile, as a result of which the liquid will eat into the meat, and it will become bitter.

Evisceration is carried out in stages:

• The legs must be cut off. To do this, you need to stretch the tendons and make an incision with a sharp knife in the right place.

Good afternoon, poultry beginners! Today we will explain to you how to hack and butcher. Videos and photos to help you. Growing up is not an easy task, which can be done only by those who know the basic rules, as well as tricks and secrets to make it an economically profitable and not a problematic field of activity.

The final stage in the cultivation of meat chickens is slaughter and processing to obtain a carcass ready for consumption or sale. Experienced poultry farmers have already established this process, since they regularly have to do this not the most pleasant thing.

But, beginners often make mistakes due to lack of knowledge and confidence. For those who do not know how to hack a chicken and what to do with it next - basic tips.

The Belarusian "Company 7" offers to buy a separator for the meat-processing industry, it will always come in handy for successful farmers!

Nowadays, there is a popular, but unfounded myth, which says that raising chickens at home for meat has long been no longer profitable. This myth led to the fact that many began to abandon the maintenance of meat chickens.

But, the products bought in stores do not always meet the quality requirements, and its cost is much higher than if grown at home.

What you need to successfully raise chickens for meat - basic tips below.

1. The first and foremost rule is choosing the right breed. Today, there are no more profitable poultry for meat than broilers. These are hybrids that, after 2 months, will be completely ready for slaughter, while not requiring huge investments in feed.
2. To obtain good feeding results, the poultry farmer must follow the rules for constructing a diet for representatives of meat breeds and hybrids. In growing broilers, a special, three-stage feeding technology is used, which allows you to get the maximum weight already at 45-60 days.
3. Before slaughter, it is important to take care of the preparation of the poultry in order to obtain good quality meat carcasses without flaws.

We will describe in detail below how the process of preparation for slaughter is going on in a small private farm and what is needed for this.

Preparing the herd for slaughter

After the herd has passed all stages of fattening, you can proceed to the final stage - preparation for slaughter. Absolutely all the subtleties and nuances should be taken into account, since non-observance of simple rules can lead to a bad result - low quality of the meat product.

So, what is the preparation of livestock for slaughter - here are step-by-step tips.

1. First of all, the birds need to be caught, which is not always easy. Special care is required in order not to harm the birds during capture. The best way! Catch one by one by the paws, not by the wings. As there is a risk of injury. You shouldn't make sudden movements. Since abrasions and bruises will be visible on the carcass and significantly worsen its marketability. It is desirable to catch chickens in a day. In extreme cases, 10-12 hours before slaughter.
2. The second and obligatory step. Settling in a clean, separate room where birds will spend the last hours of their lives. In the event that further use of feathers is planned? It is recommended to redeem the chickens! To clean the feathers before slaughter, although you can do this after.
3. During the last 24 hours the birds should not receive any food. Instead, they are drunk with a solution of Siberian salt. To quickly and effectively cleanse the intestines and digestive tract completely.
4. After the digestive tract is cleansed? You can proceed to transport to the slaughterhouse if necessary. Or move on to the next preparatory stage.

If the birds were not isolated and pre-prepared? This will negatively affect the quality of meat products. In addition, food debris and droppings in poultry can quickly spoil the meat product.

What you need to slaughter poultry

It is necessary to prepare in advance not only the feathered herd, but also the place where the slaughter will take place. For those who keep meat chickens on a permanent basis? Still, it is better to equip a small corner on your farm or a separate visit - a mini-slaughterhouse, where everything you need will be at hand.

So what do you need to prepare before slaughter?

1. The main thing in the process is a sharp tool that should be checked and prepared in advance. Depending on the chosen method of slaughter, the best option is selected.
2. For convenience, poultry farmers use cones - special devices made of stainless steel or plastic, resembling a cone-shaped bucket with a hole in the bottom. The head of the chicken will be placed in this hole, and the device itself will fix it during the slaughter process.
3. If you plan to pluck by hand, without a feather, then you need to put a large container of water 30 minutes before slaughter so that it has time to boil. Scalding will make it easier to peel off the feathers.
4. It is necessary to prepare a large container so that blood flows into it after slaughter.
5. It is important to prepare cutting boards, containers for packaging and storage in advance.
6. You also need to take care of the hygienic condition of the prepared slaughterhouse - if sanitary requirements are violated, the products can be dangerous due to the content of pathogens.

In order to do everything quickly and efficiently, it is necessary to plan the slaughter in advance and allocate enough time for this so as not to be distracted in the process. Delay at certain stages can degrade the quality of the resulting product.

How to hack a chicken at home

It is believed that killing chickens is easy. In fact, only those who have never done this think so. Those who regularly have to do this difficult job know what pitfalls await them in this field.

There are various ways to hack and butcher a chicken, you should choose based on your own experience and convenience. We will consider each of the schemes in detail below.

Internal method of slaughter

This technique is used in large poultry farms to exsanguinate birds already stunned by the current. The scheme is simple in theory, but in practice it can cause certain difficulties for novice poultry farmers. Therefore, you should only practice with one hundred percent confidence in your abilities. The essence of the method is as follows:

• birds are stunned;
• in an unconscious state with or without cones suspended upside down;
• a thin knife or special scissors is inserted into the beak;
• with a sharp movement, the 2 main veins are cut through, located behind the palate;
• after cutting the blood vessels, a sharp injection is made into the cerebellum, due to which the muscles relax, and exsanguination takes 2 times less time.

The main thing is to act quickly and accurately to get through the arteries, otherwise the bird will suffer severe torment, and the killer will have to take longer with this matter. If you are not absolutely sure that everything will work out, it is better to choose another option.

External method of slaughter

How can you slaughter a chicken using this method quickly and easily? Moreover, no specific knowledge is required. This technique is perfect for slaughtering broilers and other poultry. How to slaughter chickens externally - the diagram below.

1. It is possible to stun the bird first, but this is not necessary for this method.
2. Securely fix the torso by hanging it head down in a cone.
3. Use a sharp knife to cut the jugular vein and carotid artery - make a small incision on the right side of the neck just below the earlobe and on the left, symmetrically.
4. Leave until complete exsanguination.

A large blood collection container should be placed under the hanging cones. Immediately after the vein and artery are cut, the bird will not die in the same second, but will flutter in dying convulsions for another 1-5 minutes. Chickens can fall out and get dirty if not secured.

Helpful advice

If it is not possible to purchase special industrial-made cones, you can make them from improvised means. Large plastic water bottles are often used - they cut off the bottom and turn it upside down, securely fixing it with a clothesline or wire.

How to hack a chicken with an ax

A popular but troublesome method of slaughter is to cut off the head with an ax. Why isn't this the best way? Firstly, without the developed skill it will be difficult to get exactly where you need to. Many newcomers admit that they made the poor animal suffer for the first time before they managed to decapitate him.

How to carry out decapitation, i.e. how to hack a chicken with an ax - all the steps are described below.

1. Prepare a chopping block - a wooden block, a sturdy box or stool. A wooden deck (stump) is best suited for these purposes.
2. Sharpening the ax carefully - a blunt tool in this matter will certainly lead to undesirable consequences and torment for the bird.
3. Take a bag (plastic, strong paper or fabric, for example, from food). Make a small hole in the lower part into which you can pass the head or chicken.
4. Pass the bird into the bag, tie it by the paws.
5. Put your head on the prepared block and fix it. Some farmers hammer in 2 large nails with wide heads for these purposes, but not completely, so that the bird's neck can be placed between them.
6. With an accurate and sharp blow, completely chop off the head, but at the same time hold the torso.
7. Immediately, the carcass must be hung by the legs in order to bleed it.

After exsanguination, you can proceed to standard activities - primary processing and butchering of the chicken. It is very important to hold the trunk after cutting off the head, because motor functions are preserved for some time and the bird may even try to "escape".

Primary processing

After complete bleeding of the carcass, it is necessary to start processing the carcass as soon as possible in order to obtain quality meat. At this stage, you should act quickly, as the delay will affect the quality of the product. What to do next is a step by step plan.

1. The first step is to pluck the chicken. In order to facilitate this process, you should take the carcass by its paws and lower it for 10 seconds into a container with boiling water prepared in advance. You need to start plucking from the back and wings, gradually moving towards the abdomen and back.
2. After plucking, remove the remaining feathers by light processing with fire - hold the carcass over a gas burner.
3. Now the carcass will be cut. It is necessary to gut it, if necessary, separate the breast, thighs, wings and pack for freezing.
4. If the subsequent sale of the bird is planned, experienced farmers recommend lowering it in a container with ice water or ice for 1-2 minutes - this will give it a fresh, appetizing presentation.

In the process of primary processing, the most difficult thing is peeling off the feathers. For poultry farmers whose meat production is on stream, manufacturers produce special feather cleaning machines. They represent a rotating container - a drum with projections inside, into which several carcasses can be lowered at once. The drum rotates, cleaning up to 95% of the feathers.

Better to buy chilled chicken. So you pay only for the weight of the carcass itself: unscrupulous producers pump chickens with water before freezing to increase the weight. In addition, the freshness of chilled meat is easier to determine.

Express check of freshness of chilled chicken:

1. Examine the chicken. If there are scratches or bruises on the carcass, the skin is damaged or has yellow-gray spots, it is better to refuse to purchase.
2. Pay attention to the color. The age of chickens is determined by their skin color. In young ones, it is pale pink, veins are clearly distinguishable on it. The skin of an old chicken is thick with a yellowish tinge.
3. Feel the carcass. Press on the breast with your finger: fresh meat is firm, it will quickly return to its previous shape. If after pressing there is a dent, this is a sign of product deterioration.
4. Sniff the carcass. Fresh chicken smells like raw meat. Do not buy chicken that smells like drugs or other off-flavors.

Prepare everything you need:

1. Chicken carcass. It needs to be rinsed and dried with paper towels.
2. Cutting board.
3. Sharp knife. Large or small - your choice. The main thing is that it is well sharpened.
4. Bowls or bags for laying out meat.

Chicken meat is white and quite dietary (twice as much protein as fat). Carcass from neck, back, breast, wings, thighs and drumsticks. In stores, as a rule, chickens are sold already plucked, without heads and necks.

Wings and legs are used for frying or stewing. Cutlets and chops are made from the breast, and boiled is added to salads. The back, along with scraps of leather, tail and other non-format, goes to the broth.

There is one golden rule to butcher a chicken quickly and easily.

Cut through the joints! Don't try to cut bones.

Separate the legs first. They can be used whole or cut into thighs and shins. Then cut off the wings. The first phalanx of the wing is usually separated and used for cooking broth, since there is little meat there and this part burns when frying.

Then cut out the breast. Make an incision along the sternum while pressing the knife to the bone. Then, using your fingers, carefully cut the meat off the frame. Then separate the other half of the brisket from the back.

The remaining frame can be broken into several pieces for easier storage and cooking.

When you get used to it, the whole process will take you no more than 5-10 minutes.

How to cut up chicken for roll and stuffing

Whole chicken roll is an exquisite dish for a festive table. It can be cooked in cling film (you get something like chicken ham) or baked in the oven with mushrooms, vegetables, dried fruits and other fillings.

In any case, all bones must be removed from the carcass. Here's how it's done:

To cook stuffed chicken, bones are also often removed. Only in this case, an incision is not made along the sternum. The carcass is gradually turned inside out, while the femurs are carefully removed and the meat is separated from the carcass.

How to barbecue chicken

To make chicken kebab, in principle, it is enough to cut the carcass into portions and.