Not sure we can do this.

[MommaG2023]

Wherr do I go to find someone who will. ull them?

If you live rural there could be farms offering the service for a fee. My local guy charges $5 a bird fully cleaned (livers and feet also cleaned and prepared if you like) vacuum sealed and ready to eat. Google may have local listing for a butcher too.

 

[Klutch]

The only thing that goes to the landfill is the bones after they have been used for broth.

The bones need to go to the rose bushes as bone meal. = 100% used

 

[Sussex19]

I process my duel-purpures cockerels between 16 and 21 weeks of age normally.
At that age, they are a very slightly too tough for frying, imo, but are great for roasting, or stewing, and have more meat on them.
I do like having a little more flavor, it is just a little more 'chickeny' so goes further, but is not overwhelming or anything like that! When I have done them at 14 weeks, they are a just a tiny bit bland.

 

[Paz]

Here is how I see it. (I do know it’s a bit late to jump in.)
Cocks would most likely fight each other if there are too many, and not enough hens. They might even KILL each other. Having too many cocks is also a torture for the hens, since they would rape them in order to show dominance over the other cocks. They can injure the hens during their fights over dominance.
So eating them is the RIGHT thing to do. You can also name them “dinner”, “schnitzel”, “soup” and so on, so you know they become soup.
If killing is still a problem, just let your dog do it. A professional dog can kill a bird in 20 seconds.

 

[FunClucks]

The bones need to go to the rose bushes as bone meal. = 100% used

How do you do that? I get to the part where I have a carcass (pressure cooked or slow roasted), but getting from bones to bone meal is stumping me. Do you have a preferred technique? Or a thread link? I have about 17 carcasses left to do something with and I hate to throw them out.

Note - I have not perfected hot composting, only cold composting, so I've been hesitant to compost bones, entrails, blood, etc. and I don't have dogs.

 

[Klutch]

A diy bone doesn't have to be fine like the store bought ones, for myself I would use a hammer to get it to like a pulverized shredded consistency. You could probably grind it with a blender or a grinder. If it's from mother earth it can go back to mother earth. This might sound bizarre, but when I lose a chick or a bird I first check if I am planting something new if not, I dig next to something growing in yard/garden and put it there. I know you'll come up with a plan.

 

[FunClucks]

A diy bone doesn't have to be fine like the store bought ones, for myself I would use a hammer to get it to like a pulverized shredded consistency. You could probably grind it with a blender or a grinder. If it's from mother earth it can go back to mother earth. This might sound bizarre, but when I lose a chick or a bird I first check if I am planting something new if not, I dig next to something growing in yard/garden and put it there. I know you'll come up with a plan.

Thank you!

 

[imacowgirl2]

Thanks for this idea of a use for the intestines! Never thought of that. That was something I regretfully threw out last time, even though I tried my best to use every part of the bird. I'll have to try this next time.

I feed back everything that I don't use, in one way or another...if my laying hens are free ranging when I am processing, they very quickly catch on to what is going on and are hanging around waiting for the 'goodies'. By feeding these parts back to the flock, I'm using the parts that I wouldn't otherwise, and in a way that adds back to the nutrition of the flock. Some people may be concerned about diseases, but I figure these birds have been living together their entire lives...if one has some disease, odds are the others already have it as well. Now, if I was processing birds that hadn't grown up on my property, that would be different and more risk, at least in my mind, of introducing diseases.

Letting the layer hens clean up also saves me work...as small bits and parts wash off the table between birds, they take care of it, so I don't have to worry about any stink building up from random bits and pieces being left behind after processing day. Kind of like the toddler that loves to 'clean up' under the kitchen table after dinner LOL. As I have parts that I won't use during processing, I toss them into a shallow dish that the layer ladies pick through -- once I'm done processing for the day and they're done picking through, the rest goes to the dogs, and anything they don't eat goes out into the woods for the wild animals.

 

[FunClucks]

I feed back everything that I don't use, in one way or another...if my laying hens are free ranging when I am processing, they very quickly catch on to what is going on and are hanging around waiting for the 'goodies'. By feeding these parts back to the flock, I'm using the parts that I wouldn't otherwise, and in a way that adds back to the nutrition of the flock. Some people may be concerned about diseases, but I figure these birds have been living together their entire lives...if one has some disease, odds are the others already have it as well. Now, if I was processing birds that hadn't grown up on my property, that would be different and more risk, at least in my mind, of introducing diseases.

Letting the layer hens clean up also saves me work...as small bits and parts wash off the table between birds, they take care of it, so I don't have to worry about any stink building up from random bits and pieces being left behind after processing day. Kind of like the toddler that loves to 'clean up' under the kitchen table after dinner LOL. As I have parts that I won't use during processing, I toss them into a shallow dish that the layer ladies pick through -- once I'm done processing for the day and they're done picking through, the rest goes to the dogs, and anything they don't eat goes out into the woods for the wild animals.

I have a large area of mulch I used to fill in a depression where water collects a bit when it rains. I set my table up on top of the mulch. Any small bits have composted into the mulch, and I never had a problem with smell or anything digging there. Of course, I processed 21 birds over the course of 5 weeks in March when it is still pretty cool here.

That's a great idea about the laying hens. Clever!

 

[imacowgirl2]

How do you do that? I get to the part where I have a carcass (pressure cooked or slow roasted), but getting from bones to bone meal is stumping me. Do you have a preferred technique? Or a thread link? I have about 17 carcasses left to do something with and I hate to throw them out.

Note - I have not perfected hot composting, only cold composting, so I've been hesitant to compost bones, entrails, blood, etc. and I don't have dogs.

By the time I've used my bones to make 2-3 batches of broth, they're completely soft and would be easy to smash into a meal with almost anything. If you're not using your carcasses to make broth after eating the meat -- add that step to get yummy broth (and each batch of bones can be used to make 2-3 batches of broth...the broth just gets lighter and not as thick with each subsequent batch) and then after making broth you should be able to easily smash down to turn into a bone meal.