Meyer Moment: Top 3 Chicken Butchering Books

Hey everyone! Welcome back to The Coop with Meyer Hatchery - where we talk all things poultry in hopes of inspiring crazy chicken keepers and educating future flock owners. We’re glad to have you tuning in for this brief midweek as we provide a Meyer Moment to cover relevant happenings. 

Let’s take a Meyer Moment to talk about butchering books. There are numerous resources out there, to learn about processing chickens, and today we’re reviewing 3 of our favorite books on the topic. 

Adam Danforth is a well-known voice, in the world of small-scale and homestead butchering. Meyer Hatchery offers 2 of Danforth’s books, Butchering Chickens and Butchering; one that specifically focuses on chicken processing, while the other explores butchering of poultry, as well as pigs, lambs, rabbits, and goats. Each book features step-by-step illustrations and photos to guide you through the process of humane slaughtering and expert butchering. 

On episodes 11 and 12 we chat with Adam Danforth first hand, to hear his best chicken processing advice. These episodes are linked below and are a must listen! 

If a commercial processor is not an option, or if you desire to create your own processing operation, The Mobile Poultry Slaughterhouse by

 Ali Berlow is an invaluable resource. This guidebook shows you how to create your very own mobile poultry processing unit. This unit can be produced for a network of farmers or developed as your very own business. The ultimate goal of the mobile unit described in the book is the strengthening of your local food system.

Most folks become homesteaders for the amazing food that can be produced on their own land. But homesteaders quickly have to learn, what to actually do, with all this wonderful food, and the skills needed to most efficiently utilize the harvest.  

The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How by Andrea Chesman is the ultimate guide, to learning the skills needed for a successful homestead kitchen. This book is full of helpful illustrations to teach you all about handling, use, and preservation of produce, meat, and dairy.  

There are so many great books and educational resources available when it comes to raising and processing your own food. We hope you enjoyed this Meyer Moment as we shared three of our go-to books when it comes to butchering chickens. 

Enjoy the rest of your week and as always, thank you for listening to The Coop!