100 Broilers and Fermented Feed Project

[kuntrygirl]

Tell me about your cleanup. What do you do?

Plucker needs cleaned, floors vacuumed and mopped, sinks and counters all disinfected (along with surfaces in the vicinity) **before AND after processing counters need to be disinfected**. Guts bagged and brought to curb, feathers in compost pile, knives, pots and cutting boards need to be soaked and washed very well.. it takes a good 45 minutes to clean after, but it feels like hours when you are so tired from killing, plucking, gutting and bagging.

Whew! I'm tired just reading it. So you don't keep any of the livers, hearts, kidneys, etc? You throw them all away?

 

[aoxa]

Whew! I'm tired just reading it. So you don't keep any of the livers, hearts, kidneys, etc? You throw them all away?

No I keep them all, but the intestines I throw out.

The kidneys, testes, hearts, livers, lungs, etc all go back to the chickens or bagged and frozen for treats later.

The dogs get the feet and necks. I freeze them as well.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Whew! I'm tired just reading it. So you don't keep any of the livers, hearts, kidneys, etc? You throw them all away?

No I keep them all, but the intestines I throw out. 

The kidneys, testes, hearts, livers, lungs, etc all go back to the chickens or bagged and frozen for treats later. 

The dogs get the feet and necks. I freeze them as well. 

Oh ok . I love a good chicken neck. Hardly any meat on it though but I have fun knawing on it.

I'll probably use the necks and feet for broth.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Just found this link on another thread in the meat forum.

http://heritagefellsfoodstead.com/2013/06/25/chickin-pickin-how-we-process-our-birds/

 

[kuntrygirl]

Does anyone eat the livers and kidneys or use the any other parts for stock?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I imagine it's personal preference. I happen to love chicken livers and heart, liver is my favorite part. On processing day I have lightly sautéed livers with eggs.

When I was a kid, I liked gizzards as well. I'm not a big fan any more. I either give them to friends or chop them up and feed back to the chickens.

IMO the kidneys are too small to mess with.

Heads and feet are used by a lot of people for broth but I give mine away.

I try to waste as little as possible. The guts, blood and feathers go into the compost pile.

 

[perchie.girl]

Does anyone eat the livers and kidneys or use the any other parts for stock?

I eat livers.... Yummm... IF I were processing a hundred chickens and they were to be going in my larder I would package the livers up in portions and freeze them. You can also make Pate out of them.. Or liverworst.... Oh and all the other parts can be canned in a pressure canner and used for dog or cat food.

I have been reading and what an adventure. I just want to say the deal about chilling down the meat before you freeze is to let the bird go through rigor mortis.... This lasts just a little while but goes away. I have heard (because I have been reading up on processing) that if you freeze before Rigor the meat comes out tough.... Something to do with the chemicals that create Rigor....


deb

 

[aoxa]

Just found this link on another thread in the meat forum.

http://heritagefellsfoodstead.com/2013/06/25/chickin-pickin-how-we-process-our-birds/

Wow! Nice setup!!

 

[kuntrygirl]

I imagine it's personal preference. I happen to love chicken livers and it's my favorite part. On processing day I have lightly sautéed livers with eggs.

When I was a kid, I liked gizzards as well. I'm not a big fan any more. I either give them to friends or chop them up and feed back to the chickens.

IMO the kidneys are too small to mess with.

Heads and feet are used by a lot of people for broth but I give mine away.

I try to waste as little as possible. The guts, blood and feathers go into the compost pile.

I love the kidneys and liver.

I wonder how much blood all of those birds will yield.

 

[aoxa]

I love the kidneys and liver.

I wonder how much blood all of those birds will yield.

... A LOT. lol

We had a small green garbage bag full after 25.