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I saved part of an article that discusses feed withdrawal before butchering. I'm not sure of the author.

"The events observed in broiler chickens during feed withdrawal are part of a natural cycle that occurs every night in chickens in the wild. In nature, chickens eat during the day and rest at night. Their intestines empty and the intestinal lining begins to slough. The sloughing occurs because birds do not maintain the flow of blood to an intestinal lining that is not absorbing food.
Two windows of opportunity exist to successfully process chickens. Between these windows, is a "wall" where potential for contamination is high and line speeds may need to be reduced significantly. The first window occurs at eight to 12 hours after a bird stops eating. At this time, the gut is almost completely empty but still strong and unlikely to break during processing. Any individual bird that is without feed or "off-feed" for 15 to 16 hours poses a potential problem at the plant. The intestine will be weakened by the extended hours off-feed and filled with gas and released intestinal lining. The probability of carcass contamination increases dramatically during this period. The second window normally starts at 18 hours off-feed. By this time, the bird has flushed out the released intestinal lining and has started to produce new villi. A bird processed in this second window of opportunity will have a weaker intestine than a bird processed in the first window, but the intestine will contain very little material that could contaminate the carcass if the intestine is damaged during processing."
 
capayvalleychick said:
I saved part of an article that discusses feed withdrawal before butchering. I'm not sure of the author.

"The events observed in broiler chickens during feed withdrawal are part of a natural cycle that occurs every night in chickens in the wild. In nature, chickens eat during the day and rest at night. Their intestines empty and the intestinal lining begins to slough. The sloughing occurs because birds do not maintain the flow of blood to an intestinal lining that is not absorbing food.
Two windows of opportunity exist to successfully process chickens. Between these windows, is a "wall" where potential for contamination is high and line speeds may need to be reduced significantly. The first window occurs at eight to 12 hours after a bird stops eating. At this time, the gut is almost completely empty but still strong and unlikely to break during processing. Any individual bird that is without feed or "off-feed" for 15 to 16 hours poses a potential problem at the plant. The intestine will be weakened by the extended hours off-feed and filled with gas and released intestinal lining. The probability of carcass contamination increases dramatically during this period. The second window normally starts at 18 hours off-feed. By this time, the bird has flushed out the released intestinal lining and has started to produce new villi. A bird processed in this second window of opportunity will have a weaker intestine than a bird processed in the first window, but the intestine will contain very little material that could contaminate the carcass if the intestine is damaged during processing."
Click to expand...

Thank you Kim!

I pick out the ones for processing the night before and put them into a kennel. I let them have food but now water.

A little poo out of the vent won't contaminate the meat but it sure is ooky...
sickbyc.gif
 
OR4-hmom said:
When we got chickens 5? years ago we were just looking for eggs and we got hatchery birds. They are fine for eggs but with their small frames I don't think they would yield enough for all the effort. Besides most of them have names.

I may try some cornish x in the spring, they all look alike without the head.
Click to expand...

I watched a video online from Chow about raising chickens. The person is from San Francisco and very well known as an Urban Farmer. She waits until the hens stop laying(three years old or so) and processes them for stock. Old hens make the most delicious stock. You will also be surprised at how much meat they have. You do have to boil them or pressure cook them.

I have a recipe for mushroom soup that does not use meat, just chicken stock, shallots, mushrooms, lemon juice(just a splash) salt, pepper and light cream. It is ok with store stock but fantastic with home made stock.

I will keep you all posted on the growth of my Dorking crosses. The boys are very big and broad so far.
 
juststruttin said:
It poured last night and rained very lightly on and off all day. Supposed to rain again Wednesday and then back to the 70's. We got just enough rain to know which areas need better drainage or protection. Nothing like waiting til the last minute.
Click to expand...
well forecast was wrong... It poured tonight and the wind was blowing so hard I was afraid we'd loose power - not good with chicks in the brooder and eggs in the bator. Calmer now. Whew.
 
QuartzRidgeRanch said:
We have had rain, hail, slush and tornado warnings! Fun times here on the divide. I hope that we get a bit of a break for the animal's sake. The kiddos and I are warm in the house. Nothing like a quick kick into winter!
Click to expand...
welcome to the thread. had more hail and heavy rain last night. still raining now at 5 am...
on my way to work have a good day everyone
 

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