Is it supposed to look like this?? Chicken and dumplings

[Mamabear66]

I read the article on here about processing your chicken. I'm glad they explained WHY to let the chicken set....I would've cooked my chicken right away too....thinking it would rot or just go bad, letting it hand around....meats from the store do NOT last long, as freshness, in the fridge...same goes for eggs...UGHH, wish I knew all this years ago, would've made sure I got into FRESH meats/eggs sooner. Good luck w your chicken n dumplins next time you do it

 

[AMA Chick]

Try soaking it overnight in salt water...my Nana always did that, she said, "to get rid of the feather taste"
I usually do it as well, even though I use grocery store chickens

 

[hecatesmoon]

We did end up getting it right, and the issue with odor was indeed processing related. With the next, everything went smoothly and processing started right away. There was no ungodly feather odor like with the first. No smell that stuck to my hands and all that.
One thing I discovered I did not like was the sensation of pulling the feathers from a warm, supple body. Obviously, it felt different than the rooster that had turned cold and a little stiff.
I cannot tell you all how happy I was that the next experience was so different!

 

[donrae]

Glad you're getting better at it!

One thing that helps me immensly is to stick the bird in the freezer for a while. Then, you're disconnected from it when you pull it out to eat. Same for everything we butcher.......wait a month of so, then eat it and it's just meat.

 

[hecatesmoon]

One thing we thought we might do to try and make processing birds a little more "pleasant"...
We have some friends up north who are also starting their own little adventure in chickens, and we have been talking about all of us getting together one day and processing our birds together. I think we're going to take all our excess roosters up, process, and then store-- just get it out of the way.
Processing itself wouldn't be more pleasant, but maybe having company and some sort of distraction might help during the act.
I feel the loss of each and every bird, including the eggs lost to the heat when a hen went broody. I still think of that rooster so I don't know if waiting will allow me to separate myself from it or not.
I figure though that if I eat meat, I ought to have the nerve to face what it is I'm eating.

 

[clucksbc]

i don't have experience with processing...however i know there is some intestinal thing that you have to be carefull not to rupture
or it affects the taste of the meat ruins it,,maybe that...
I have learned so much from u tube...
that is how I learned to can...
you will be a cheif before you know it...

 

[hecatesmoon]

Clucks, if you puncture the intestines, it contaminates the body with bacteria, and you can die. Once you have punctured the intestines- as we did- there's no properly processing the bird. You're supposed to just toss it, because it's no longer safe.
That said, as soon as the mistake was made, I had another knife in hand and immediately cut off the breast meat and legs so there was no time for bacteria to spread. We used the breasts and legs and tossed the whole rest of that bird which I hated having to do!
I think the odor had to do with how long the bird hung before being processed.
I swear, it's a wonder I didn't make myself sick eating that bird, but I just refused to let it go to waste!
I think what you might be talking about is the oil gland on the tail-- I have heard if you puncture the oil gland it will change the taste.
Before we did the second bird, that's exactly what we did too! We checked out youtube and actually WATCHED someone do it there!

 

[Oregon Blues]

[[[[[........if you puncture the intestines,......]]]]]]

If you puncture the intestines, rinse out the inside of the bird carefully and cook the meat before you eat it. There is absolutely nothing in those intestines but chicken poop. There is no radioactive fast spreading toxin. You aren't supposed to eat chicken poop, but you can wash it off.

Once the bird is dead, nothing is spreading through the bird, because the blood is no longer flowing to carry anything through the body. In fact, by the time you open up the body cavity, there should not be any blood at all; the chicken should have been properly bled out.

Gosh, I hope nobody is chopping off their own hands if they accidentally touch chicken poop. Really, honestly, chicken poop is not going to flash spread through your system and kill you. Just wash it off and don't eat it.

 

[donrae]

[[[[[........if you puncture the intestines,......]]]]]]

If you puncture the intestines, rinse out the inside of the bird carefully and cook the meat before you eat it. There is absolutely nothing in those intestines but chicken poop. There is no radioactive fast spreading toxin. You aren't supposed to eat chicken poop, but you can wash it off.

Once the bird is dead, nothing is spreading through the bird, because the blood is no longer flowing to carry anything through the body. In fact, by the time you open up the body cavity, there should not be any blood at all; the chicken should have been properly bled out.

Gosh, I hope nobody is chopping off their own hands if they accidentally touch chicken poop. Really, honestly, chicken poop is not going to flash spread through your system and kill you. Just wash it off and don't eat it.

I agree.
Anything from the intestines that gets on the meat just sits there until you wash it off. The bird is dead, there is no metabolic processes spreading anything anywhere. It's icky but really not dangerous. Lots of stuff can get on/touch the meat while you're butchering, esp when you step up to larger animals. That's why you have lots and lots of water available.

 

[hecatesmoon]

So you can still use the meat? I was always told, with any animal, if the intestines are punctured that's it, you're done. Not because of things spreading through the circulatory system, but because the intestines contain mass quantities of bacteria and the bacteria themselves are mobile. I remember my dad fishing and hunting and that was always a big NO.