Chill Tank size for 50 birds

[Billy Foster]

Anyone know how big a tank I should use to chill 50 broilers after processing? This is our first time raising broilers — any poultry actually — so we decided to pay to have them processed. We figured we would get the raising part down before figuring out the processing part out. The one piece I did not think of was the size of the chill tank I would need for all those birds. Any ideas?

Thanks
Billy

[Ravens Meadow Farm]

Usually I’m lurking in the background trying to glean useful information from others smarter than myself but now I find myself in a position where I can give some potentially useful information. We’ve been processing several hundred birds amongst our family for years now and what works for us is a simple half a plastic barrel with water and ice. We have 2 of these, one for when the birds come out of the plucker and the other for cooling after evisceration. The half barrel holds approximately 25-30 birds depending on size. Ours are usually 4 and a half to 5 and a half pounds dressed. To process many more than that at a time could be overwhelming without a small army of help. My job is dressing and cutting so I speak from personal experience. With this set up we’ve often done 100 birds killed, cut and packed in 5 hours. I hope this is helpful. On a side note, since this is a draft forum I couldn’t help post this picture of yet another use for draft power. Its a long walk from where we process the birds to the house.

[Ed Thayer]

Billy,

We do between 50 and 60 birds at a time and use a couple of 30 gal. water tubs. They are easy to dump out so when you have to add fresh water they are not a burden to move. One is called the pink tank and that is the one the birds go into immediately after evisceration. Then after a few minutes it goes into the final chill tank and then the drain rack prior to the shrink bags. We use old syrup and plastic milk jugs to freeze water in and start collecting them a few weeks before butchering time.

ED

[Billy Foster]

Excellent.
I have a couple barrels I can use and I like the idea of using frozen milk jugs to keep the water cold.
Thanks guys

[mink]

ed what kind of chicken plucker do you use? i take it your chicken raising adventure is working out for you? mink

[Ed Thayer]

We borrow a Featherman plucker from our neighbor who no longer processes birds. We give her chickens in trade for using the plucker. It works out well for both of us. We bought the economy model scalder and it works great. I think it was around $200.00 delivered to our door. We enjoy the chickens and this year have added turkey’s to the mix. They will be ready just before Thanksgiving. We are selling a few turkeys to offset the cost of raising ours and hope to break even.

Ed

[Gabe Ayers]

Billy-
We do 400-500 broilers and 35-75 turkey each season, processed and packed here on the farm. We also rely on the Featherman plucker and feel like it is very effective for both chickens and turkeys. For scalding, we use a simple propane burner and large stainless pot with a floating thermometer. It works well, but you have to really keep and eye on the temp. As far as ice tubs, we use three plastic 15 gallon tubs. Birds come off the gutting table and get ice in the cavity, then into the first tub. When that tub is full we move them on until they reach the third tub. By then, the ice in the cavity is gone and the flesh is very cold – the water hurts your hands if you are in the water too long! Then, they to the drying rack and to the vacuum sealer (from Cabelas). This system ensures that you have a properly cooled carcass heading into the bag. We have a waiting list every year for birds and they are a great product to offer to your customers.
-Brad

[Billy Foster]

I like that process Brad. Do you dry each bird before vacuum sealing? we were thinking about doing this but wondered how the moisture getting pulled out of the bag would effect the process. how long do you rest the birds before freezing them?
Billy

[Gabe Ayers]

We use a drying rack made of 10′ long 2″x8″ with PCV pipe sections 12″ in length set into the board. They rest up there will they are nearly dry and then each bird is patted dry with a clean piece of towel. If the iced cavity is cold then they can stay on the rack in the shade until they are almost completely dry (15-20 minutes). Each is vacuum sealed and then they go into a cooler with ice and when the cooler is full they head up to the freezer. The sealer does not seal well if the birds are not dry…
-Brad

[Does’ Leap]

I built a “Whizbang” chicken plucker and it has worked great (http://www.whizbangbooks.com/). You can put 3-4 birds at a time and it does a near-perfect job.

George

[dominiquer60]

I used to raise 1,000 broilers a year with a friend. We raised and butchered them in batches of 150 at a time with a new order of chicks arriving every 4 weeks. We used to process 75 before lunch and they would just fit into a 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank in cold spring water. After lunch we would transfer them to a partially filled 300 gallon with 150 pounds of ice (some in each cavity). After filling up the 150 gallon tank with the other 75 birds, we transfer them to the big tank and add the other 150 pounds of ice. We found this system effective at keeping the birds clean and chills them to the recommended 40 degrees within 4 hours. We used a lot of spring water to flush the 150 gallon tank while the birds are in it, dirty warm “pink” water overflows off the top while clean cold water replaces it. After chilling to 40 we would drain the birds and but them in clean (bleached) plastic totes and brought them to a neighbors orchard where his warehouse coolers were always set at 33 degrees. We would let the meat rest for 24 to 48 hours in apple cooler before bagging and freezing them. We believed in resting for tenderness, resting lets the energy in the cells (ATP) deplete and literally lets the meat relax because the rigor mortis is gone (no more cell energy). Good luck with your broiler project, nothing is a good as the food we raise ourselves.

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