- Aug 4, 2014
- 78
- 9
- 41
Today was slaughter day for the last 10 birds out of Meyers Fry Pan special. There have been a number of questions posted about the Fry pan special, but not to many answers. So here is my attempt to give some other folks some useful information.
These birds were born on 9/30/14. That makes them 16.6 weeks old today.
We got 25 birds in total, and have been slaughtering them for a few weeks. Today we did the final 10. 3 barred rocks, 4 red stars, and 3 austrolops.
The average weight of the live birds was 4lbs 14oz just before slaughter. That was with a 16 hour fast, and a completely empty digestive tract and crop.
These ten birds ate a total of $56.34 of food (50# dumor 20% starter @ 15.99, 3X50# 20% local feed @ 11.45, and a pro rated $5 worth of sprouted sunflower seeds). They were also given plenty of treats courtesy of the local nursing home where i pick up their kitchen waste to feed the pigs.
They lived in an 8X8 coop with 24 hour access to a 25X16 run. The run was well planted with bahia grass prior to their arrival. At this point the run is bare!
My wife and I lit the flame at 8:48, and wiped up the last of the bleach cleaning solution at 11:04. We do everything by hand. So we invested 2:16 in the process this morning. (I won't count the cooking time of the stocks and lard)
Onto harvest pictures and totals. I try to use every last part of the bird. I have pictures of how each part was used in todays harvest.
Feathers - The feathers and blood where burried in a sandy area that will be a future pasture.
Feet - We stripped the feet down, and boiled them in 2 gallons of water. It is on the stove right now. When it is reduced to 1 gallon we will put it up for future use. It makes a great stock.
The liver, kidneys, and hearts - Lunch today! And I will eat it in my "gruel", a tasty mixture of quinoa, rice, stock, and offall that I make up in bulk and eat every day at work.
The rest of the innards - Piggy will eat them! We will mix it with crushed corn over the next few feedings.
Onto the good stuff!! We skinned six of the birds (the barred rocks, and austrolops). We packed them up in the vacum sealed bags. 4 breasts per bag, 4 thigh/legs per bag, and 12 wings in the wing bag.
The four plucked birds came out looking nice.
And lastly, we have the fat on the stove rendering down. And all the backs, necks, breastbones cooking off. I will pull approx 2lbs of pulled chicken later tonight.
To recap and tally it all up
COST TOTAL 78.91- (Chickens $14.91, food $56.35, vacuseal bags $8)
Meat totals -
4 whole birds, avg 3lbs = 12lbs whole
Thighs 3 packs at 1.75 lbs = 5lbs
Boneless breasts 3 packs @ 1lb = 3lb
wings 1 pack = 1.5 lb
Livers, hearts, kidnesy = 1 lb
pulled chicken = 2 lbs
pure chicken fat = 8oz
collagen stock = 1gallon
regular stock = 1 gallon
What the fridge looks like right now! (before the stock is put up)
I hope you find this post somewhat helpful and informational. Please reply with any questions, comments, or areas that I can improve my processes!
These birds were born on 9/30/14. That makes them 16.6 weeks old today.
We got 25 birds in total, and have been slaughtering them for a few weeks. Today we did the final 10. 3 barred rocks, 4 red stars, and 3 austrolops.
The average weight of the live birds was 4lbs 14oz just before slaughter. That was with a 16 hour fast, and a completely empty digestive tract and crop.
These ten birds ate a total of $56.34 of food (50# dumor 20% starter @ 15.99, 3X50# 20% local feed @ 11.45, and a pro rated $5 worth of sprouted sunflower seeds). They were also given plenty of treats courtesy of the local nursing home where i pick up their kitchen waste to feed the pigs.
They lived in an 8X8 coop with 24 hour access to a 25X16 run. The run was well planted with bahia grass prior to their arrival. At this point the run is bare!
My wife and I lit the flame at 8:48, and wiped up the last of the bleach cleaning solution at 11:04. We do everything by hand. So we invested 2:16 in the process this morning. (I won't count the cooking time of the stocks and lard)
Onto harvest pictures and totals. I try to use every last part of the bird. I have pictures of how each part was used in todays harvest.
Feathers - The feathers and blood where burried in a sandy area that will be a future pasture.
Feet - We stripped the feet down, and boiled them in 2 gallons of water. It is on the stove right now. When it is reduced to 1 gallon we will put it up for future use. It makes a great stock.
The liver, kidneys, and hearts - Lunch today! And I will eat it in my "gruel", a tasty mixture of quinoa, rice, stock, and offall that I make up in bulk and eat every day at work.
The rest of the innards - Piggy will eat them! We will mix it with crushed corn over the next few feedings.
Onto the good stuff!! We skinned six of the birds (the barred rocks, and austrolops). We packed them up in the vacum sealed bags. 4 breasts per bag, 4 thigh/legs per bag, and 12 wings in the wing bag.
The four plucked birds came out looking nice.
And lastly, we have the fat on the stove rendering down. And all the backs, necks, breastbones cooking off. I will pull approx 2lbs of pulled chicken later tonight.
To recap and tally it all up
COST TOTAL 78.91- (Chickens $14.91, food $56.35, vacuseal bags $8)
Meat totals -
4 whole birds, avg 3lbs = 12lbs whole
Thighs 3 packs at 1.75 lbs = 5lbs
Boneless breasts 3 packs @ 1lb = 3lb
wings 1 pack = 1.5 lb
Livers, hearts, kidnesy = 1 lb
pulled chicken = 2 lbs
pure chicken fat = 8oz
collagen stock = 1gallon
regular stock = 1 gallon
What the fridge looks like right now! (before the stock is put up)
I hope you find this post somewhat helpful and informational. Please reply with any questions, comments, or areas that I can improve my processes!
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