Questions about the CX I just processed

[MeggsyGardenGirl]

Yippee!! Great sleuthing and congratulations for solving the problem. Sorry your freezer chickens may be wasted, but at least now you know. BTW, I butcher my chickens the same way. Works well.

 

[Jared77]

Id feed them to something. Dog etc something will eat them. Just because you don't doesn't mean they are a waste. I'd also let those who ate the chickens before know what happened and invite them for a "mulligan" on your chicken.

 

[vfem]

Though those processed chickens are now a loss, I am so VERY happy the problem has been solved!!! I'm sure the rest of them will come out perfect. You'll be really happy with your birds.

This post has helped me realize its time to replace our hoses this year. So that's a good thing. :coolsun

 

[bj taylor]

i'm grateful to learn from your experiences. I've got 12 chicks (the dirty dozen) and probably 7 of them are roos. so my day is coming. I've made up my mind & I will do the deed. I would give a lot to have a mentor with me, but i'll be doing it by what I've learned on these forums. never having killed an animal before, & me being the wuss that I am, it's very daunting. the worst fear is the animal suffering because of my ineptitude. I can handle the plucking, the gutting, and anything else once past that first awful part.

 

[MontyJ]

Jared---I can't feed them to the dog. She has a very sensitive digestive system. Also, I don't know what is actually in the meat now. Is it just the smell/taste? A chemical? I don't trust feeding it to anything.

BJ, all I can say is, be quick and sure. Hesitation with the cut will lead to suffering. Make sure your knife is razor sharp. If you are going to remove the head as the killing proceedure, gently extend the neck by pulling down on the head, then a firm swift stroke is all it takes. I don't mean to sound brutal, believe me. Just offering some advice.

The knife I use is a 6" Dexter Russell boning knife. I keep my steel close at hand to keep that razor edge on it. I would post some pics or a video on youtube for you, but I can't handle a camera and do the deed at the same time and DW refuses to be around until the chicken is dead and scalded. She can handle the plucking (well, watching the plucking), but runs away again when the gutting starts. City girl...

She is doing an excellent job raising the layers though. They just love her to death. When they see her, they come running. She'll squat down in the coop, the birds hop all over her. They roost on her arms, on her back, and generally just hang all over her. She's even taken to calling them her chickens.

 

[canesisters]

Monty, sounds like you need to get some more chicks - to be YOUR chickens.

 

[lesa]

On the subject of "beheading" a chicken- we use loppers that are meant to cut branches. They need to be sharp- but it is quick- and not nearly as difficult as using a knife and trying to be precise. With the kill cone in place- it is pretty simple. So glad you figured out the problem. I never would have guessed that!

 

[Nyboy]

I have seen hoses labeled safe for drinking.

 

[ducks4you]

Honestly, I won't raise Cornish X bc you have to babysit their intake. I've been butchering and incubating my RIR crossed birds for 3 years now. I have NEVER seen what you describe. I just butchered last Sunday--2 mo roosters I bought uber cheap and raised for one month. The odor is almost not there, except for the entrails, which I discard. The flavor is incredible and strong, but tender and not at ALL "rubbery and tasteless", like store bought. It's almost exotic, but it doesn't need more that salt and ground pepper, though I do stuff them with fresh sage leaves and an onion.
Now, you've given me yet ANOTHER reason not to try them. It sounds as if the insides of those birds were rotting at the joints.

 

[MontyJ]

Ducks, I have learned a few things since that first batch. First, don't use a brand new garden hose to process chickens. That's where the smell came from. I also learned where the slimy goop came from. I work in a lot of hospitals and was discussing that problem with a nurse in an ER last week. One of the Dr's overheard and said it was connective tissue. He explained that connective tissue absorbs water to act as a lubricant. If exposed to unlimited water, it will absorb a lot. So, with the last two batches I have processed, I have done two things differently. First, I am carefull not to open the skin that covers the thigh to body joint when gutting. Second, I now pack the body cavity with ice instead of dunking the birds in ice water. No more weird slimy goop.

I don't babysit their intake. I just throw the feed to them. Instead of stretching it out, I let them get big fast and process early. I haven't let one get any older than 7 weeks yet and most have weighed in at 7 pounds live weight. So far, no leg or heart problems. I imaging that if I let them go to 9 or 10 weeks, I would start running into problems. I still have 11 left to process. They will be 8 weeks old on Saturday, but most are hens which I have noticed grow more slowly than the roosters.

This has been quite the learning experience for me.

We ate our first non-contaminated bird yesterday. It was processed on Thursday, packed in ice for a couple of hours then bagged and put in the fridge to rest. I deep fried the wings, legs and thighs and a few livers for lunch. It was fantastic! With the breast, I made some chicken and dumplings for dinner. Again, it was awesome!

I am learning that there are lot's of tiny little details to raising and processing chickens that you just don't read about on the internet.