Full crop or not full crop?

[Bluff Country Chicken]

I'm looking for advice regarding whether to withhold feed before butchering so the crops are empty or let them eat so the crops can be easily located and handled. I have received conflicting responses from my local chicken "experts." Thanks!

 

[bigredfeather]

I take feed away 12-18 hours prior to butchering. I had read of people letting them have feed so the crop is easier to grab, but it makes it difficult and messy when pulling the crop thru the body cavity. If you cut it, you likely have feed come out and get stuck to the fat around the neck/breast and it's hard to remove it from the fat. Make sure they still have water right up to butcher time.

 

[Denninmi]

When I cleaned my one lone bird the other day, I just split it all the way from tail to neck along the keel. It isn't "picture perfect" that way, and I wouldn't do that for a bird I wanted to stuff and roast, but it sure made it a heck of a lot easier to clean inside, especially the organs closer to the front like the lungs.

When I process all of them in the next 5 weeks (I may do them in stages as they grow, some next week for Cornish hens, some for fryers, a few for roasters), I will probably do the same for most of them, and skin them as well rather than pluck, because we generally buy chicken parts anyway, and almost always remove the skin. The only time I cook a chicken with the skin is a whole roast or rotisserie chicken.

 

[Salt and Light]

The crop is easy to find. It's a smallish sack adhered to the chicken's right breast. Better to leave it empty than full. You will find it with no problem.

 

[rainplace]

I helped at a farm a month ago where they did not withhold feed. It was awful. There's the added time of having to pull the crop from the top as well as very full intestines. It was almost impossible not to keep squeezing poop out while scooping out the insides.

 

[PotterWatch]

We process ours with empty crops. I've never had any trouble finding one.

 

[Oregon Blues]

The crop is a large lump of hard muscle. You won't have any problems finding it or getting a hold of it even when it is empty. It's not a little skin sack. It's a chicken gizzard.

 

[rainplace]

Quote:
The crop and the gizzard are separate things.

 

[rainplace]

Quote:
The crop and the gizzard are separate things.

The crop stores food the gizzard grinds food.