Every farmer involved in the maintenance and breeding of guinea fowl is faced with the task of slaughtering a bird. The correctness of this procedure, as well as the subsequent processing of carcasses, determine the taste of meat and the shelf life of the product. Knowing the important nuances will help you avoid mistakes and get a quality product.
Preparation for slaughter
Pay attention to proper preparation before slaughter:
- Place the guinea fowl selected for slaughter in a separate enclosure, which must be kept clean. Make sure the enclosure is free of bird droppings and dirt that poultry can pick up.
- Before sending the guinea fowl to slaughter, cleanse the bird's gastrointestinal tract. To do this, put her on a hungry rations for 20 hours, while access to clean drinking water from a guinea fowl should not be limited.
- Experienced poultry farmers advise using a laxative laxative to speed up the process. The most commonly used for this purpose is mirabilite, also known as Glauber's salt.
- In the absence of a laxative, you can resort to a little trick. The turned-on light in the aviary at night will disorient the poultry, which subsequently provokes the acceleration of all internal processes, including digestion.
How many guinea fowls grow before slaughter?
The main criterion according to which the guinea fowl can be sent for slaughter is its muscle mass. Guinea fowl gains weight much faster than chicken.
For successful weight gain, the bird needs at least 4.5 kg of high-quality complementary foods. A three-month-old guinea fowl usually weighs up to one and a half kg. Then the poultry can be sent for slaughter.
The maximum set of muscle mass of a guinea fowl is completed by the age of five months. By this period, the weight of the female reaches 1.5 kg, and the weight of the male is up to 2 kg.
Guinea fowl are slaughtered at the age of three months, because poultry meat during this period is particularly soft and delicate in texture. A low fat content and a high content of amino acids essential for the human body are also noted.
What tools do you need?
To carry out the slaughter of guinea fowl at home large cleaver... With its help, the procedure does not require a lot of time and effort.
A sharp cleaver easily cuts through the throat and blood vessels of a bird, which allows it to die instantly without experiencing painful sensations. However, using a large cleaver is a viable solution only if the meat is to be used immediately.
You can store it for a minimum amount of time. This is due to the fact that open slaughter contributes to infection and damage to the integrity of the product, and therefore the meat begins to rot rather quickly.
When slaughtering a large number of guinea fowls, use a sharp knife, which is inserted into the bird's beak, damaging the jugular vein. This method of slaughter allows you to keep the meat fresh for a long period of time.
Step-by-step process
Depending on the available experience in carrying out the slaughter of poultry, as well as the size of the heads, it is necessary to choose a convenient and easy-to-execute version of the procedure. Do not forget about the cleanliness of the tools and clothing used.
You can disinfect instruments with 2% bleach, leaving them in the solution for 40 minutes. In the absence of a disinfectant, it is advisable to boil the tools for at least ten minutes.
The slaughter is recommended in the early morning.
Slaughter
Decapitation of a guinea fowl involves the use of a sharp ax or cleaver. The procedure is carried out in three simple stages:
- For convenience, pre-tie the paws to the bird and place it in a special bag that allows the head to lock in one position.
- Place the bird on a flat surface.
- Fit in and strike with an ax (or a cleaver) on the bird's neck. Try to decapitate the first time. Thus, you will be able to save the bird from torment.
It is extremely important to bleed the carcass after decapitation. To do this, hang it by the legs, thereby allowing the blood to drain. It is by no means recommended to neglect this process, since the remaining blood clots can provoke the growth of bacteria and reduce the shelf life of the meat.
As with the chicken, you can use the beak or split slaughter technique:
- Take the head of the guinea fowl in your left hand, with the beak facing towards you.
- Then insert a sharp knife directly into the beak of the guinea fowl. Damage to the jugular vein leads to the death of the bird, while maintaining the integrity of the meat.
In the video below, the breeder presents the process of slaughtering the guinea fowl:
Nip and singe
Place the bloodless carcass of a guinea fowl before plucking for a while in a deep container with hot water. Its temperature should not be higher than 60 degrees. And only after that you can begin to remove feathers.
First of all, a large feather is removed, then they move on to small feathers. The cannon is removed last.
Singing is done using a conventional alcohol or gas burner. An important condition is the absence of folds on the carcass. Therefore, it is necessary to stretch the seared area every time.
If the carcass is wet, then it is recommended to rub it with wheat or rye flour before singing it. It will absorb all the moisture available on the surface of the carcass and the fluff remaining after plucking will be easily removed during singeing.
Singing soot can be easily washed off with clean water.
Gutting
Before the gutting procedure of the guinea fowl, the legs, wings and cervical spine are cut off to the second vertebra. When removing the neck, the skin is first removed, and only then the vertebra is cut. The paws are removed 15 mm below the heel joints, and the wings to the first joint.
Then you can proceed to gutting the abdomen. It will be necessary to remove all internal organs of the bird, including the goiter and esophagus.
Special care must be taken when removing the spleen. If the integrity of the organ is damaged, a liquid flows out, which gives the meat bitterness.
At the end of the process, rinse the carcass thoroughly in ice water 3 times. The water must be changed for each rinse. Leaving the gutted carcass in water for a long period of time is not worth it, as this provokes a decrease in nutrients in the meat.
Carcass aging
Leave the gutted and washed carcass for a while to cool. This is best done in a clean room with a moderate level of humidity at room temperature. As a rule, the aging of a guinea fowl carcass does not require more than 6 hours. After that, you can start cooking the meat.
If you want to keep the meat for a longer period, it is recommended to resort to freezing. Prolonged storage of frozen guinea fowl reduces the nutritional value of the product.
Butchering
There are several options for cutting a guinea fowl carcass into parts. The whole carcass is cooked only on the grill, in the oven or during boiling. In other cases, you will need to resort to cutting in one of the following ways:
- Boneless butchering. It implies the complete removal of meat from the bone. A similar method is used to obtain the loin, which is needed to prepare meatloaf or various types of minced meat.
- Partial butchering of the carcass. It consists in cutting the bird into symmetrical pieces. A similar method is used to prepare baked and fried foods.
- Waste-free butchering of a guinea fowl carcass. Often used by housewives. Thanks to him, guinea fowl meat can be used as economically as possible. You can prepare a wide variety of dishes - from broth to meat casserole.
To carry out waste-free cutting of guinea fowl carcasses:
- Make a small incision at the thigh. Pull it back and turn it slightly with your other hand while continuing to cut with the knife.
- A similar procedure is carried out with the winglet. When the humeral cartilage is removed, the winglet is chopped off.
- The sternum of a guinea fowl carcass is cut in the middle. The sirloin is removed from the bones using a blade. There should remain two fillets and a back section connected with ribs.
- Cut the spine along, thus removing the ribs. If desired, the resulting pieces can be chopped into smaller pieces.
- Despite the fact that guinea fowl contains dietary meat, sometimes a small amount of fat can be found. It can be thrown away or stored in a refrigerator.
The slaughter of guinea fowl is not at all difficult, given our recommendations. Prepare the bird correctly and follow the step by step instructions for cutting.