Chicken (Poultry) Addiction Anonymous *Chat Thread*

[Wild Trapper]

My FIL and MIL were missionaries several years ago. They are the first to ever tell us about people in other countries eating chicken part we always just threw out here in America. Of course, being a Vietnam veteran, I knew that, but never thought much about it. Being my DIL is Thai, it all of a sudden came into the family. Her parents and one of her sisters came to America last fall for a visit. DIL had many chickens she had raised for meat and I had about a dozen old birds to butcher. So while they were here we butchered about 25-30 chickens in a day. Kept my knife busy, but her dad also had his method of dispatching chickens too. I will not even suggest how he did it, as it is a method I personally would not use. Between all of us, we were busy for a few hours work. Afterward, over an opened fire, they cooked up some of the head. I was offered some, but didn't try any. There must be some meat on the heads as well as the feet as it is only the meat that they eat. The comb is like a treat I think, as they also eat that. Not much is wasted. BTW, they did not eat the brains, only the outer meat and skin. and nothing was left of the eyes after being cooked on an opened fire.

Hope I didn't gross anyone out, this subject is a little off topic for the thread purpose, I'm guessing. Anyway, we are so spoiled here in the US when it comes to our food.

 

[Muggsmagee]

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Well...I don't think it is off topic at all. If there is anything we hope to achieve here on BYC it is learning from one another. Processing chickens (poultry) isn't a light and cuddly topic, but it is relevant to raising chickens and stories of our chickens. I personally welcome it. The only thing I can not condone or listen to/read about is when someone needlessly kills an animal or tortures one. I think everyone on this thread can agree to the same.

And John, not only are we spoiled...a good portion of our population are completely oblivious to our food.

It is really sad.

 

[Wild Trapper]

Yes, that whole day spent butchering chickens with folks that didn't speak English and we couldn't speak their language, other than through the DIL will remain in my mind as long as my brain still functions. It was sweet!

They were here for three weeks and it was very hard to put them back on the plane to go home. We did so many things together, including taking them camping to one of the state parks. They even took some chicken heads with them.

I really wanted to keep them, but the dad had to get home to work his gardens and take care of his animals.

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

Can I ask you guys something?

So- I have a circle of chicken wire in the yard kept in place by wooden stakes. On top I attached a few layers of black bird netting. I am going to put in a predator-proof coop. The ring will be the run.

But do you think they will be safe? If a hawk dive-bombed it, it would be tangled but it would fall to the ground in the "run". And most other chicken predators are nocturnal... The little coop is for Aspen and Quinn. I want them to live outside and eventually free-range with the big Ladies. It will only be for a few weeks, but do you think that the run is good enough for daytime?

 

[Muggsmagee]

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I haven't had much experience with hawks. My understanding is they are dang smart creatures and if they can find a way in from the air, they will take it. Free range is a gamble...I hope what you have set up will work for you and your birds.

 

[gryeyes]

Chicken wire is the most useful stuff, except when it comes to protecting chickens. It keeps chickens IN but not predators OUT. It keeps chickens out of gardens. It makes great forms for papier mache animals or apiary forms for ivy.

Garden stakes are great for gardens and temporary "run" enclosures inside a larger, well-protected run, for segregation/integration purposes. But they don't stop dogs.

Chicken wire and garden stakes won't deter raccoons or dogs. But that circle might be handy for strictly supervised day trips for new chicks, as long as you are RIGHT THERE to watch 'em.

 

[jenny_kap]

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muggs, you don't have to do anything that you are not comfortable with

. and trust me, if you don't use the head and the feet of a chicken, you don't loose much. i am not a fan of theirs either.
anyway, i am on this site for only a few days and i had no idea what can i read in here and where and i liked so much this topic that i had read all 200 pages. and one thing hit me: nobody eat their own meat. i didn't stop to read other topics too, other sections of the site. it was my mistake (as i learned yesterday that there are topics for the people that have meat birds too) and i want to appologize for talking here about things that make part of the people to feel uncomfortable.
and i appologize for my english too, i learned it using a dictionary, i never had a teacher. my DH says i'm speaking romanian using english words

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

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The chicks are 7 weeks old now (they grow up so fast!

). We have a wooden fence that keeps out the dogs, but hawks are what I'm really worried about. The chickens won't be in the run at night, and I have padlocks on all doors to keep out any unwanted visitors. The wood for the coop is quite thick. I'll take a picture of the run tomorrow.

Do you think I should put strips of colorful cloth on the bird netting to show hawks that there's something there? Or will that just make it even more of a target?

 

[Willowsong69]

Can we have a show of hands who is ready for spring?

 

[Muggsmagee]

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First day of spring is only 20 days away!