Interesting article regarding commercially raised meat chickens in US

[WalkingWolf]

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Make sure you cook it to the proper temperature, but you see a backyard processor cannot control how the purchaser cooks their food, they are liable if the food causes illness if they cannot prove they used proper sanitation.

Confucius say "a fool and his money soon part ways" and also "there is a lawyer for every fool"

Edited to add that this is the main reason I will not process a bird for sale, even using proper sanitation. I get $10 to 15$ per bird unprocessed to the local Hispanics, and that is for roosters... LOL Actually I get more for roosters than I do hens. I get $15 to $25 for duck drakes unprocessed. A neighbor gets $400 to $600 for unprocessed bulls, I have another neighbor that sells them unprocessed goats, but I am not sure what they get. If I had the time and space I would market live rabbits to them, I have been asked for other meats that they like from their countries but do not have a cheap source, such as Iguanas and snakes. I can get good prices for live raccoons if I can catch them.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Make sure you cook it to the proper temperature, but you see a backyard processor cannot control how the purchaser cooks their food, they are liable if the food causes illness if they cannot prove they used proper sanitation.

Confucius say "a fool and his money soon part ways" and also "there is a lawyer for every fool"

That would be an intersting court case. You're right, a home processor, or insert factory farm name here, can't control that. They also can't control how a customer handles their chicken after purchase. If someone leaves one of my birds in a hot car for several hours after they buy it, then eat it, and they get sick. Does that mean it's my fault they got sick? I think not. Can a court prove it was unsanitary processing, no. Can they prove it was because it was of improper handling, no. My point being, there is more than one way a bird can become contamined, and it isn't always the fault of the butchering process and it is hard to prove who is at fault.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

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I can answer that one for you. First step before killing is letting them sit without food for at least 12 hours no more than 15. Let them have water as it keeps them full, if you go past 15 hours they will start to eat whatever they can find including feces.

Step two... clean all utensils and equipment... yes you guessed it... with bleach (germicidal). I still have to cover my butt...

Step three... slit the throat (artery) don't chop the head off. If you chop the head off they do not bleed out all the way. Blood is left in the arteries around the bones and blood is also sucked into the trachea which then goes to the lungs filling up the cavity. Blood touching the skin or meat is not good, lowers the quality and shelf life.

Step four.... Scald 145-155 degrees.

Step five... Into the plucker they go, the outer skin is torn off along with feathers. Birds are pearl white when processed.... no feces or dirt is on the feathers (very easy to do with pastured poultry)

Step six... evisceration. The head is pulled off, feet cut off, EMPTY crop is pulled lose, a very precise cut is mad to not cut the intestines or gizzard, everything is pulled out with one scoop including crop, a cut is then made around the vent (again very accurate precision), lungs pulled out, and neck chopped off.

Step seven... Rinse bird with water (Non-Chlorinated) and put in ice bath... let the birds soak for about 20 minutes... (this is for initial cooling and for draining remaining blood out of the carcass)

Step eight... transfer birds to the vat with clean water... PLENTY of ice.... (your hand should go numb in about 2 minutes if you would emerge it in the water) The vat should be crystal clear all the way to the bottom.... NO hint of blood. Let the birds chill for about 4-6 hours.

Step Nine... Bag and SELL..... LOL....

No Chlorine involved... and.... a lot of very happy customers.

Come on Boss.... you knew the answer to this? What's your point?

 

[Bossroo]

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I'm sorry, Bossroo, that your request for learning has been missed amongst all the heightened talk of industrial poultry farming.

Buster...Since my method is not of acceptable standards , could you please enlighten me with your proper method of processing your chicken that would eliminate any possibilty of chemical and fecal contamination that would be satisfactory?

 

[CARS]

Quote:
Make sure you cook it to the proper temperature, but you see a backyard processor cannot control how the purchaser cooks their food, they are liable if the food causes illness if they cannot prove they used proper sanitation.

Confucius say "a fool and his money soon part ways" and also "there is a lawyer for every fool"

That would be an intersting court case. You're right, a home processor, or insert factory farm name here, can't control that. They also can't control how a customer handles their chicken after purchase. If someone leaves one of my birds in a hot car for several hours after they buy it, then eat it, and they get sick. Does that mean it's my fault they got sick? I think not. Can a court prove it was unsanitary processing, no. Can they prove it was because it was of improper handling, no. My point being, there is more than one way a bird can become contamined, and it isn't always the fault of the butchering process and it is hard to prove who is at fault.

Doesn't sound that interesting to me. Sounds expensive.

Off-topic, but my ex got thrown in jail for her 4th DWI and our daughter was sent to live with me. I fought for custody of course while she was still in jail and it cost me over $7,000.00 in lawyers and filing fees to have her live with me!! I thought it was going to be a slam dunk decision. I'd hate to go against a possible manslaughter by poison case.

Damn Russians!

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
Make sure you cook it to the proper temperature, but you see a backyard processor cannot control how the purchaser cooks their food, they are liable if the food causes illness if they cannot prove they used proper sanitation.

Confucius say "a fool and his money soon part ways" and also "there is a lawyer for every fool"

That would be an intersting court case. You're right, a home processor, or insert factory farm name here, can't control that. They also can't control how a customer handles their chicken after purchase. If someone leaves one of my birds in a hot car for several hours after they buy it, then eat it, and they get sick. Does that mean it's my fault they got sick? I think not. Can a court prove it was unsanitary processing, no. Can they prove it was because it was of improper handling, no. My point being, there is more than one way a bird can become contamined, and it isn't always the fault of the butchering process and it is hard to prove who is at fault.

If you are not being inspected, and you clearly cannot prove you followed guidelines, and if the bacteria can be found on your processing area, you are screwed even if it is the other persons fault. At the very least the fines would be immense, a person would probably be banned from poultry for public consumption forever, and financially ruined. This has happened several times with tattoo parlors, without diminutive proof that infection came from the parlor. And yes one time jail time was incurred by a artist operating out of his house without proper documentation, one day short of a year in county jail.

If a persons wealth and freedom are not that important, go for it. I personally like to keep my money and freedom. BTW I still think Putin's decision had nothing to do with the safety of the chicken.

 

[CARS]

did everyone take the afternoon off??

I need to get back to work and not worry about this. I don't sell my birds to anyone but my parents anyway.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
That would be an intersting court case. You're right, a home processor, or insert factory farm name here, can't control that. They also can't control how a customer handles their chicken after purchase. If someone leaves one of my birds in a hot car for several hours after they buy it, then eat it, and they get sick. Does that mean it's my fault they got sick? I think not. Can a court prove it was unsanitary processing, no. Can they prove it was because it was of improper handling, no. My point being, there is more than one way a bird can become contamined, and it isn't always the fault of the butchering process and it is hard to prove who is at fault.

Doesn't sound that interesting to me. Sounds expensive.

Off-topic, but my ex got thrown in jail for her 4th DWI and our daughter was sent to live with me. I fought for custody of course while she was still in jail and it cost me over $7,000.00 in lawyers and filing fees to have her live with me!! I thought it was going to be a slam dunk decision. I'd hate to go against a possible manslaughter by poison case.

Damn Russians!

How many people do you think die from contaminated chicken per year? I would guess it to be very, very low. If it were to happen, it would likely be because of other medical conditions in addition to the bird caused sickness. Some violent vomiting and diareah, yes, death, not likely. Expensive to fight it - yes. But that is a whole other topic. If a family where to eat a contaminated chicken, it doesn't mean all of them will get sick. My Dad and 2 of my 3 brothers got sick from a chicken one time, but my other brother and I didn't. We ate the same meal, but where not effected.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

So how do you think poop gets on the food in processing? Do you think they put it on the chicken intentionally? Have you ever been or seen a factory processor plant such as Tyson, Townsend, or Purdue? Did you see any employee put poop on a carcass during processing? Do YOU take the safeguards anywhere close to protect the chicken that they do? If you don't mind I have been in both Purdue and Townsend processing plants and seen the operations and precautions, I'll buy my chicken from them before you, no offense intended.

That's a sad statement. The problem is we can't see it... and either can the workers... but it does happen. If it didn't happen, there would be no need for chlorine. If I can't see the farm or the processing of the birds, I'm not going to buy their product.

I could call up any big chicken plant and ask for a live tour... my request would be denied. Why? What's to hide?

I do take offense to your statement... my chickens are night and day to the ones you have been eating. Do you not process your own? I'm offended because I take great pride in what I do... I do everything in my power to make a better lifestyle for my chicken, workers/helpers, and to have a CLEANER way of processing. Have you seen any dirty pasture poultry producers shop? Not a back yard set up but someone that does it for business? Very clean, and very organized. We have to be, because we are customer inspected, far greater than any organization than the government. People can use common sense on the farms that they visit, they can't on the ones the can not see.​

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Isn't it obvious that the reason so many more people get sick from factories is that thousands of birds (instead of just one) can easily come in contact with bacteria at a processing plant? Hundreds of chickens come in contact and then distributed all over the country. MORE CHANCES of someone getting sick. Small operations = less birds having less contact with a contaminent and less people eating the chicken and LESS CHANCES. It's called PROBABILITY. I really think this thread has dissolved into bickering.

In factory farms not just one bird is contaminated, thousands are. Therefore the chlorine. Small operations if well run and inspected can probably produce just as safe food without the chlorine or whatever because they are small operations and can more easily keep track of contaminants.