You asked, I’m answering! Here is a list of all my favorite tools for raising and butchering meat chickens.
Brooder box
Chick Brooder Plate – This is a safer option for a heater for chicks. It’s far safer fire wise compared to the traditional clip on heat lamps.
Glass feeders – I like to use these glass feeders. Plastic breaks (I know glass can too but these seem more durable). I like that the base is metal and I can replace the jar with a normal mason jar. If you already have masons jars, use this link.
Wide feeder – Because we raise so many birds, we always need multiple feeders, these wide feeders are great too.
Waterer – This is the same style as the feeder above. Pair it with a regular mouth mason jar you have on hand.
Vitamins/Electrolytes – If your birds traveled to get to you, it’s probably a good idea to give them some sort of hydration mix.
Adult meat chicken tools
Water
I like to use a couple different waterers. I like this 5 gallon waterer because chickens can drink deeply and get a lot of water at once, which is great when it’s hot out. However, I like to pair it with this drip waterer because they can’t scratch the ground and throw dirt in it. The ground needs to be level for the 5 gallon water container to not pour out on the ground. It’s happened where I thought the container was level but it wasn’t and all the water completely emptied onto the ground. The drip water container ensures that if that happens, they still have water for the day. Also, chickens can have a tendency to scratch the ground and make a mess of open water containers so I like to have both in my chicken tractor.
Food
It’s really important to spread food out with meat chickens. They act ravenous all the time and will push each other around to get at a feeder. To avoid injury I think it’s really important to have multiple feeders. Additionally, as the chickens grow, less and less chickens will fit around a feeder. I have a big hanging feeder like this (plastic) and this (metal). The large one is nice because it dispenses food as they eat. Additionally, I like to have smaller feeders like this (plastic) or this (metal) spread out around the tractor to make sure everyone can get to the food.
Meat Chicken Butchering Tools and Supplies
Kill Cones – We process more than 50 birds so we have 4 of these mounted on a board of wood.
Large/deep stock pot – Before plucking the chickens, you dunk them in hot water to loosen the feathers. This fits 2 birds at a time.
Thermometer – In order to keep the skin from cooking while scalding, birds need to be dunked in water around 140-150*. This thermometer makes it easy to monitor the water temperature.
Turkey burner – No one wants to be dunking chickens in their chicken in their kitchen, this burner allows you to choose your chicken butchering location. Great for canning too!
Gloves – These are heat resistant gloves for dunking and retrieving birds out of the scalding water.
Plucker – Although this is an investment, owning a plucker makes the process go so much quicker compared to plucking by hand.
Shears – These shears are great for removing the feet and breaking down the birds into pieces.
Bags – These are bags for shrink wrapping whole chickens.
Table risers – These table risers are back savers! Instead of bending over they allow you to stand upright and have the table at a more comfortable level.
Tubs for sorting – These tubs are great for sorting. We keep the feet, liver, heart, gizzards, etc. After the chicken has rested we use the same tubs when we part the chickens out into breasts, thighs, wings, etc.
Chamber Sealer – We process hundreds of pounds of meat each year, so we have a chamber sealer. This is what we use to seal the chicken pieces that we break down into parts. We’ve had this machine for over 5 years and have processed 400+ pounds of meat on it each year and it still works wonderfully.
Chamber sealer bags – We use 8×10” and 10×13” bags.
Salt – While we allow the birds to rest, we put 1-2 cups of salt in the cooler for a gentle brine. This removes the blood and reduces toughness. I use Redmond Real Salt for all my salt needs. It is mined in the US and contains trace minerals. Code HAPPYHOME will save you 15%!
Other items you probably already have
Folding tables – You will want a minimum of a table to gut and cut on and another for holding your sorting tubs.
Coolers – We allow our chicken to rest for a minimum of 24 hours, 48 is preferable. So you will need a number of coolers to hold your whole chickens.
Ice – Leading up to processing chickens I use plastic containers to make large blocks of ice. This saves money and the blocks are more efficient at cooling compared to buying ice chips.
I hope this list helps! Leave a comment if you have any additional questions!
Here are some other meat chicken related articles:
0 Comments