[ Chicken Harvest Seminar ]
Only $25/person (FREE really): The $25 harvest seminar fee will be credited toward the rental per household of the poultry processing equipment for customers that qualify for its use by purchasing all of their feed from Ward Lumber.
To register, call Mollie at (518) 946-2110, Ext. 121 or
Register OnlineThis hands on seminar is for seasoned farmers as well as new or
aspiring farmers. The educational event will offer the participant the
opportunity to learn and participate in the on-farm harvest of meat
chickens. The goal of the seminar is for attendees to add to their
skills and/or acquire new skills to harvest their own birds on the farm.
Seminar attendees will learn the proper, up-to-date techniques for:
- How to prepare BEFORE harvest day
- Handling to minimize stress and eliminate bruising & breaking
- Humane bleeding using cones
- Scalding using a Featherman thermostatically controlled, propane scalder
- Plucking using Featherman Pro Plucker
- Evisceration using proper techniques
- Packaging using shrink bags to reduce freezer burn
Attendees will be using the poultry processing equipment available at Ward Lumber.
Other topics that will be reviewed are:
- housing using a chicken tractor on grass
- feeding & watering equipment
Class size very limited to be sure each attendee has ample opportunity
to learn and participate. Registration is limited to residents of
Clinton, Essex and Franklin Cos. Priority will be given to Ward Lumber
feed customers and prospective feed customers. One person per farm is
preferred and added attendees from the same farm will be given
consideration if space allows. A wait list will be developed as needed.
Presenter: Jay Ward has raised various types of livestock on and off
since age 8 and is currently raising chickens (meat and replacement
pullets), pigs and alpacas.
Jay has trained with skilled poultry slaughterers and many chicken
farmers sharing the best practices and techniques for chicken
harvesting. He assembled and field tested a suite of portable poultry
processing equipment to enable farmers to more easily harvest their own
chicken on their farms.
"Thank you so much for teaching and helping us do the birds. The equipment makes a big difference and I love the shrink bags."
"The Ward Lumber company has been an amazing
asset to my chicken endeavor this year. Jay Ward has personally advanced
my processing skills beyond what I thought possible in my first year. I
can now process 80 birds per day by myself. Without the convenient use
of a complete set of processing equipment provided by Ward Lumber Co I
would not realize a profit this year. Jay’s help has been indispensable.
The willingness of Ward Lumber to listen to my thoughts and change
equipment accordingly has been outstanding. My first year raising birds
wouldn't be possible without Jay and the rest of his staff. Thank you
Ward Lumber."
"I harvested two chickens last weekend. It went much better, thanks to you.
I really have to applaud your efforts. Your seminars are real
eye-openers for many folks who take for granted where food comes from.
Keep up the great work."
Ara
Saranac Lake, NY
"Participating in this helps with the process
for me to do our own chickens. I liked everything about the seminar.
Personable and hands on."
Barbara
Plattsburgh, NY
"I appreciated the seminar very much, not
only the topic but the way you presented it. I learned a lot and felt
more prepared when we harvested ours. Having the equipment handy for
people to rent at a very reasonable price was a god send, (smile). The
whole process including cleanup took 4 hours.
I appreciated that you would think to have a seminar at all, but I hear
you have many other types throughout the year.
Thank you again. Take care Jay & Enjoy."
Barbara
Plattsburgh, NY
"My primary reason for attending was
experience so the hands-on was excellent since it covered the entire
process. All the equipment worked great. For me the seminar was exactly
what I needed (more hands-on with Jay talking me through step by step.
The handouts were a nice touch. I’m accumulating a collection of
materials that I refer to. Using the scales as the last step was also
interesting since it was a complete end-to-end process."
John
Plattsburgh, NY
"We could not believe how much faster,
easier, better using the processing equipment made the harvest of our
chickens! We encourage everyone to take advantage of these great tools.
We will definitely use it again next spring. Thank you Jay for teaching
us how to use everything, and the showing us a much more peaceful,
humane way to harvest our birds."
Tammy Tuper
Tuper Farm, Bombay, NY
Jay Ward teaches chicken harvest to Paul Smith’s College culinary arts students
as part of their American Gastronomy class taught by Chef Kevin McCarthy.
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