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- #11
I've been practicing, as much as I hate it. Today I went to the barn and saw an injured bird, so we culled it and processed it for meat.
This is what the birds are looking like at this age, though this picture is a cockerel and today's bird was a pullet.
The bird was limping, though we didn't know why. I dispatched her by the compost pile but because it was cold out, we brought her into the kitchen to process. I scalded her for longer and at a higher temperature this time, so the feathers came out perfectly. Really. PERFECTLY, I was very proud of how well it went.
Once naked, I could see two spots where the bird was injured. I think the hawk that killed another bird this week ripped her open before it got the final selection. She had a surface wound that ripped open her skin but did not go deep into the muscle by her tail, which I saw before removing the feathers, but was surprised by another more serious injury on a wing when the feathers were gone. The bone was exposed and protruding and caked with something nasty, so that wing definitely had to go to the trash. Originally I thought I'd have to toss out a leg/thigh quarter, but in the end, just had to remove the tail and part of the back. (So why did I bother trimming off the oil gland? Oh, well, I can use the practice either way.)
Here is a photo of the bird before I removed any of the injured parts.
And the injured wing.
That bird (minus half a back and one wing) is now brining in the fridge and I will do something on Monday or Tuesday.
As an afterthought, my thanksgiving dinner, which I processed last Wednesday. Fried boneless breast meat and homemade mashed potatoes with onion gravy. SO GOOD!!!!!!
This is what the birds are looking like at this age, though this picture is a cockerel and today's bird was a pullet.
The bird was limping, though we didn't know why. I dispatched her by the compost pile but because it was cold out, we brought her into the kitchen to process. I scalded her for longer and at a higher temperature this time, so the feathers came out perfectly. Really. PERFECTLY, I was very proud of how well it went.
Once naked, I could see two spots where the bird was injured. I think the hawk that killed another bird this week ripped her open before it got the final selection. She had a surface wound that ripped open her skin but did not go deep into the muscle by her tail, which I saw before removing the feathers, but was surprised by another more serious injury on a wing when the feathers were gone. The bone was exposed and protruding and caked with something nasty, so that wing definitely had to go to the trash. Originally I thought I'd have to toss out a leg/thigh quarter, but in the end, just had to remove the tail and part of the back. (So why did I bother trimming off the oil gland? Oh, well, I can use the practice either way.)
Here is a photo of the bird before I removed any of the injured parts.
And the injured wing.
That bird (minus half a back and one wing) is now brining in the fridge and I will do something on Monday or Tuesday.
As an afterthought, my thanksgiving dinner, which I processed last Wednesday. Fried boneless breast meat and homemade mashed potatoes with onion gravy. SO GOOD!!!!!!
