From Fridge to Freezer ..HOW?

[gettinaclue]

My DH and I would like to raise some meaties in the next year or so and I would like to do a batch in the spring or fall to start out. Maybe 15 or 20ish? I would also like to process them all at the same time...which leads to the problem.

I've repeatidly read that you should chill/rest the chicken for 24-48 hours before freezing, how do you do that with 20 birds and 1 fridge?

What do you do?

 

[Karrie13]

A big cooler and some ice would work. That is what I am planning to use this weekend. I have 22 to do on Sat.... All By Myself. We will see how that goes. I have done 3 and at the rate I was going it will take me all weekend to get those boys processed.

 

[Wolfwoman]

Cooler with ice is what I've seen on here mainly

I plan on butchering 2-3 a day, as I only have 11 CXs it will take about 4 days, the Sexlinks will get to grow a couple more weeks before butchering.

 

[justpete]

I use three 120 quart coolers with lots of ice.

That will hold my 50 birds.

Mine go to freezer camp tomorrow.

Peter

 

[Peruvian]

I've read the benefits of 'resting' the birds for a day or so on here several times and have read some folks complain of tough chicken if it wasn't rested properly.

However, that is not my experience. We usually have them in an ice bath to cool them down for a few hours as we process and then maybe keep them 'swimming' for an hour or so while we clean up. But then they are bagged and in the freezer pretty quickly. I don't notice any toughness. Neither do the folks we barter with for them or our guests who always ask for seconds and want to know if we sell any.

That being said, we just bought a 45 gallon tub (the kind for storage) and will soak our spring batch a little longer (hours, not days) to see if there is any difference.

 

[gettinaclue]

Excellent.

Thanks very much!

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

We purchased a used fridge for the garage for this purpose, craigslist usually has under 100.00 and we can always use the extra room.

 

[Winsor Woods]

I have a 33 gallon trashcan that we wash out thoroughly. We use that to rest/age our processed birds. Just make sure you have a lid and keep it in the shade or inside. It's really easy that way.

Dan

 

[lifelight]

You are on the right track;

IF YOU WERE YOUR BEST CUSTOMER, " What can I supply myself for myself?

Generations to come need simple farming skills. Planning a small garden, learning how to plant from seeds and supplement the store bought food that you eat. Fertilizer comes from animals like rabbits, chickens, ducks, turkeys and etc.... the healthiest meat is poultry, specifically the ORPINGTON CHICKEN and PEKIN DUCK, not limited to, find out for yourselves.

Don't let anyone tell you duck is greasy, it is more accurate to say that they do not know how to properly cook the duck, you got to cook it slower 325F and longer 3-4 hours, on a rack, breast down and make slits in the skin so the fat can cook off it.

I don't know what zoning laws are in your area, but; consider being your best customer. Say your family eats on average 4 chicken a week and say 7 holidays 3 ducks a year that would mean that you need 208 chicken and 21 ducks a year. Let's's round it off to 225 chicken and 25 ducks because an extra 17 chickens for you to have your eggs everyday. You have about six months that you can raise chicken and poultry for your freezer for the whole year.

At first you just order these chicks 25 at a time, feed them about 10 weeks and butcher them for your freezer. When you butcher them, let's call it harvesting the meat, be careful not to rupture the bile gland, it's the only green gland and it's between the livers of the bird. I guess the easiest way is to get a killing cone, put the bird in it upside down and then get a sharp knife and cut off it's head. After five minutes you put it in scalding water and rub off / pull off the feathers. Clean up the insides, save the neck, liver, heart, gizzard and feet. You can do like 12 at a setting, two birds at a time. There's a recipe for grandpa's chicken feet soup.

You don't need to keep a lot of birds around just for 10 weeks feed them and then freeze them. You get: MEAT, EGGS from the 17 birds you do keep, (remember to keep a couple of roosters to fertilize the eggs so that they can be hatched) , feathers for quilt or feather down, fertilizer for the garden and so on. You could even start an egg route, like a newspaper route but you sell eggs instead of papers. Make blankets and sell them for a lot of money.

Just REMEMBER, IF YOU WERE YOUR BEST CUSTOMER, " What can I supply myself for myself? " Even fruit trees, save those seeds and plant them in the about 2-3" in the ground in SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER all those seeds you eat can be saved in the refrigerator dry off first. You can sell seedling trees, start a greenhouse or plant nursery.

And while I am being my best customer, I am also selecting breeds that NEED HELP, and remembering to promote those breeds to people, and sometimes even give a few away to save the breed.

I AM ALSO THINKING ABOUT RAISING FLOCKS OF THESE BREEDS, the ones that good qualities, for instance the golden cascade duck is an excellent egg layer if not the best duck egg layer, orpington chicken, and appleyard duck lays blue eggs and the list goes on, but; I do check the list first and be sure to try to help the breeds in need. Saxony duck is on the list, now I got some duck mix from pekin and saxony that I am doing to breed, it is said the PEKIN, a common duck is better breast meat than turkey, leaner, and duck meat is more flavorful.

Here's about poultry that needs saving, raise some, eat some and share some:

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy • PO Box 477, Pittsboro, NC 27312
phone: 919-542-5704 • fax: 919-545-0022 • email: [email protected] • website: www.albc-usa.org

You can get rare breeds from here, write for their catalog and Poultry Order Form :

Sand Hill Preservation Center
1878 230th Street, Calamus, Iowa 52729-9659

Who knows you may fall in love with certain breeds, have a few large flocks. Sometimes certain eggs and be sold at online auctions for a lot of money; money that you need to buy feed, supplies and built first class coops and barns for all your poultry. By sharing some of the eggs in this way you will definetly be helping to promote the breed.

Thanks,
Dan from SC

I like to share inspired information, it's my nature to be helpful!

 

[lifelight]

What I figured is that I could hatch out and butcher about 240

critters a year. Actually, for one person all I need is about 25 large chickens and 12 ducks, that's 40 critters.

I was thinking that I would select and hatch the chicken and duck types that people would want the most and do people the most good and from day 1

hatching out to the six week, I would offer those for sale, like whole flocks, priced according to size, of course.

That way if anyone wanted a particular breed or flock for eggs they could preserve them and maybe they might even keep them and share them with others.

After week six, then I put them in the finishing pen,

feed to butchering day, saving a few for eggs of course. So you see, if I did
not eat these birds then they would never hatch out and have no chance of being

circulalted around the community.

I believe that is a good balance in the scheme of things

, because if you say,

OOOOh! you can't eat that bird it's a rarity heirloom

, then these birds have moved in my priority from a NEED to a luxury item for show and in these hard times luxury items get

cut of the budget. In order to last through adversity, these breeds must

remain a NEED to people.

Hey Roo

, Come here I NEED YOU,
Dan

or hey let me L@@K

at ya a while? what?