Chronicles of Raising Meat Birds - Modern Broilers, Heritage and Hybrids

[aart]

Not sure this helped.

It did.
I was really kinda of kidding.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hi all, brief update: we processed five birds today, 4 olive egger pullets and 1 cockerel (BCM over Ameraucana), all 20 weeks. It went better than two weeks ago - much fewer pin feathers and I was a tiny tiny bit faster... Whew! I have a few questions... most pressing is: I have the five birds in a cooler submerged in ice and water. I’ve read it’s ok to leave like that for 24 hr... Do you all agree? I’m tired and would love to worry about bagging after work tomorrow... If so, should I throw some salt in so it’s kind of brining? Worried the cockerel was a little tough...

Second question: all four hens had a lot of abdominal fat, more than 2 weeks ago. Two of them also had active ovaries like they were about to lay. Those same two also had yellowish livers with no other abnormalities, except SO much fat! The other two pullets didn’t have active ovaries and had normal reddish brown livers, though still pretty big fat pads in abdomen. I’m wondering if pullets that are laying or about to lay mobilize fat to make the yolk of the eggs, so generally have yellow, fatty livers? Thanks!

 

[RUNuts]

@Mixed flock enthusiast Instead of soaking the birds in ice water, I'd drain the water and let them sit in ice. I've done this with game for several days until I could process it for the freezer.

No, I don't think that is the way the livers work. I've seen the yellow livers and was told it was due to diet. Yes, I was fattening them up for butcher.

Congratulations on a good day.

 

[aart]

all four hens had a lot of abdominal fat

Do you mean pullets?

4 olive egger pullets

Why eat pullets?
Fat might be normal, not many folks slaughter POL pullets.

 

[RUNuts]

Why eat pullets?
Fat might be normal, not many folks slaughter POL pullets.

When nobody buys them & it’s time to downsize the flock, pullets are on my menu.

Since I didn’t want cockerels, I ordered the minimum 25 birds & made meat. Learned a lot about chickens. Marketing is my weak point. That & I think I was priced high. But then again, these girls ate & they were worth more on the table to me than as layers.

 

[jolenesdad]

I didn't slaughter any birds this year, first time in 6 years.
Sure didn't miss the work, but sure wish I had a few carcasses in the freezer.

Did you hatch at all this year??

 

[aart]

Did you hatch at all this year??

Let a broody have 6, got 3 males and 1 female(who just started laying a couple week ago).
Gave away 2 of the males, fed the fox the 3rd. Just wasn't up to the processing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

should I throw some salt in so it’s kind of brining?

The main purpose of brining is so the meat absorbs moisture. You can add salt flavor anytime. If you are going to cook them by a dry process like frying, grilling, or roasting brining can help. If you are going to cook them with a wet process like soup, stew, crock pot, pressure cooking, or even baking in a tightly closed pan brining is of less value.

If you are worried about toughness look into marinades. Marinades contain acid, often from wine or vinegar. Tomato sauces should be acidic. The acid breaks down the fiber and tenderizes them.

I’m wondering if pullets that are laying or about to lay mobilize fat to make the yolk of the eggs,

I butcher pullets and hens every year. That excess fat is normal, females have a lot of fat compared to the males. Egg yolks are about 1/3 fat but that's not why that fat is there. Even before they start to lay females build up excess fat. Typically there is a big fat pad in the pelvic area but that excess fat can be spread all over, including on the organs. The purpose of that fat is for the hen to live off of if she ever goes broody. Even hens that will never go broody do this. That way the broody hen can stay on her nest most of the day to incubate the eggs instead of having to be out looking for food to live off of. While incubating a hen loses weight, but that's just fat put there for that purpose.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

@Mixed flock enthusiast Instead of soaking the birds in ice water, I'd drain the water and let them sit in ice. I've done this with game for several days until I could process it for the freezer.

I read your message before I went to bed, so I hauled them out of the ice water bath and stuck each into a Walmart bag then placed in the fridge. I’m going to say that I’m “air aging” or whatever, but the bag ended up tighter than they are supposed to be for that technique due to space issues. I’ll dry rub and vacuum pack tonight. Thanks for the congrats!

Do you mean pullets?

Why eat pullets?
Fat might be normal, not many folks slaughter POL pullets.

I did indeed mean pullets. Why POL pullets? I posted here previously on how our daughter wanted to raise some meat birds this year, but wanted to breed birds we have to get them. So, these were BCM and OE bred for meat. We did save some of the pullets for our layer flock, but we also processed some. I agree pullets were weird, and I found it mentally harder than cockerels. I really would have had a hard time with it if they’d started laying, so at least this was done before that!

should I throw some salt in so it’s kind of brining?

The main purpose of brining is so the meat absorbs moisture.

I’m wondering if pullets that are laying or about to lay mobilize fat to make the yolk of the eggs,

I butcher pullets and hens every year. That excess fat is normal, females have a lot of fat compared to the males. Egg yolks are about 1/3 fat but that's not why that fat is there. Even before they start to lay females build up excess fat. Typically there is a big fat pad in the pelvic area but that excess fat can be spread all over, including on the organs.

Well glad to hear someone else butchers pullets! It’s funny how many different ways people achieve a similar goal - I did find someone who ice brines their birds after processing, but I put them dry in the fridge anyway.

I was amazed at the fat - one in particular was so very fatty! The fat was yellow also. Birds have been fed chick starter, gamebird starter, and most recently layer feed and have been pastured. Do your hens ever have a yellowish liver? Between today and two weeks ago, we’ve now butchered 6 of these pullets and 3 cockerels. All but two had typical looking livers, and these were the only two with near mature ovaries. I have been saving the livers but threw the first one out. By the second one, it seemed like it might be normal for them so I kept it.

 

[aart]

I did indeed mean pullets. Why POL pullets? I posted here previously on how our daughter wanted to raise some meat birds this year, but wanted to breed birds we have to get them. So, these were BCM and OE bred for meat. We did save some of the pullets for our layer flock, but we also processed some. I agree pullets were weird, and I found it mentally harder than cockerels. I really would have had a hard time with it if they’d started laying, so at least this was done before that!

Make sense.
Interesting opportunity to explore the anatomy of pullets.
I've slaughtered older hens(30+mo) definitely harder than those pesky cockerels.
IIRC active layers had less fat than non-layers.....
.....and a whole line up of graduated sized yolks, even shelled eggs ready for delivery( I washed and ate them).