killing fowl for xmas

mikeoh

anyone know a butcher in co clare aera that kills and cleans fowel for the table.......I have about 10 birds I need done for xmass

Zr105

mikeoh wrote: »

anyone know a butcher in co clare aera that kills and cleans fowel for the table.......I have about 10 birds I need done for xmass

Would you consider the diy option? Plenty of vids on YouTube of how to's

Eg; http://youtu.be/Vo0VQaGzU_s

It's for pheasant but the guy doing it is fairly good, plenty of other vids there to

3 the square

mikeoh wrote: »

anyone know a butcher in co clare aera that kills and cleans fowel for the table.......I have about 10 birds I need done for xmass

There is a lad down tipp limerick way does a nice neat job
Eugene o meara cappawhite

893bet

3 the square wrote: »

There is a lad down tipp limerick way does a nice neat job
Eugene o meara cappawhite

Done our turkeys last year. It's a pain in arse the month of December though. We were their early enough and was still in a q for 4 hours or more.

You get to watch the process a bit though so that is good to see.

mikeoh

Rang him......€7.50 a goose.....€3.25 a duck........get them back frozen....can't go wrong

deckycoop

turkey is the same price as a goose is he,

3 the square

mikeoh wrote: »

Rang him......€7.50 a goose.....€3.25 a duck........get them back frozen....can't go wrong

and a sound old skin as well

Base price

Contact your local ICA group.
I am sure there are lots in your area who know how to kill, pluck and dress fowl

gozunda

Base price wrote: »

Contact your local ICA group.
I am sure there are lots in your area who know how to kill, pluck and dress fowl

Certainly there would be some old birds with good experience there

Laois6556

Turkeys can be very hard to kill. We used a shovel handle on their necks. One person had their foot down on the neck while the other two held the bird. I was trying to hold one of it's wings and I tell ya it wasn't easy. Strong bastards. Took awhile for them to give up aswell. Not something I'd do again and I'm sure there's better ways of doing it.

Bullocks

Laois6556 wrote: »

Turkeys can be very hard to kill. We used a shovel handle on their necks. One person had their foot down on the neck while the other two held the bird. I was trying to hold one of it's wings and I tell ya it wasn't easy. Strong bastards. Took awhile for them to give up aswell. Not something I'd do again and I'm sure there's better ways of doing it.

There can be a fairly strong flap of their wings alright . If can put tjem into an upside down traffic cone with their head out the small end and slit the back of the head/neck without damaging the neck itself its a fairly civilised affair .

gozunda

Laois6556 wrote: »

Turkeys can be very hard to kill. We used a shovel handle on their necks. One person had their foot down on the neck while the other two held the bird. I was trying to hold one of it's wings and I tell ya it wasn't easy. Strong bastards. Took awhile for them to give up aswell. Not something I'd do again and I'm sure there's better ways of doing it.

Think turkey's are tough? Try a fully grown goose! They have seriously strong neck muscles. I wouldn't even try a manual dispatch on them tbh.

CHOPS01

God this thread brings back memories.
Parents used to keep turkeys here every year up to about 5 years ago.
Started out at just one for the dinner table Christmas day,a few for the freezer and a few more for neighbours. Eventually got to the point of having over 100 of the hoors with nearly all being sold oven ready to people around the parish.
On the dry hardy days they were let out on grass for a bit of free ranging.
Fair play to the parents the father in particular used kill pluck and panch them all himself.Twas some busy 6/7 days before Christmas but I suppose at least they had a good wad of cash for the Christmas to show for their efforts.
Watching the killing and doing the plucking I could handle but never the cleaning out.
As the years went on his killing methods changed. By hand in his prime then on to the handle over the neck and in the latter years when the strength wasn't there it was the burdizzo.
Them was the days

The man in red and black

We did some at home a few years back by the shovel handle on the ground technique outlined above. You need to be careful of the wings or they'll bruise all the breast.

Doing some here in about 4 hours now with a modified traffic cone with throat slitting technique. Will be interesting to see the difference!

Reggie.

The man in red and black wrote: »

We did some at home a few years back by the shovel handle on the ground technique outlined above. You need to be careful of the wings or they'll bruise all the breast.

Doing some here in about 4 hours now with a modified traffic cone with throat slitting technique. Will be interesting to see the difference!

Would like to rear a few some year. Is it much of a big job to rear say about 5

The man in red and black

I know when we did them in Ireland we did about 6 or 7 I think. Would be 3 years ago now. Not much work to them, just feeding and cleaning and making sure foxes don't get into the yard haha! Think when all the feed was accounted for and only selling them for normal money to friends and family it only barely broke even. It's more for the fun of eating your own turkey really.

Was talking to a farmer out here in Canada a few weeks ago and he was rearing 30 turkeys, organic and free range. He was selling them at a premium price, almost double the supermarket price. He said he was making a serious loss even at that and would never do it again.

As far as I can figure out the margins on birds are small and you have to do everything to huge scale to profit so don't expect to be getting a Christmas bonus out of the turkeys. If you do it for the enjoyment of rearing and eating your own dinner then it's great!

Reggie.

The man in red and black wrote: »

I know when we did them in Ireland we did about 6 or 7 I think. Would be 3 years ago now. Not much work to them, just feeding and cleaning and making sure foxes don't get into the yard haha! Think when all the feed was accounted for and only selling them for normal money to friends and family it only barely broke even. It's more for the fun of eating your own turkey really.

Was talking to a farmer out here in Canada a few weeks ago and he was rearing 30 turkeys, organic and free range. He was selling them at a premium price, almost double the supermarket price. He said he was making a serious loss even at that and would never do it again.

As far as I can figure out the margins on birds are small and you have to do everything to huge scale to profit so don't expect to be getting a Christmas bonus out of the turkeys. If you do it for the enjoyment of rearing and eating your own dinner then it's great!

Yeah it would be only for the enjoyment of your own use that I would rear them. Plus a few for the family members ya get on with

Mad4simmental

Ya fully agree with above. We do a bunch every year and a few broilers and ducks during the year. Have a Locke set up for it so it's handy. If there is and spud growers near you get a few bags of seconds that they can't sell. Boil and feed them with them a few shakes of barly and Turky pettets. The taste of your own bird is far superior to and shop bought one.

mikeoh

Reggie. wrote: »

Would like to rear a few some year. Is it much of a big job to rear say about 5

I did 3 turkeys last year.....feck all to it as long as u have a safe place. Chicks cost €7 each .....the ate a bag of starter 2bags grower and a bag of finisher ( €13/bag) and out the field by day.......average wt was 18 pound........a totally different taste and texture........ No problem killing them its the f#@king plucking!!!!