Dispatch, Plucking & Dressing

Come and learn the essential skills required to prepare your chickens for the table.

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You will prepare a free range meat chicken from start to finish (with as much assistance as needed)  These birds have been reared free range here on our smallholding.

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This course will be run for small groups (maximum 6 participants) to ensure that you have plenty of supervision.

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We will teach you how to humanely dispatch a chicken, looking at different methods available, and how to ensure welfare is maintained throughout (mechanical neck dislocation and electrical stunning will be demonstrated)

Plenty of discussion and demonstration will take place, to ensure you are confident with what you are about to do.

If you are comfortable with the process, you can then carry out this stage yourself.

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You will then dry pluck your chicken, and look at the options for hanging to mature the meat.

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Lunch is included - we will treat you to a delicious homecooked lunch, featuring produce from our smallholding.  There will be an opportunity to have a look around the rest of our smallholding too.

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After lunch, we will cover the dressing stage - again, each participant will be individually supervised to ensure success.

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You will take home with you a lovely, free range chicken ready for the oven - all prepared by you!

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Looking for WATOK training?

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If you are considering setting up a business to sell oven ready poultry, you will need a watok license.

(Watok = Welfare of Animals at Time of Killing.  Click here to visit the relevant page on gov.uk)

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We cannot issue you with a watok license, but we can help you take the first step towards obtaining one.  The electrical stunning taught on this course is one of the acceptable methods under the watok legislation.  We can talk you through the process of applying for your watok licence.

Jonathan holds a watok license for our Christmas turkey business.