chicks too fat

[dbjay417]

cool.

yesterday i met an old man that can teach me how to rip out the guts and stuff. it aint gonna be easy since i intended them for breeding stock i kinda got attatched to them. But i think in the larger scheme of things it would be worse to allow them to die and go to waste. now i know to stay away from the chick bin labeled "picu".

 

[MissPrissy]

We just processed our meat birds, 27 of them. Previously we did 11 roos from our spring chick order that came extra. If you will read around you will find many posts on the processing. It is not hard. The first couple might be a little time consuming until you get the hang of it. It isn't a bloody job after the initial deheading and letting them hang to bleed out. Very little blood at all actually.

Mine weighed in at 10 - 13 lbs each - like small turkeys at 12 weeks of age.

Good luck.

 

[skeeter]

75%? ive been looking for the longest time to find that ratio,will a duel purpose dress out about the same do you think or will it drop to 60 % or so??
Thanks

 

[dbjay417]

Interesting update!!

the lil roo which i thought for sure was cripled and sure to die has made a partial recovery.

For about a week he'd been propelling himself around the yard by flapping his wings as his legs were of no use. Well with crash dieting, daily massages and the use of an analgesic rub ment for equine use, hes standing again. he's still not moving much, but he is back on his two feet.

Crash diet, therapy, and isolation will continue until hes fully healed.

the hens are a week into their new meat bird diet, and are comming along nicely.

 

[Ang]

Here is a great site that teaches you how to butcher. Lots of good information from start to finish!

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Butchering-Ready.html

 

[BamaChicken]

When I reccomended killing at 6 to 8 weeks I am thinking of fryer size. We like Fried Chicken down here in the South. When I dressed out 8 one day we had a Chicken Fry the next day. Picnic. I cooked them outside in the fish fryer and wow it was wonderful. Then After Thanksgiving two years ago at my mothers We had a work day and I took 8 out of the freezer and Fried them up outside and Made Homemade buttermilk Bisquits and you can't imagine how good it smelled outside. I don't think a piece of Chicken was left. Of course we had a crowd of men working using chain saws.

 

[CovenantCreek]

Quote:
I hate to tell you this, but that equine analgesic rub may have disqualified this bird from being eaten. There are a lot of medications that can't be used on animals intended for human consumption -- and if they're made for horses they might not indicate on the jar whether they're ok or not. Do a Google search on the active ingredient(s) and find out as much as you can. Some chemicals have a withdrawal period (don't kill the bird or eat eggs from it for a specific period of time), others don't leave the tissues and can't be used at all.

 

[dbjay417]

well, it was applied externally, and also I've been using it on my ankle on and off for a month. Its a mild form of icey hot.

I'll look into it but I doubt it will do any harm. At any rate, he's too small to slaughter and would have eventually died or fallen prey to fire ants or something if he wasn't moving. So its a darn if ya do darn if ya dont scenario really.

Ang, THIS is the site I've been reading up on. I can't wait to see how they compare.

 

[CovenantCreek]

Quote:
That's pretty much the way it goes. Providing the health care they need sometimes interferes with the plans we have for them down the road.........

I looked up the main ingredient in Icy Hot -- it's also used in candy, so I doubt it's considered toxic. The ingredients in Mineral Ice don't look like they'd be on the "not for human consumption" list either, but I didn't do the research. Sorry, I'm lazy today.....

 

[Gonzo the Great]

Well, I've eaten tubs of glue when I was a kid, so I am thinking anything on that horse is good for the gander..err..fryer...