Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

Do you want to learn how to butcher?

Yes, and it's a NN one.

 

[DesertChic]

Never feed your chickens goldfish??? Don't tell me that you tried that already!

I have an aquaponics setup to raise Tilapia. When we were getting it started, we added goldfish first. Once we added the Tilapia we had the BRILLIANT idea of giving a goldfish or two to some of the chickens as a treat. Not one our better ideas.

 

[DesertChic]

Yes, and it's a NN one.

Weather and workload permitting, I'd be willing to teach you if you want to come down this way. My setup is far from fancy, but it's effective.

 

[BlueBaby]

I have an aquaponics setup to raise Tilapia. When we were getting it started, we added goldfish first. Once we added the Tilapia we had the BRILLIANT idea of giving a goldfish or two to some of the chickens as a treat. Not one our better ideas.

Ok, so I guess that I will believe you then about not feeding them goldfish since you already had the experience of the fishy tasting eggs.

Weather and workload permitting, I'd be willing to teach you if you want to come down this way. My setup is far from fancy, but it's effective.

I don't care if it's fancy or not. I just want to learn how to be able to do it! Do you pluck yours or skin them when you do it? I heard that skinning them is easier.

 

[SonoranChick]

@DesertChic thank you for the good tips. We had salmon the other night and I tossed the skin in the run. Luckily they did not seem interested and so I took it out, untouched. I love fish, but not fish flavored eggs.

 

[DesertChic]

@DesertChic thank you for the good tips. We had salmon the other night and I tossed the skin in the run. Luckily they did not seem interested and so I took it out, untouched. I love fish, but not fish flavored eggs.

I've fed my birds salmon and Tilapia without any fishy taste to their eggs. Just stay away from goldfish. I think they're just too pungent and "dirty" for the chickens to eat.

 

[DesertChic]

Ok, so I guess that I will believe you then about not feeding them goldfish since you already had the experience of the fishy tasting eggs.



I don't care if it's fancy or not. I just want to learn how to be able to do it! Do you pluck yours or skin them when you do it? I heard that skinning them is easier.

Plucking vs skinning depends upon the age of the bird. When they're young, as in 16 weeks or younger, skinning is very fast and easy because the connective tissue isn't very strong. The young birds are also much easier to part out so you can freeze all breasts, all legs, and all thighs separately for various recipes.

The older the bird, the harder it is to process them for a variety of reasons. The joints and connective tissues become much stronger, making it harder not only to skin them, but to remove the organs, and they also tend to accumulate much more fat over time that can really get in the way. A couple months back I processed a nearly 3 year old Bielefelder hen and removed over 2 cups of fat from her carcass just to get the organs out. After roasting her I had another 2 cups of rendered fat. It was CRAZY, though all of that extra fat was more about her genetic faults than just her age.

Message me and we'll see about coordinating our schedules. I'd be happy to help you learn how to process. I taught myself, and I actually wouldn't wish that on someone else. It's much more comforting to have someone guide you past the potential (heart wrenching) pitfalls and potential mistakes.

 

[cactusrota]

I found out not long ago that there's such a thing called Schmaltz, basically Jewish rendered chicken fat (because it's kosher since they can't use pork). There's alot of recipes out there that you can use it for, and I want to try it but all I've been butchering lately have been lean cockerels.

That's awesome that you're offering to help her, I would but I think I'm twice as far away from her as you are... I'm kinda self taught, too, but I originally was butchering to feed other animals first, like hawks and dogs, so had to figure out how to switch gears for human consumption at one point... It was a challenge for sure....

 

[DesertChic]

I found out not long ago that there's such a thing called Schmaltz, basically Jewish rendered chicken fat (because it's kosher since they can't use pork). There's alot of recipes out there that you can use it for, and I want to try it but all I've been butchering lately have been lean cockerels.

That's awesome that you're offering to help her, I would but I think I'm twice as far away from her as you are... I'm kinda self taught, too, but I originally was butchering to feed other animals first, like hawks and dogs, so had to figure out how to switch gears for human consumption at one point... It was a challenge for sure....

Yep! Schmaltz and Gribens. I've made it, and I cook with rendered chicken fat....but four cups from one chicken is more than I could use in year.

 

[BlueBaby]

Yep! Schmaltz and Gribens. I've made it, and I cook with rendered chicken fat....but four cups from one chicken is more than I could use in year.

Now what in the world is Gribens?