How to use the whole animal (waste not want not)

[triplepurpose]

this may be a retarded question.

but what can you do about the black marks in the pores? from black feathering? i noticed them with this new breed im raising now. i was used to white birds and obviously this never happened. and we've gotten better at picking so that no black marks happen., BUT still some do. are there any tricks? kinda looks gross and hard to give the birds to friends with all those marks.

That's really interesting. I have yet to butcher a black bird so I have no real experience to offer... My first thought is that it's pigment, do you brine your birds before freezing or gifting them to friends? And if so does it make a difference?
I'm sure someone else knows what it is for certain. What is the breed?

Anyone with a trick for this?

Well, I think people (in general that is) need to realize there's no substantive difference between the skin on a carcass from a bird with dark feathers and that from a bird with light feathers--just that in one these "marks" show up, and in the other they're invisible (but still there). Since the different appearance is purely cosmetic (and in fact illusory), it never occurred to me as something that required a fix, or as something I had to protect people from. It only looks "gross" to some because we are accustomed to seeing "pristine" looking bland, commodity "chicken" carcasses from special all-white birds--birds that lived briefly in misery ankle deep in poo and breathing ammonia fumes before being killed inhumanely, soaked in a stew of hot blood and feces, and filled with chlorinated water and allowed to sit in cold storage for longer than the lifespan of the chicken before reaching your kitchen.

I raised dark cornish (delicious heritage dual purpose/meaties) for a few years, and they have very dark plumage, as the name implies. But I've slaughtered chickens of all colors, and they were all delicious and looked beautiful. Our muscovy ducks come out either all white or with mostly dark feathers, and when dressed the dark ones have a few dark spots and the white ones do not. They all get treated equally and I've even sold both white and dark ones indescriminately to happy friends and neighbors. If it truly bothers you, you can raise only all-white birds, but that really limits your choices of many fine breeds and would make for a rather blah looking flock--I think it makes more sense just to learn to get used to what carcasses of real chickens sometimes look like.

Oh, and BTW I also kind of feel that any "friend" who would turn up their noses at a delicious home-grown chicken because of something like that doesn't deserve to eat something so fine... Just my opinion....

 

[Kotori]

Hey, to those who want to raise BSFL larvae but don't have them in your area: you can buy them online. My suggestion would be to do so in early spring, and have them outside all during summer. when it gets cold, you could rig up a little container for them using any sort of container, say a metal water trough, padded with some insulation and/or painted black to keep it warm in winter. If needed, some of that clear panels used for barn skylights could be fitted overtop. I know a similar setup was used to keep horse's water trough melted during a Canadian winter, and it kept it near 40-50 degrees all winter, needing a heater only on the coldest days. Should keep the little wormies alive through the colder months. Of course, some air space for the flies would be needed, so I don't know if they'd breed at all, or if they can overwinter as larvae/pupae. Of course, I'm not 100% on this.

Another use for non-chicken animals, and not so good tasting animals, like coyotes, skunks, roadkill, etc. is a maggot bucket. hang a bucket, poke holes on bottom and sides with a nail, put a layer of leaves or straw until above the holes, then drop meat in. hang over water to attract panfish, over chickens for a free feeder, or over another bucket for bait. A good source of this meat is fur trappers. many times, they don't do anything with the meat.

 

[hennible]

Thank for posting @Kotori
Thanks for your info

 

[Amberjem]

homegrown chicken

 

[vehve]

As we're on the subject, I saw an article in the paper a few days ago about making a mealworm pasta. Apparently they're a great source of protein. Also, an American eats about 2 ounces of insects each year.

 

[hennible]

But not Finns?
Lol

We eat something silly like 7 spiders a year in our sleep... I ate lots of bugs tree planting, stupid things just fly into your mouth and you chomp on them because your angry at the bugs because millions of the buggers are biting you... Lol

 

[vehve]

Hennible, I've only seen FDA estimates, I'm not sure how much we eat. Probably something similar, though.

 

[mymilliefleur]

As we're on the subject, I saw an article in the paper a few days ago about making a mealworm pasta. Apparently they're a great source of protein. Also, an American eats about 2 ounces of insects each year.

I have heard that. I have actually tried dried mealworms myself. they are not bad.
We had weevils in our brown rice. since we didn't feel like wasting it, we ate. It's just extra protein right?

 

[Amberjem]

 

[hennible]

Lots of cultures eat bugs... Perhaps it's a key to defeating world hunger... Bugs could eat our garbage and we could eat the bugs...