BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

This is a good point - I'm a HUGE fan of cooking my chickens whole (it's just what I like to do), but the freezer space is not as efficient. The further I get along in my breeding projects, the more I'm going to have to part or otherwise divide chickens before freezing...

- Ant Farm

I recently bought one of those FoodSaver systems so I can store chicken parts compactly together after butchering and sectioning some of the birds. Most of the time I keep the birds whole because I really like roast chicken, but sometimes I still like to prepare meals using must thighs, breasts, etc. The system works really well and allows me more diversity in cuts of meat.

 

[Kev]

I use pipe cutters. The front of the neck goes in the cup and I cut the neck bone with the blade. Instant death. They bleed-out well enough for me. I brine for three days.



http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Flexible-Tube-Cutter-99518/206743941

Yes! That's the one and thanks, it looks really effective and easy to use. Plan to get one soon.

 

[bnjrob]

I recently bought one of those FoodSaver systems so I can store chicken parts compactly together after butchering and sectioning some of the birds. Most of the time I keep the birds whole because I really like roast chicken, but sometimes I still like to prepare meals using must thighs, breasts, etc. The system works really well and allows me more diversity in cuts of meat.

That's how I package up my poultry. I have a scale and measure it out in 1 pound increments and then pop it into the vac bags. Most recipes call for a pound of chicken or what would amount to about a pound when you counted out how many breasts it calls for. Of course I don't make a distinction between cuts when a recipe demands a particular part. I'll use breasts or thighs or the part I peeled off the spine, we're not picky about that and we use it all. Makes it easy to just grab a pouch out of the freezer to thaw for dinner and go. As soon as I get some more storage built I'm going to do more pressure canning of it. It's so nice to have a jar of precooked chicken to just open and heat.

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:
Just out of curiosity, why are you grinding the chicken for the dogs? I feed my dog and cats raw and don't grind, even my smallest cat when she was a 4 pound kitten could shear through a chicken leg bone like it wasn't there, the dog has even less trouble than the cats and he's a little 13 pound chaweenie so he's not huge either. Also, I don't know how important taurine is to dogs, I know it is pretty important to cats... taurine is damaged by exposure to the air, so the smaller you cut up the meat, the more surface area and the more taurine is damaged and removed from the meat. I actually got a grinder for the cats and dog, but I've only used it like once for them because I read that about the taurine and it just wasn't worth it to me to have to worry about burning the motor out on the bones or having to sit there and cut all the meat off the bone before grinding.

 

[lcertuche]

My mutt would touch raw meat. She has a tender stomach and we have to be careful about what brands of food she gets. I hate cleaning up dog puke!

 

[NanaKat]

That's what my plan is for the next bunch of older layers. Need to do several a couple months ago...to save on feed.
Plan to go the easy route and just skin debone and grind. I've done it many times with store bought turkey when they are on sale.
Stuff the carcasses in our big pressure canner and make stock to boot.

I butcher, skin, cut the meat off the bone leaving the drumsticks whole. I make broth from the bones, jar up the thigh and breast meat, cover with broth and can both jars of meat and broth at 10 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes. Makes for a long day, but well worth seeing jars line the shelves with room in the freezer for fruit and veggies.

 

[Beekissed]

My mutt would touch raw meat. She has a tender stomach and we have to be careful about what brands of food she gets. I hate cleaning up dog puke!

My dogs would most likely eat your dog if I would kill it and throw it out in the yard.

No puking either. I've brought home fresh road kill deer before and just tossed it down in the yard, where the dogs and chickens ate on it until it was gone. Took only 2-3 days for the entire deer to be cleaned up entirely, though I did toss part of the hide over the hill...they would have eaten that too, if I had left it there.

I dare not pass out in the yard for any length of time.....

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Just out of curiosity, why are you grinding the chicken for the dogs? I feed my dog and cats raw and don't grind, even my smallest cat when she was a 4 pound kitten could shear through a chicken leg bone like it wasn't there, the dog has even less trouble than the cats and he's a little 13 pound chaweenie so he's not huge either. Also, I don't know how important taurine is to dogs, I know it is pretty important to cats... taurine is damaged by exposure to the air, so the smaller you cut up the meat, the more surface area and the more taurine is damaged and removed from the meat. I actually got a grinder for the cats and dog, but I've only used it like once for them because I read that about the taurine and it just wasn't worth it to me to have to worry about burning the motor out on the bones or having to sit there and cut all the meat off the bone before grinding.

Two reasons...... one is portion control, I have four dogs, who get a variety of meat and organs each day- five pounds amongst them. It's a race to get all the food down so unfortunately my dogs don't believe in chewing much. I buy chicken leg quarters that come from spent meatie breeders from my raw food supplier, they are about a pound apiece. Huge things. I've just found it easier to mix and match various meats/eggs/veggies and they get 21/2 pounds of chicken a day with other stuff, between all of them, it's easier to measure ground. The other reason........ one of my dogs won't eat whole raw chicken

she's grossed out by the skin. Did I mention these are sled dogs??? Geez you'd think they would eat anything.
I did not know that about grinding and the taurine, I grind and freeze immediately hopefully that helps. They do get whole turkey neck a couple of times a week, whole mackerel and whole organs like pork tongue and heart as part of their diet.
I have a Weston 22 grinder, grinds through those chicken leg bones and all in no time flat.
My fussy cat will not touch raw.

She doesn't like canned food, only kibble

(I feed Orijen but I wish she'd eat raw). At least she prefers her diet of chipmunk and squirrel, can't be bothered to eat mice. Oh yeah she also likes layer pellets

which I know can't be good for her, but at least she's stopped eating those lately.....Cats! Drive you nuts.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

My dogs would most likely eat your dog if I would kill it and throw it out in the yard.

No puking either. I've brought home fresh road kill deer before and just tossed it down in the yard, where the dogs and chickens ate on it until it was gone. Took only 2-3 days for the entire deer to be cleaned up entirely, though I did toss part of the hide over the hill...they would have eaten that too, if I had left it there.

I dare not pass out in the yard for any length of time.....

It's true that dogs can stomach many bacteria that would make humans sick, but I found out the hard way that dogs can get some really nasty parasites from meat that hasn't been frozen and there's still risk from frozen raw meat. One of my dogs picked up Neospora, (confirmed with an ELISA test) likely from some raw beef I got from the grocery store that I did not freeze before giving it to them. It has not been a problem for the dog, at least for now as long as her immune system is working, but it would be devastating for any cattle/ sheep/goats I might ever want to get as this parasite causes abortion. I make sure she never goes near any livestock pastures, she's infected for life. Dogs spread it through eggs in the feces.
I've only fed well frozen meat ever since, but the horse is out of the barn for my one dog. At least none of the others have it. I worm with Drontal yearly, expensive but I figure necessary since they do eat raw meat, even though it's been frozen.

 

[Kusanar]

 


Just out of curiosity, why are you grinding the chicken for the dogs? I feed my dog and cats raw and don't grind, even my smallest cat when she was a 4 pound kitten could shear through a chicken leg bone like it wasn't there, the dog has even less trouble than the cats and he's a little 13 pound chaweenie so he's not huge either. Also, I don't know how important taurine is to dogs, I know it is pretty important to cats... taurine is damaged by exposure to the air, so the smaller you cut up the meat, the more surface area and the more taurine is damaged and removed from the meat. I actually got a grinder for the cats and dog, but I've only used it like once for them because I read that about the taurine and it just wasn't worth it to me to have to worry about burning the motor out on the bones or having to sit there and cut all the meat off the bone before grinding.

Two reasons...... one is portion control, I have four dogs,  who get a variety of meat and organs each day- five pounds amongst them. It's a race to get all the food down so unfortunately my dogs don't believe in chewing much.  I buy chicken leg quarters that come from spent meatie breeders  from my raw food supplier, they are about a pound apiece. Huge things.  I've just found it easier to mix and match various meats/eggs/veggies and they get 21/2  pounds of chicken a day with other stuff,  between all of them,  it's easier to measure ground. The other reason........ one of my dogs  won't eat whole raw chicken :/   she's grossed out by the skin. Did I mention these are sled dogs??? Geez you'd think they would eat anything.
I did not know that about grinding and  the taurine, I grind and freeze immediately hopefully that helps.  They do get whole turkey neck  a couple of times a week,  whole mackerel and whole organs like pork tongue and heart as part of their diet.
I have a Weston 22 grinder, grinds through those chicken leg bones and all in no time flat.
My fussy cat will not touch raw. :/ She doesn't like canned food, only kibble (I feed Orijen but I wish she'd eat raw). At least she prefers her diet of chipmunk and squirrel, can't be bothered to eat mice. Oh yeah she also likes layer pellets which I know can't be good for her, but at least she's stopped eating those lately.....Cats! Drive you nuts.

One of my cats can't digest cat food for some reason... raw chicken is the only thing he can seem to handle.... so that's why they are all eating raw, it's easier to just feed them the same thing than worry about him getting into the other cats meals