Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Beekissed]

Wyo, excellent post! Truly excellent!

 

[navasima]

My friend & neighbor has been my advisor since I got my first peeps. When I worried about the tiny peeps she said'...ah! give 'em Gatorade...'. When she called and I said I was cleaning the coop, she "yelled" at me that I better not be crazy and clean too much'...'cause it's bad for them!...'. She had chickens as a girl for many years and many other animals since. I listen to every word. BTW - She's also 81 yrs old.

Hasn't steered me wrong yet. I tell her about things said on this thread and she says'...yeah - of course!!...' I describe some other things I've read on BYC and she cusses a bit and laughs her ass off!!

 

[bobbi-j]

I did disagree back a few pages about skinning the 12 roosters and not plucking. I'm surprised at this advice--to me it is very new-fangled. It is an abomination to waste home-raised food!

I skin my laying hens when we butcher because we can them. We take the carcasses, guts organs, skin and all and dump them out in the field. Or in a pile behind the grove. Or somewhere far enough from the house that we don't have to deal with the smell. And all guilt-free. We have plucked our meaties in the past, but we don't eat the skin anyway. I think this is a "to each his own" situation. The parts that we dispose of get eaten by something - whether it's our cats, coyotes, buzzards or what have you - or they end up decaying and becoming part of the soil.

The idea of eating chicken feet is something I can't quite stomach. I know where those feet have been and what they've stepped in!

I just don't think they could be boiled and peeled enough for me to be able to get past the fact that they're chicken feet.​

 

[kefiren]

bobby-j: when people neglect to eat the fat of the land, the angels weep. I'll send you my address. LOL

 

[kefiren]

People don't need to be a skin eater to want to save chicken skin.

On a rooster it may well be the only fat you get! You simmer the skin with the bones in a pot all day (and the feet for that matter). A sparkly golden fat rises to the surface.

When you chill the stock, the golden,wonderful schmaltz congeals on the surface and it is easily lifted. It is considered the best of all fats for frying shredded potatoes. A wonderful fat for sauteing anything savory, just like butter, only meatier flavored. Or, you can just leave it in the stock to enrich soups and sauces.

A grass-based cow farmer in my town gives me his fat. I try to tell him it is more precious than the olive oil or (god help us) margarine they buy. But hey, I'm better off every year that he doesn't realize that he is giving away the best part.

On that same note, what breeds give you the MOST fat on the carcass? I'm thinking of my Speckled Sussex...Perhaps that is where my destiny lies!

I compost the remains of my stock pot after draining the broth out. My cats get the gizzards chopped and raw. And I get pate--scrumptious.

"Try the gray stuff, it's delicious, don't believe me, ask the dishes!"

Renee

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

I've kind of been lurking in the back ground and have followed this thread since day one. I'm 62 in people yrs. but 3 in chicken yrs. A lot of what I remember as as child. My grandfather was a butcher and what you discribed in your post is called rendering. I didn't know anybody but me did that anymore. Love this thread.

BYC Rocks.

 

[Clay Mudd]

Quote:
That was almost poetic.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
I love her.. you don't need us..

 

[JMidJr]

Southerdesert wrote: I have a small drum on a electric motor plucks a chicken in about a couple minutes dry.... Will work with 12 volt or AC.

Can you tell me about that motor? I built a drum plucker that I use with a drill, but there are obvious problems and I'd like to use a 110v motor of some sort.

I built the plucker to use with wild turkeys- works like a charm for them (I'm an OT re: turkey hunting but a noob with chickens) Will use it on chickens in 2012. IMHO, the skin is essential on fowl. Skinless poultry loses much in both moisture and flavor; I think boneless skinless is only barely edible if used as substrate for a sauce where it's not expected to contribute much else.

Ah, schmalz! If you like food you should have a little tub of schmalz in the refrigerator (right next to the bacon fat!)

My thanks to all for your contributions- I'm learning 'a ton' even from those whith whom I may disagree and am grateful for every post! Bee, you're a genius for starting this thread.

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
I have the same theory with kids.

x2

Dirt+manure=growth