Originally Posted by Candace
I used to help my daycare woman pluck the chickens as she cut their heads off. It seemed like a lot of work. You must be tired. Stupid question, probably, but after the heads I assume they must be gutted immediately? Do you keep any of the organs?
No stupid questions, trust me! DH and I did some learning online and then did the rest of our learning today. :)
After you cut the throat and let the bird bleed out you dunk them in hot water (needs to be about 150 degrees). You dunk them in and out several times until one of the wing feathers comes out easily with your fingers. Pluck them all clean, cut off the legs and head and then you have to gut them from the neck and the rear. After they're cleaned out you put them in a cooler with ice and water to stay fresh until you're all done with each bird.
We didn't keep the organs, just because it's more work than it's worth for me. I'm not much on organs. I did keep the necks though to boil and make stock out of.
Sorry if that was more info than you wanted!