Our first broiler butcher was a success! The heavens opened on us Friday night, so we were not able to set up until Saturday morning. We killed our first chicken about 10:15 and were finishing our 15th and last about 12:30. Of course, it took additional time to get all the birds bagged and weighed and clean up the giblets, but all in all, I think it was great timing for our first attempt.
We are butchering again on August 11 and this time will have 50 birds to do. I am actively working to get them all sold. Reserve yours today!
Here are pictures. Some people may find them graphic.
Here is Jeff loading a chicken into the killing cone. These restrain the birds so they can't flap around and hold them upside down so the blood can drain out. Then the birds were scalded to loosen feathers and put 2 at a time into the plucker. What an amazing machine this thing is! Press the on button, spray in some water and in 10 seconds, you get a plucked bird!
Occasionally, there would be a feather or two left. Those were pulled out and it was off to the eviscerating table.
It's not so bad, we actually have smiles on our faces! The birds hadn't had any food for the last 15 hours or so of their lives so there was no poo to deal with. Unlike mechanical evisceration, we did not cut into a single intestine. All the offal was dumped intact into the waste bin at our feet. Giblets, necks and feet went into the red cooler. 
Then it was off to the icy cold chill tank. When all the chickens were done, we drained and bagged them in shrink bags http://chickenpickers.com/shrink_bags.html.
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