Eating Chicks?

[ChicknThief]

You do with the scissors as you would with an axe. Another good word for it is "decapitation"

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

They taste great- you have to slit the package open though and leave them on the counter for a few days first before you eat them so the marshmallow will crust up a bit, otherwise they aren't as good. It's a shame you can only get them around Easter. Wait- are we talking about the same kind of chicks?

Okay, Jaku... that was really, really funny! I can't believe I'm the only one laughing!​

 

[Omniskies]

Update:

I never got around to frying the day-olds. I did take a chance and butcher a few four week old Ameracauna roosters. The Ameracaunas dressed out a little larger than jumbo quail, so if you're used to eating those then the quantity of meat isn't too big a deal. One rooster per person makes a nice meal. These turned out _extremely_ tender and flavorful. The only downside is that the skin tears easily, though that could be because I'm not an expert at plucking in the first place.

The roosters were cooked by placing them in a small glass dish with high sides. A water, salt, pepper, butter and "other spices" mixture was placed in the dish so that the roosters were all covered by the water. They were slow roasted at 350 F until done, then taken out of the water mixture and placed in a dry glass dish to make the skin crispy.

I don't know how cost effective butchering roosters at four weeks is. I bought these at $0.75 each out of a fryer pen at the local feed store and dumped four weeks worth of chick starter into them. However, I didn't have to make space and take care of them for ten months. To me having that space and time freed up for other birds is nice. Plus not having a dozen young roosters happily attempting to out-crow one another is a godsend.

Has anyone else tried this? Any thoughts, questions, comments, critiques?

 

[silkiechicken]

Having the buy them and then raise them for four weeks for the tiny amount of meat probably wasn't "economical", however, if you hatched them and they were extra roo's, just may work out. If you're good with the meat and it works for you, all the better!

 

[Omniskies]

I agree that buying them wasn't exactly a money saver. I bought them first to use as raccoon bait, then to caponize, -then- finally decided to just butcher them and see how it turned out. This is more what we'd like to do with extra roosters we hatch out. The only down side is determining what is and isn't a rooster at four weeks. I have a few more roosters to keep for a few more weeks to see how they dress out. This is where having a color that can be sexed at birth is going to be muy beneficial.

 

[S0rcy]

It is difficult to see others uses of animals at a specific stage as food when our own personal culture doesn't consider it "comfortable." We do eat lamb, baby pig, veal.. I have had alot of things that were very different and I have witnessed alot of heartbreaking things that to the farm manager, was just another day-in-the-life-of. Whether to eat the lamb or put it out of its misery and stick it on the compost pile was a matter of "is it safe." Whether to eat that pig or let it grow up a bit was a matter of how much money could he get for it later on?
It's so hard to try to think of something "cute and cuddly" as dinner, but not everyone sees this. Some people think I am tragically harsh because I would actually buy chicks to raise just for meat alone. For me it's economical. For others using a baby animal is cultural, etc.

My view: As long as the chick is not tortured (e.g. plunged into a vat still cheeping its poor little lungs out which to me would be a heinous crime) I would assume the deep frying might be an interesting thing to try. Removing that down might be quite tricky however and I certainly wouldn't want to taste "fluff" on my plate. I also wouldn't eat a chick I paid two bucks for. That sucker is growing up. If I want to pay 2 bucks for a snack, I'll go down the street and get some beef jerky.

There was a recipe I saw once for a marinated bird just out of its shell. It involved generous amounts of vinegar (I am unsure what type, rice vinegar maybe?) and pepper. I definitely would not want to try the "buried and aged in shell" recipe I saw in Hong Kong. Pickled? I couldn't see how it would be tasty at all.

Edit - Found it:

Bird just out of shell

After needling (I'm not sure what this is.) Remove beak, legs, and (word for feathers/fluff)
If chick has been fed remove internal organs otherwise leave intact
sprinkle with a handful of pepper, put into a bag with 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup oil. Sit in cool place for two days. Steam or pan fry, meat will come off easily. Good in (chu kau?) soup.

 

[silkiechicken]

Burred and aged as in "1000 year old egg"? Mmmmm... so VERY good in conjee, the whites are like a sweet tangy jello... might be an acquired taste though.

 

[TT]

I can't see day old chicks making more than 1 meal and I would personally rather grow them a while and have several meals from the same number of chicks.

I know it's a personal thing, but I just couldn't get past the idea of it. I grew up growing most all of our meat so it's not that, it's just that to me they are babies.

 

[GwenFarms]

Quote:
Needling is a method of slaughtering where a needle is inserted into the mouth and punctures an artery in the back, thereby dispatching and bleeding out all at once. Many folks think it is the most humane way to slaughter a chicken.

TT is not so much about the amount of meat. In many cultures its a delicacy and a tradition. You can find lots of videos of the different ways its prepared and eaten. Several cultures eat them right from the shell. Its doesn't seem tasty to me, but I know some folks that eat it.

 

[Guitartists]

Ok, don't shoot the messenger... but my DH is wondering if you could use them for catfish bait.