late twelvemonth have seen local food for thought movements and sustainability initiative go mainstream . Where discussions about cruelty - free meats and constituent green groceries were once limited to farmers market booth and rude - grocer aisle , today the clarion call for responsible factor can be heard loud and clear from all corner of the internal landscape painting . multitude want good food .
If you ’ve capture a cage of backyard layer or a flying field of free - range hens , you ’ve probably already experienced this , as protagonist and neighbor — and sometimes stranger in your private road — ask if you have a spare XII or two invigorated ballock to sell . But when hens grow old and become infrequent layer , or a small farm looks to expand its offerings to admit sustainable domestic fowl , crybaby keeper often go hunt for a local facility for assistance slaughtering and processing their chickens .
Finding a chicken processor , however , is often an unexpected challenge . Slaughterhouses in general are a uprise rareness in our advanced old age , and facility that possess the equipment , permits and manpower to handle poultry are even more unmanageable to locate . If you ’re lucky enough to survive close to such an operation , toll can present additional challenge , trimming the profit potentiality for a undivided chick down to just pennies . For modest farmers looking to upraise a few hundred bird per year to supply sustainable fowl for their communities , the breakeven scenario does n’t make sensory faculty .
Fortunately , there is another alternative : you’re able to do it yourself . While confessedly not for everyone , processing your own chickens dramatically reduces the cost per boo and makes the notion of autonomous , small - farm poultry operation a financially well-founded reality . But the viability of snaffle a tongue and a killing strobile and heading out back deviate wide calculate on where you live : While some local governing body countenance farm - based processing operations a set bit of meat sales event per year , some states have strict laws against such procedure . And as agrarian and food - base hit legislation tightens across the country , even those who enjoy farm - friendly laws toward small producers revere one mean solar day waking up to find their support outlawed .
Mobile Processing Units
The best answer to this domestic fowl quandary is what ’s known as a fluid processing unit . Simply put , mobile processing units are full , portable setups that provide all necessary equipment to process chickens for kernel . The basic provisions of such a unit admit stamp out cones for butchery , a scalder to loosen feathers , a defeathering tumbler and healthful hang hooks and open for disembowel and processing whole or cut - up chickens .
A basic MPU can subsist on an open - air flatbed prevue and attend an economical purpose , providing equipment for on - farm processing of a mild amount of poulet . These units are especially helpful for citizenry who only occasionally butchery chickens , such as when a flock of lay hens has aged beyond productiveness . Typically , these birds are action as lower - toll stew hen , as their toughened nitty-gritty has more limited enjoyment than that of broiler , and renting the use of an MPU makes more gumption than purchase and storing expensive equipment for occasional use .
These basic stopgap processing - unit are uncommitted for leverage from a little number of producer , such as Cornerstone Farm Ventures of Norwich , New York . If you ’re interested in renting an MPU , get hold of your local county extension agent to ask about availability in your area .
Carla Wilson
Kentucky State University
In some states , however , on - farm processing is n’t a effectual option , and providing small - monetary value method for little - scale leaf Fannie Merritt Farmer to treat their own fowl slaughter becomes a challenge . Fortunately , sustainable farming advocate seek a guide for processing resolution under effectual tightness have somewhere to wait : Kentucky .
“ This is the first MPU in the country , ” say Steve Skelton , MPU Coordinator at Kentucky State University ’s College of Agriculture , Food Science and Sustainable Systems . “ Kentucky has always been this ‘ let them do it first and then we ’ll succeed ’ type affair , because the state has the most stringent laws impound to it . We ’re not like other body politic where you may do it out in the open , in a parking lot or whatever .
“ I get calls from all over the U.S. every year , ” he say . “ People desire to come and look at it and get the information . Washington state , several other state — they have them now . ”
Carla Wilson
Kentucky State University ’s story is more than enough evidence of regulative hesitance to approve MPU operations . First conceptualized in 1996 by a chemical group of key Kentucky farmers , the endeavor quickly attract the aid of powerful allies as Heiffer International , Partners for Families and Farms , Kentucky State University and University of Kentucky came on board . The groups worked to commute an 8 - by-20 - foot aluminum horse cavalry trailer into a state - approve mobile facility that could be hauled to low farmers ’ properties . And everything seemed to going well — until the project amount to a screeching stoppage .
“ Everything was all in property , built and put up , and they unveiled it at the state capital , ” Skelton say . “ And everybody was aright pleased with it , but when mass started using it , the state government health department said , ‘ Oh , no . ’ It was shut down when they could n’t come to an correspondence about water issues . The nation said wastewater had to be put in a hold tank and pumped out ; it could n’t be put out on a leach landing field or anything . So the MPU just pose idle . ”
The MPU was park under an sunshade , where it remain until 2005 , when Skelton was hired on a one - year Ulysses Grant contract bridge to incur a utilization for it . “ I built a tying up post for it , got it cleaned up and ready to utilise , ” he say . “ When my Hiram Ulysses Grant was up , they require if I would wish to function for them full - fourth dimension to keep the MPU going . ”
Skelton implemented a number of changes to the unit to make it more drug user - friendly , as well as developing an aquaculture and hare processing program . And though he still ca n’t take it to a farmer ’s res publica , the MPU is wandering , locomote between three O.K. dockage pads — at Frankfort ’s KSU , Morehead State University and in Jackson County — with a 4th before long plan for London , Kentucky .
Skelton currently has more than 200 users of the MPU , all of whom have education to become state - approved facility managers . “ Once a year , we give a one - day class , ” he says . “ The first one-half is schoolroom - style training , where you watch video and instructor give you info , and the second is actual hand - on training . Everyone has to march a chicken ; they have to slaughter it and really process it . That ’s part of the test at the end of twenty-four hours they have to take and buy the farm . ”
The facility manager ’s license is dear for two years , and users are required to regenerate their enfranchisement every other year after . Certification for the initial two twelvemonth is $ 75 and renews for $ 50 thereafter . If that seems like a steal , that ’s because it is .
“ The intellect we have the MPU is to help small farmers be more sustainable and to help make income on their property to support their families , ” Skelton says . “ And our damage structure has not change in 11 years . Farmers can process 100 birds in the MPU for $ 112.50 , plus 22 cents per bag for vacuum packing . ”
The facility gives farmers capability to take home either whole birds or value - added cut - up chicken , and , thanks to a special immunity from the USDA , birds process at the MPU can be sold anywhere in Kentucky — from direct sale at market to grocery computer memory and restaurants — in full abidance with the legal philosophy . And the MPU helps mass aid others too .
“ I have seven high schools that are processing chickens and turkey here , ” Skelton says . “ They do them for fundraiser and feast opportunities . A dyad of them even process snort that they give to the elderly citizens ’ home . ”
In addition to running the MPU , Skelton is a staunch pastured - fowl advocate who on a regular basis develop farmers on the benefits of fresh grass and sunshine . The KSU MPU is American Humane Society O.K. , Animal Welfare approved and organic sanction , allowing farmers to sell meat in full confidence of their product . Carla Wilson
Using the MPU
On my late visit to talk with Skelton at the KSU MPU , I found the trailer park in its outbuilding , safely hidden inside the specially built structure . It was n’t my first visit to the buck lagger ; my family farm utilized the MPU for a handful of years , and I spent many hour inside slaughtering , cleansing and promotion broiler wimp .
mistreat through the building door , one sees the converted knight drone , with various pieces of equipment sitting outside of it on the kill floor — a row of strobile under a stun knife , used to fork out birds unconscious ( a requirement for humane - certified butchery ) ; a declamatory water bath that splay birds in 140 - degree water and loosen the feathers ; and a large , cylindrical defeatherer .
There ’s a small windowpane in the sawbuck trailer ’s side that allows a tub of birds to conk to the pristine interior , which is line with stainless steel preparation surface and a roof - get on track holding shackles ; actor can hang birds for comfortable , effective cleansing . To the front of the trailer , there ’s a large , wheeled tub that holds ice H2O used to chill birds quickly ; beyond that sits the vacuum - boxing automobile .
Are the KSU MPU , its emulator and the various on - farm units in operation across the country the small - farm saviors some herald them as ? While it ’s hard to exact sustainable farming is a safe and surefire path to successfulness , Mobile processing units can be a definite benefit to Farmer looking to add increased profitability to their operations . And when Fannie Farmer can provide what a obligation - given market demands , this just might be a adept time for poulet keepers .
Backyard Processing
While our family farm makes exercise of United States Department of State - approved processing facility for the poultry we trade , doll headed for our freezers — most often stew hens and young roosters — getprocessed in the backyard , with a homebrewed setup based on what we ’ve used in licensed facilities .
Kill Cone : uncommitted for purchase at farm - supply stores and online , these untarnished brand cones tie to a tree and incur an upside - down bird ’s head . Two ready cut to both sides of the cervix quickly phlebotomise out the fauna for an efficient death .
Canning Pot , Propane Grill : dip a bird in 140 - level water loosens the feathers without cooking the meat . A propane grille , thermometer and attentive oculus keep the water at the right temperature .
Defeatherer : Our only significant purchase , the tumbler removes plumage from the carcass . you may also buy kits online for DIY defeathers , and I ’ve seen born-again washables machines do the trick as well .
Processing aerofoil : We practice a stainless - steel cesspool - and - sideboards that a friend gave us , and we built a rolling standstill to contain . The drain is left open , with a bucket set underneath to find waste for later compost .
Coolers Filled With Ice : Chicken carcasses require to chill quick to prevent bacterial growth , and a dedicated , ice - filled cooler does the trick .
