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Pastured poultry processing hands-on courses 2025

Location: Helmdon, Northamptonshire

Want to learn how to process chickens for the table? Join us at this hands on course.

Our in-person course will teach you all the ins and outs of chicken processing, whether you are a homesteader or a beginning farmer wanting to learn the skills. From despatching, plucking, eviscerating to the final product, you’ll leave with the skills and knowledge needed to process your own chickens at your own farm or homestead. Don’t miss out on this hands-on opportunity to learn from experienced professionals. Sign up now!

What to expect:

  • Introduction about keeping chickens on pasture
  • Catching chickens into crates
  • Set up of processing premises
  • Stunning, dispatching, plucking, eviscerating and final cooling of chickens – you’ll rotate around the different stations to try each technique
  • Simple lunch will be provided – our 100% grass fed beef burgers, salad and buns

Details:

You’ll learn using manual stun gun, scalder tank and automatic plucker.

What to bring:

Bring wellington boots and rubber gloves. Aprons will be provided.

Course dates:

8th June (Sunday)

6 July (Sunday)

2 August (Saturday)

30 August (Saturday)

The amount of feed and fertilizers per 1 beef animal

As a calf, it is fed 100 kg of feed in a creep feeder:
60 kg barley
14 kg soya
23.5 kg sugar beet

growing steer (for 100 days) ratio:
350 kg barley
30 kg rapeseed

finishing steer (for 80 days)
600 kg barley

TOTAL feed per steer:
1010 kg barley
30 kg rapeseed
14 kg soya
23.5 kg sugar beet

Source: AHDB

Pesticide figure based on yearly application of pesticides on barley in 2018 (based on application to 0.17 ha that would produce 1 tonne of barley):

spring and winter barley were mixed in equal ratio for simplicity.
Pesticides in spring barley:
157.5 g
Pesticides in winter barley:
307.5 g

TOTAL 465 g of pesticides = to litres it is about 465 ml of pesticides per year.

Source: Pesticides usage survey 284 for arable crops in the United Kingdom 2018 (National Statistics)

Fertilizer figure (based on application to 0.17 ha that would produce 1 tonne of barley):
nitrogen: 24.14 kg
phosphate: 4.59 kg
potash: 5.95 kg
sulfur: 5.95 kg


TOTAL 40.63 kg of fertilizers

Source: British survey of fertilizer practice for 2018 (DEFRA)