Chicken Processing: Tips, Tools & Guides
Raising your own meat birds is one of the most rewarding parts of homesteading, but when it comes time to harvest, having the right tools and information makes all the difference. This page is your go-to resource for everything you need to know about harvesting chickens at home. Here, you’ll find links to my step-by-step blog posts, the exact products I use to make processing easier, and answers to common questions about butchering, storage, and more. Whether you’re harvesting for the first time or looking to refine your process, I hope this collection of resources helps you feel confident every step of the way.
From Brooder to Butcher: John Moody’s Expert Tips For Raising Meat Birds
Join me for this episode of Homestead Journey as I sit down with John Moody—homesteader, author, and expert in sustainable farming. (See his book here) We’ll dive into his journey into homesteading, his best advice for raising meat birds, and how to navigate common challenges along the way. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your process, John’s wisdom will help you raise healthier, more productive birds.
The Breakdown on Birds
Essential Equipment for a Smooth Chicken Harvest
Last year, I tackled chicken butchering with the help of Roots and Harvest and their incredible chicken harvesting equipment—and let me tell you, it made all the difference! Having the right tools on hand made the process smoother, more efficient, and far less stressful.
Step One – Poultry Processing
Harvesting your birds is a big moment—it’s both rewarding and emotional after all the time and care you’ve put into raising them. Having the right setup can make the process smoother, more efficient, and as humane as possible.
The Poultry Harvest Station is designed to keep birds calm and secure while making processing easier for you. With four sturdy cones, the birds are held upside-down in a way that soothes them and prevents wing damage. The station is set at a comfortable working height, allowing for a safer, more controlled dispatch. Its freestanding design makes it easy to move around and work efficiently, and each cone can hold birds up to 10 lbs., with a total capacity of 40 lbs.
By handling the process yourself, you can ensure a humane and respectful end for your birds while also saving on processing costs—making home butchering both practical and ethical. Make sure you have a sharp Bleeding knife to make the job fast and humane. Also be prepared to sharpen the knife every few birds.
Step Two – Scalding for Easier Defeathering
Anyone who has processed chickens knows that a proper scald makes all the difference between a smooth pluck and a frustrating one. When a bird is scalded correctly, the feathers release easily, making plucking fast, efficient, and thorough. But if the scald is off, you’re left dealing with torn skin, stubborn pin feathers, and a whole lot of extra work.
The Roots & Harvest Poultry Scalder takes the guesswork out of the process by precisely heating and maintaining the ideal water temperature for scalding. No more fiddling with burners, adjusting firewood, or hauling hot and cold water. With the right scalder, you can avoid under- or over-scalding and ensure a clean, effortless pluck every time.
A high-quality poultry scalder is one of the most essential tools for home butchering. You’ll also need a Poultry Shackle and Hook Set for submerging birds and not getting burned. After putting time and effort into raising your birds, it only makes sense to finish the process with well-plucked, beautifully prepared meat that you’ll be proud to serve.
Step Three – Poultry Plucking
Hand-plucking poultry is a skill that takes time and patience. While plucking a few birds by hand is manageable, doing an entire batch can quickly become exhausting. That’s where a mechanical poultry plucker changes everything.
The Roots & Harvest Stainless Steel Poultry Plucker is designed to make defeathering fast and effortless. The rotating tub, lined with rubber fingers, gently but effectively removes feathers in seconds. After dispatching and scalding, simply drop the bird into the tub, and as it tumbles, the rubber fingers do all the work—leaving you with a perfectly plucked bird in under 30 seconds.
Anyone who processes their own meat birds will tell you that a quality plucker is a total game-changer. It saves time, reduces strain on your hands, and ensures consistently clean results, making butchering day far more efficient.
Step Four – How To Package And Store
Proper storage is key to preserving the quality of your homegrown meat birds, and shrink-wrapping is one of the best ways to do it. Using poultry shrink bags helps protect against freezer burn while keeping your birds neatly packaged for long-term storage. Not only does this method extend freshness, but it also gives your processed poultry a clean, professional look.
The process is simple—place the bird in the bag, dip it into hot water (using a Chicken Scalder or another heated setup), and watch as the bag shrinks to form a tight, air-free seal. These durable, clear bags have rounded bottoms for a perfect fit and can even be used to package individual chicken parts. With this method, your poultry stays fresh and freezer-ready for up to a year, making all your hard work in raising and butchering birds well worth it.
A Special Offer From Me & Roots & Harvest
If you’re preparing for your own harvest, I can’t recommend their equipment enough. Plus, I’ve got a special discount for you! Use code ERYN15 for 15% off at Roots and Harvest to stock up on everything you need.
How To Butcher
This video showcasing Joel Salatin at the Homesteaders of America in 2019 is the video we watched that best explained the breakdown on how to efficiently butcher chickens. I encourage you to watch it!
How To Freeze Your Chicken Harvest
After processing, we take extra care in how we freeze our chickens to preserve their quality and flavor. We use shrink bags to tightly wrap whole birds, locking in freshness. For individual cuts, we rely on the Roots & Harvest vacuum sealer to package the exact portions we know we’ll use—whether that’s drumsticks, wings, or a mix of cuts.
This method ensures no waste and that each meal is perfectly portioned. Homegrown chicken tastes far superior to store-bought, and by freezing it in the right quantities, you make meal prep simpler and more efficient. This approach is truly a game changer for anyone looking to make the most of their homegrown meat.
For my full breakdown, check out this blog post: How We Store & Used our Farm-Raised Meat Birds.