Our Very First Chicken Butchering Day

WARNING THIS IS ABOUT BUTCHERING CHICKENS DO NOT READ THIS POST OR LOOK AT THE THE PICTURES IF THINGS LIKE THIS BOTHER YOU.

Chicken butchering went very good.  We butchered 6 old hens and have more to go.  We stated out before 8 getting everything set up and the water hot.  Our first chicken was hung about 8:30 and we were done butchering around 11:00.  I thought it went real fast and the time flew by.  Ron and I both started out killing and taking the feathers off the first 2 and I gutted the first one.  Ron's back was bothering him so he sat down and did the gutting while I did the rest.  Renee and Derek came over to watch the process and Derek was our helper.
I would get one, Derek would spray her off with the hose,I then hung it by both feet, slit the juggler, after bleeding was done I cut off her head then dunked her in the 170 degree water.  I then would hang the hen by one leg and then proceed to remove the feathers.  Derek would then take the blow torch to them to get the tiny hairs that are left after removing the feathers.  After this was done Ron would then gut them, clean them out and put them in a pot of ice water.
I put all the feathers and remains in the burn barrel and burned the stuff so we wouldn't have a smell.  I then used some industrial cleaner to clean everything that was used and washed down the entire area.
I did a final cleaning on the chickens one by one and they are in a pot in the fridge and I will put them in a roaster tomorrow night and cook them for at least 12 hours.  I will then strain the broth, can it and then pick the meat off the bones and can it in pints to use in soup and noodles.
We will be doing this again next weekend and only 2 things we would do differently would be using a cutting board when gutting and bring a cooler out with extra ice in it.  We had to have Renee come in the house and get some when e needed it.  Thank goodness she was here to do it.
The hens dressed out are not that big, the weights are as follows:
2.13 #
2.3 #
2.10 #
2.4 #
2.7 #
1.15 #

The setup and Ron.

The boiling pot.

Ron and I plucking a chickens.

As we were doing the chickens the farmer was raking the hay field.

Derek burning the fine hairs off the hen.

Ron gutting a hen.

Everything is out.

I took over the burning when Derek got a little carried away.

Washing a hen before we begin the process.

Plucking the hen.

The finished hen.

Derek helping me wash the hens.