Chickens

[Boondox]

We don't mind the dogs. Over the course of its egg-laying life one of our hens will probably bring in $30 or so worth of eggs. But if a dog kills a hen it costs the owner $50 on the spot...or we call the police. The police fine them $50 for having an uncontrolled animal molesting (strange choice of wording) farm animals, then turn it over to the animal control officer. The animal control officer observes the dog for 10 days at $30 per day. Then we file for civil damages and court costs.

Only had one person refuse to pay up front, and that was because her greyhound got beat up by my Rhode Island Red rooster! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

So if it weren't for dogs we wouldn't be turning any profit at all from the hens!

Pete

 

[Boondox]

I almost forgot about our Chicken Page. We put this together for some friends in NYC who had an inordinate interest in our flock. Enjoy.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.gatewaytovermont.com/thefarm/chickens.htm>http://www.gatewaytovermont.com/thefarm/chickens.htm</A>

Pete

 

[ejb]

Hillbilly (or anyone else).

Care to give a 3 minute explnation about the best way to process a chicken? the .22 I understand, but what is the best way to butcher a chicken?

At his point we are only planning on doing the eggs, but if I had my way I'd rather raise them for meat as well.

How much meat would you get from an average bird? after you kill them do you need to de-feather them or just skin them? if so how?

How long does it take to clean a bird for a relative novice?

(Never hunted so I never butchered any animals, in fact just learned how to clean a fish this year/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif!)

 

[Boondox]

I tried shooting them once, but it was a disaster! Even with a .22 round to the head, some of them continued to run in abject terror with a wound that would have been fatal in any other animal. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif Besides, that first round terrified the entire flock...and a bird that dies in fright is a VERY tough piece of meat! Lastly, it's just not in me to cause grief needlessly to any creature. No offense to anyone. The Marines taught me to shoot extremely well, but I'm not good enough to hit the perfect spot on a running chicken.

So now we slip into the coop at night, when the birds are sleeping, gently take them one at a time (if you hold them upside down they are utterly docile), and either dangle them by their feet from a swing or put them in a killing comb (sort of a big funnel that holds them upside down with their head and neck sticking out the bottom), and slit their throats with a very sharp knife. No fuss, no muss.

We tried the plucking thing only once. It was messy, required huge amounts of fresh water to rinse the feathers off our hands, and in the end we removed the skin anyway to cut down on the fat we eat. So now we just skin them. The amount of meat you get depends on the age of the bird, the type of bird, and how long it's been laying. Laying takes a lot out of a hen. The hen that's plump and juicy before she starts laying is often shrunken down two years later.

Hope this helps.

Pete

 

[Hillbilly]

<font color=blue>I tried shooting them once, but it was a disaster! Even with a .22 round to the head, some of them continued to run in abject terror with a wound that would have been fatal in any other animal</font color=blue>

I guess you have to be a good shot,I use a hollow point and drop them like rocks out in the field,you say they run even after shooting them in the head.Whats worse cutting a head off of a live an animal and watching in flop/jump/roll and sometimes run for the next 5 minutes without a head on there shoulders?
<font color=blue>Lastly, it's just not in me to cause grief needlessly to any creature</font color=blue>
A good shot through the back or side and they go down and I have yet to ever waste any meat.
<font color=blue>I'm not good enough to hit the perfect spot on a running chicken</font color=blue> I do not shoot them when they are running,you peep around the corner of a building and shoot them when they are eating or standing still.
<font color=blue>(if you hold them upside down they are utterly docile)</font color=blue>I have picked them up and held them upside down,and they scream murder,not to mention beating you with there wings trying to get back in an upright position.
<font color=blue> and slit their throats with a very sharp knife</font color=blue>
Thats not cruel?,I guarantee a 22 is a lot quicker and a lot less suffering.

I use to watch my dad chop off there heads and put them in a barrel and they would flop around in there for 3 or 4 minutes before they stopped moving,and it never hurt the meat any,I have never had the meat on a scared chicken versus a not scared chicken or any other animal taste any different,I scald(?) all of my chickens,I set up a hot plate outside(make sure it is grounded good),put the water in a galvanized tub,bring to a boil dip the bird,walk down over the bank and pull the feathers off.But skinning is a good way to go.If you have a tough old chicken we can ours in quart jars,that will make it tender.
I guess things are done different down here at planet WVa,at least where I live./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[GlennT]

It's interesting how tastes vary. When I was growing up in South Dakota, eggs had to be white!! Brown eggs were inferior. Now, down here in Texas where we live, people seem to prefer brown eggs. We gave some eggs to a neighbor who mentioned later that the eggs weren't any good--they didn't hard boil well. My wife informed her that eggs have to age a bit before they can be hard boiled, but the woman didn't believe her and is convinced that there is something wrong with our eggs. Oh well...

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Bird,

One day while a friend was visting he went with the kids to pick up the eggs. When he came back he said "one was not done yet" both kids stood there with a $%&# eating grin. It was a soft shell egg and they had convinced him the chickens needed to sit on the egg until it got a hard shell.
Al

 

[RonL]

Pete

When I was a young child my grandfather raised chickens and sold eggs to the neighbors. The first time I saw a chicken butchered I was horrified! My grandfather , who was elderly at this time, chopped the chicken's head off with a hatchet. The chicken ran around headless. My grandmother grabbed the chicken, dunked it in boiling water, and proceeded to rip the feathers off and butchered it. She would scrub the chicken in the sink with a brush. After my grandmother made chicken pot pie and dumplings all was well. I had a better understanding of the food chain. My grandfather also had a garden with currants, gooseberries, strawberries, blueberries, and all kinds of vegetables. The area where the chicken coops and gardens were is all houses now. The food chain continues now I guess.

RonL

 

[Knight9]

I grew up on an acreage with "hobby" chickens. We averaged about 30 layers and about 40-50 meat chickens. I can't say as I ever really enjoyed the butchering part. But I have to say when range fed chickens hit the table...hmmm.../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

As far as butchering them....we simply used a chopping block and an axe. I know nothing about the taste of scared chicken so I can't comment on that. As far as I'm concerned, if you take off their head, they are certainly not going to feel any pain! We did try the "slit the throat" thing for our turkeys as it came highly recommended. We did that for about 5 turkeys and then went back to taking their heads off with an axe as well.

I did hate the boiling water dipping to get the feathers loose and the smell that was associated with it. We're thinking of adding some chickens here maybe next year, so I might look into the skinning side of it. Obviously it would only be good if you are cutting the chicken into pieces immediately.

Kevin

 

[Hillbilly]

Chopping the heads of would be my preferred method other than the 22.I just hate to have to hold them by the legs and decapitate them,one time I missed and took about 1/2 the head.So I thought I will shoot them and let them flop if they want and then chop off the heads,then it would not matter if I got 1/2 the head/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif.
I have heard the big processing plants use electric and electrocude them.I prefer a quick kill.I was in a slaughter house when I was about 15 years old and them shot a steer calf in the head 13 times before they killed it,(using 22 shorts)that still sticks in my mind.I hated that.