To many male chickens, not enough being eaten, what to do!?

[Sussex19]

If you were wanting give away/sell any I wish I'd known when you'd travelled out to Orange, I know some people who may have been interested in some

I wouldn't want to pass on my problems anyway, so its probably a good thing, I guess...
I didn't know it would be such a problem at the time though.

 

[FunClucks]

Thanks everyone!

That is reassuring, anyway. I think our freezer is at least fairly good, and they have only been in there around 6 months at the most.

I don't, so thats not possible unfortunately.


The problem here, (which I completely forgot to mention, sorry!) is that my flock is MD positive.
I guess I could say in the add, 'they are from a Mareks positive flock, so are carriers. Don't buy if you have your own chickens!' But it still don't seem a very good idea, and most likely everyone would be scared that they would get it as well.

I think the thing to do, is just try and pack them extra well, both to keep, and also so they thaw out quicker.
And maybe get another freezer, which is kind of in the pipeline anyway
Maybe I just need to learn to cook myself...?

Yea, never mind. If Marek's is involved, I wouldn't recommend selling them.

Pressure canners are $80 at Walmart for a 16 Quart one, although you can get 20-28 Quart ones too. Comes with instructions. If you have a glass top stove make sure it's okay to use on that - the box will tell you. Love mine, super easy to use. Just follow the instructions. Also the Ball Blue Book is a good canning resource. A pressure canner is the same thing as an insta-pot, they just gave it a fancy name and more bells and whistles. But you don't need one for chicken unless you're storing it (in canning jars) or cooking old roosters or spent hens. 8-10 wk CX are tender without pressure cooking. I pressure cooked my year old rooster, and it was tender and delicious, and made a wonderful broth I later used for pea soup.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Presto-1...ooker-01745/5913467?athbdg=L1200&from=/search

 

[Ridgerunner]

because the chickens are kept in the freezer, it takes some time to thaw them, with the result we just aren't eating any.

To me that can be a problem with anything that goes in the freezer. You have a good day fishing so the excess goes in the freezer. You freeze crops from the garden, even freeze stuff that you buy at the store in economy sizes. And it gets forgotten or since you have to plan so it's thawed, it just doesn't get used. Every now and then the chickens get a special treat when I need to clean out the freezer.

I have a pressure canner (holds 18 pints) that helps a lot but canning takes time. Good thing I'm retired. I don't can chicken meat but I use carcasses and bones to make broth. I store fruit and berries in the freezer until I have enough to make jam or jelly (water bath canning). I store gallons of tomatoes until I have enough to make and can tomato sauce or puree. I freeze various veggies until I make and can a few quarts of veggie soup. One reason I like my dual purpose birds instead of CX is that if I don't have room in the freezer I can wait a while to process. And I raise several broods throughout the year so I don't have to put a year's worth of chicken meat in the freezer at one time. Managing freezer space is ongoing and determines a lot of my weekly schedule in some seasons.

This might not work for you since you don't cook. My wife cooks most meals most days but we have a routine. Every Sunday I take a chicken out of the freezer to thaw. Every Thursday I cook that chicken. I bake it and usually bake a sweet potato I grew at the same time. I cook either fresh veggies from the garden or get a preserved one from the freezer or open a can I canned from the pantry. She basically gets the night off because I do the dishes too. Then on Saturday she shreds the leftover chicken meat (saving the bones for broth), opens and heats up a quart jar of the veggie soup I canned, adds the chicken meat, and cuts up some cheese to enjoy with crackers and maybe some wine. An easy meal for her to prepare and not many dishes for me.

One reason I went through this was to brag about how nicely it is set up for an old man and his child bride. But also with the hope you can get some ideas on how to manage things. I don't know if your family's life is set up so you can set up a day to regularly use chicken. To me that makes a lot of difference since you do have to thaw it ahead of time.

 

[Molpet]

I also cook a chicken a week and take another out when I cook it. I found some legs from 2019 a month ago and they were great.
I part them out and vacuum seal. Takes a lot less room. I can get the breast meat, thighs and drumsticks from a 15lb turkey in a gallon bag.
I have too many backs for broth so I have been pitching them.

 

[fuzzi]

One thing you can do to save space is to remove the meat from the bones and cube it before freezing. That way it's already prepared for chicken soup, chicken salad, tacos etc. I like to pack it into freezer bags, stack and freeze them flat so that they are not too thick and will thaw out quickly for those days I'm short on time.

Don't toss the bones, they're the best ingredient to make soup!

 

[FunClucks]

I also cook a chicken a week and take another out when I cook it. I found some legs from 2019 a month ago and they were great.
I part them out and vacuum seal. Takes a lot less room. I can get the breast meat, thighs and drumsticks from a 15lb turkey in a gallon bag.
I have too many backs for broth so I have been pitching them.

That's awesome! In a perfect world I would vacuum seal. I even bought the sealer. But Ziplock bags are what's working for now. Probably will get some freezer burn on the last few bags of chicken we eat, but that's why we cook it in curry or chili or something.

 

[JeffPr]

This will be unpopular
If you are processing birds with too many still in the freezer, you are growing too many birds. YMMV

 

[Sussex19]

This will be unpopular
If you are processing birds with too many still in the freezer, you are growing too many birds. YMMV

Yes, and I'm fully aware of it. : )
A couple reasons, one we were eating a lot more, so I had about the right amount when they hatched.
The other thing is, I had so many broodys that I couldn't break them all, (and to start with I didn't have a broody breaking cage) and it all just got out of hand.
And if I want the pullets for my breeding programs, what am I going to do with the males?

 

[Sussex19]

Thank you @Ridgerunner for the informative post!