Muddy Muddy Meatbirds

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Over the last week we have gotten a ton of rain here and despite my best efforts to keep my birds dry with tarps, wood over part of the top of the run, etc. they still seemed to almost prefer sitting in the wet and are now very dirty and almost brown... My husband commented this morning that they don't look appetizing at all and I agree lol
Have any of you run into this?
I was thinking that the night before we dispatch the first 12 that we could bathe them before we put them in their special run with no grain, does this sound feasable or dumb? Should I just leave them dirty and put some dish soap in the scalding water to clean them after they are dispatched?

 

[max13077]

All that will come out with the feathers won't it? When you're done plucking, give it a good bath. I wouldn't think it would be too bad after that.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

UGH I had the same problem. We had a ton of rain and the little craop heads kept staying in the mud also. It was so bad and I had done everything I could that I ended up dispatching all of them a week earlier then I had wanted to. I would have liked to wait and get them a little bigger but they were NASTY !!!!! So yeah I know exactly what you mean.

 

[antlers]

if you skin them it will not matter. Just my 2 cents...

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Twelve of mine were actually for a neighbor who wanted hers with the skin on. Well she only got three like that. The rest I skined. I was actually embarresed by the end of the night how fast I could skin and degut (only way I could think of to say it) a chicken. I did seventeen that day by myself becasue I just couldn't stand how bad they looked and smelt. I have 22 right now in a big brooder box until I finish modifying my chicken tractor. But I will give those nasty little buggers credit. They taste really good and my kids love them. My seven year old always tells them that they are yummy when they are dead. And he thinks its great that his mommy kills chickens. Never have a phone conversation with him becasue he will start talking about his mommy's chickens lol

 

[dancingbear]

If you put a little dish soap in a big bucket of water and rinse them good before you scald, it gets most of the dirt off, and helps the hot water loosen the feathers better for plucking, as the soap breaks the surface tension and the feathers are wetted better. Then scrub them off good before you gut them, rinse well, no problem.

I don't like to skin chickens, the meat dries out when you cook it, and wings are really hard to skin. Wings are my favorite part, too, so I'm not about to hack them off and throw them out!

And I really like the skin, too. Nice and crispy on a roasted bird, makes such a nice crust on a fried one.

Those meat birds just don't look appetizing to me anyway, when they're alive. They look like feathered slugs. Ugh! But once they're cooked, that's different.