How is the slaughter and butchering of quails
Quail slaughter is carried out both manually and with the help of special equipment. The first method is used in small households, while the second is recommended for large farms.
Slaughter and butchering of quails
Quail farms are no longer a rarity in our time. The meat of these birds has unique dietary properties, and the healing qualities of eggs have been repeatedly proven by scientists. However, in order to get the maximum amount of feathers and meat from one individual, you need to be able to properly cut the bird.
Preparation of quails before slaughter
This species of birds, despite its small size, has an extremely valuable meat. It is prescribed for people with heart or gastrointestinal problems. Due to its dietetic nature, the product has beneficial properties for the human body. However, the small size of the pet is considered extremely inconvenient for slaughter and butchering, especially by hand. Adults rarely weigh more than 200 g, and in order to get the maximum amount of meat and feathers from them, you should adhere to certain rules for slaughtering quails.
In addition to adhering to the technologies of the slaughter itself, the poultry should be prepared. Most often, the following individuals go to slaughter:
- males that are not used for mating;
- young females with poor egg production;
- old individuals whose characteristics are already below normal.
Young individuals begin to fatten after the first month from the date of birth. By this time, it is possible to select those individuals that are not needed for mating or do not lay eggs well. Such birds are transferred to high-calorie concentrated feed and restricted in movement. Thanks to concentrates, quails quickly gain weight, and a sedentary lifestyle creates a subcutaneous fat layer, which makes the meat more tender.
Individuals whose age does not allow them to perform their functions well are also usually fattened before slaughter. Together with concentrates, they are additionally given a complex of vitamins A and D for better assimilation of food. In order for the old individual to gain weight faster, animal protein is also added to its diet. It can be cottage cheese, boiled egg or milk.
Immediately before the slaughter of quails, such a set of actions is carried out:
- Fatty individuals are placed in a separate cage the day before slaughter.
- The day before slaughter, the birds are not given food and the stomach is cleaned with a saline solution.
- For 12 hours before slaughter, the winged is not given water.
Such preparatory actions will help protect the meat from quick spoilage after slaughter. A good age for slaughter is 45 days of their life with a mass of 200 g.
Manual method of slaughtering quail
Manual slaughter of quails exists in two forms:
- American - cutting blood vessels with a knife through the beak.
- Decapitation with pruning shears or large scissors.
The quality of slaughter is determined by the amount of blood in the meat. A good slaughter leads to complete exsanguination of the carcass.
The American method of slaughtering quail is considered the most popular among poultry farmers. To do this, the birds are suspended by their legs on a wire or hook, after which they squeeze the auditory openings with their fingers. This forces the individual to reflexively open its beak. The slaughter knife is of a special design: narrow and thin.
If you are not confident in your abilities or are performing a similar procedure for the first time, you should watch the training videos or consult with more experienced specialists.
The blade is inserted at such an angle that, by cutting the vessels, it is possible to reach the brain. A similar procedure is needed in order to relax the muscles. Thanks to this, the blood flows out of the body faster, and the carcass itself will be easier to pluck.
If the quail does not have paralysis, the down and feathers will remain firmly in the skin and it will be impossible to pluck the individual without breaking the feather structure. Feathers are plucked as soon as possible after the death of the bird, because as soon as the carcass cools down, this material will begin to lose its qualities.
Quails are cut in different ways. Sometimes the carcass is completely gutted. To do this, make a small incision in the abdomen and pull out the insides. With this method, it is important not to make the wound too deep: if you accidentally damage the liver or gallbladder, the meat will taste bitter.
In another case, a knife is drawn around the anus and the gastrointestinal tract is pulled out through it. However, this method is considered the dirtiest: the intestines can easily tear and stain the meat.
The third method of cutting quail differs in that the carcass is not gutted. Poultry farmers achieve the purity of the meat during the preparatory cleansing of the feathered gastrointestinal tract.
Veterinarians say that the last method is the most rational. Whole meat has fewer harmful bacteria than cut poultry. However, this is often unprofitable for the breeders themselves, because entrepreneurs prefer to take carcasses without entrails.
After cutting, the birds are processed to remove excess moisture. To do this, the wings are firmly pressed to the sides of the bird and tightly wrapped with paper. Separately, paper is wrapped around the head and neck of the quail. This will help keep the meat fresh for longer.
The slaughter of quails and their cutting with the help of decapitation also begins with a long preparation. To begin with, the largest birds are slaughtered by this method, while the rest continue to be fattened to the desired weight.
Manual slaughter requires skill
Quails are killed by decapitation with scissors or a special pruner. The advantage of this method is that the bird is drained of blood in a few minutes. However, the challenge for beginners is the cut. Very often the pruner can slip off and the cut is torn, which can reduce the price of the final product. To avoid this, you can practice on strong branches or watch training videos. After slaughter, the quail is placed in water with a temperature not exceeding 50 ° C. The bird should be kept in this water for half a minute, after which you can pluck the down and feathers. If the water is too hot, the plucking procedure can damage the skin of the quail, which will affect its value.
For the same purpose, some breeders use paraffin wax. To do this, you will need a special dish with high sides, in which a bar of paraffin is melted, after which a dead individual is lowered into the vessel by the legs. After a couple of seconds, the carcass is removed and waited for the excess wax to drain from the quail. Feathers processed in this way are easily detached from the body and have a good presentation.
Storage of quail after manual cutting
The simplest and most effective way to store meat is vacuum freezing. Before packing, the carcass is gutted and cut into pieces, then put into a thermal bag and tightly sealed. As such, the meat can be put up for sale.
Whole carcasses are subjected to the same procedure.In this form, the bird can be stored for 2 weeks and withstand long journeys. It is important to observe all the stages of the packaging technology: if the thermal package is not sealed correctly, then the meat may freeze and begin to crumble.
If you do not have the opportunity to pack the carcasses in a vacuum bag at home, then you can use regular polyethylene bags. The birds are also tied with a bag close to the skin and sent to freeze.
Quail slaughter using specialized equipment
On large poultry farms, manual slaughter of domestic quails is very often considered unprofitable, since it requires a large amount of human energy consumption. Poultry slaughtering machines come in a variety of sizes to fit any farm size. If the number of birds is already more than 300, then it is rational to use semi-automatic mini-slaughterhouses for quails and pigeons. Usually, such a small machine is designed exclusively for bird killing and primary processing. This technique is rarely equipped with additional features. Most often, the machine has a blade and a neck holder. Quails are fed by hand and processed the same way. The advantages of this machine are in a fast and even cut, which can rarely be achieved manually, especially for beginners. Large farms use large poultry slaughter machines that include many functions. Most often, this technique has the following settings:
- automatic direction of quails;
- primary treatment, which includes stunning with electricity, slaughter, cutting off heads and paws, scalding and plucking;
- getting rid of the entrails of birds;
- cooling meat;
- sorting birds or specific parts.
The quail slaughtering technique itself, in this case, has special equipment for such actions:
- metal pendant for birds;
- humane electric stun function;
- blades and knives for slaughtering and cutting off heads;
- hot water supply;
- automatic removal of plumage;
- machine for separating and dropping legs;
- automatic sorting and packing.
The slaughter of domestic quails with the help of such machines occurs non-stop. During the day, the technique allows you to decapitate and process several thousand carcasses without human intervention. These technologists make it easier to slaughter quails. However, purchasing such equipment is a rather costly decision, appropriate only on large farms.
Conclusion
The slaughter of farm quails is an important procedure for any poultry farmer. Quality poultry slaughter provides a profit to the farm. However, in order to get the maximum quality meat and feathers, it is not enough to hammer the quail.
Butchering also plays an important role in this matter. If you are still an inexperienced farmer and are slaughtering birds for the first time at home, then follow the slaughter rules and watch the training videos.