NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

Just had a call from a friend whose grandson was given 5 chickens, two hens and three Roos. The Roos were crowing, and she had them processed to avoid problems. A hawk took the second hen. If anyone in the greater Syracuse area is downsizing, would you have a spare hen to keep this girl company? She is a full sized white chicken, my friend is unsure which breed she is.

I have recommended BYC as a good place to learn chicken care, so perhaps she will join us here.
The chickens have a coop already, so they are ahead of me when I started out.

Sorry you about a week to late.

I do have plans though to set some Del eggs. I want to be able to hatch an egg from a older hen who seems egg bound and not going to make I'm sure. I do have a skinny del roo that needs to go. I may have someone for him.

Marq - I have some BM hens that look promising. Markings on front and neck. Not that I'm interested in giving them up just letting you know there is hope. Of course it will be spring or later before I can hatch since they all will need to be broody hatched.

 

[JLaw]

with venison if there is a gamey taste you did something wrong either field dressing or more likely you let it hang too long with the hide on. Here is how it was explained to me by a butcher....and my venison NEVER has a gamey taste.
In a butcher shop animals are hung in a controlled temp environment with the hide/skin removed. Hanging a deer outside with the hide on is FAR from a controlled temp. The reason to hang an animal in a butcher shop is the same reason we let chickens "rest" in the fridge for 3 days. To let the enzymes break down so the meat is tender. So by leaving a deer hang WITH the hide on, the enzymes from the hide are sinking into the meat. And if the temps fluctuate enough the hide is actually ROTTING into the meat. Hence my deer NEVER hang longer than overnight. As a matter of fact I usually skin them the same day I kill them.
Now how I process beyond that is this. Process the deer into hind quarters, front legs, and 2 rib cages. Then put them in the fridge where the temp is constant. NOW I have all week to process the venison, it never rots and never tastes gamey.
The other problem people have when they get a game taste is they did NOT field dress properly. In the field you MUST remove the bladder and the throat. Besides the rest of the internal organs. The bladder WILL leak into the meat if you don't and the esophagus rots faster than anything else.
Failure to properly field dress will result in yukky tasting meat. We BBQ venison all of the time. It is tender enough to cut with a plastic knife and if I did not tell you you would think you were eating lean beef.

Thanks for the info stony. We remove guts and blatter and reach up and cut the esophagus as far as we can from inside. Do you cut up the neck to take out more? As for the skin we don't process ours we have someone do it. I need to learn how to do it and get a set up for it. I was more citified before I moved up here never hunted just loved the woods so i'm learning about chickens hunting and the processing still. I may have to watch some youtube videos on how to butcher a deer i'm tired of paying out the rear for it after already paying for hunting license.

 

[stonykill]

I was wondering.....Has anyone heard anything about Cass? She hasn't been on in a while.

yes I emailed her the other day as I had not seen her around. She is just very busy and said she will check in as things slow down for her

 

[stonykill]

I couldn't agree with you more, stony. Too many deer have turned into inedible dog food by either inadequate field dressing or leaving the hide on too long. You explained it so well.

One other thing you can do with front quarters, trim and grind the meat like hamburger. Then make a 1:1 mixture with ground pork and the ground venison, add sausage seasoning, wrap and freeze. Venison is very lean, so the pork adds some fat/moisture. It makes wonderful breakfast sausage in patties or you can stuff links if you are so inclined.

thanks. I grind the front legs into burger as well. Some I mix 50/50 with the fatiest beef I can find and make burger patties for the wood fired grille. Some I just leave ground for sauces and for chilli.

 

[stonykill]

Thanks for the info stony. We remove guts and blatter and reach up and cut the esophagus as far as we can from inside. Do you cut up the neck to take out more? As for the skin we don't process ours we have someone do it. I need to learn how to do it and get a set up for it. I was more citified before I moved up here never hunted just loved the woods so i'm learning about chickens hunting and the processing still. I may have to watch some youtube videos on how to butcher a deer i'm tired of paying out the rear for it after already paying for hunting license.

yes I split the deer all the way up to the base of the neck then reach in and cut out the esophagus.

Yup if you have someone else process the deer it could sit there for a week rotting before he gets to it.

 

[Lynzi777]

Back from a busy morning. I had a huge buck jump out in front of my car this morning. If I was an inch closer he would have landed right on my hood! I was shaking the whole way home. That thing was huge, just glad I was finally able to stop right in front of it.

Then I had to run out to Caz and when I returned I had someone from up the road stop and ask if I would be interested in their rooster. Ummm no thanks! I got enough of those! He said he's got a few RIRs and then this big beautiful roo but the roo has been rough with the girls so he took him out of the pen hoping something would get it (I guess he doesn't want to process it himself) and nothing has. I told him how surprised I am at the lack of predators in this area seeing we live where we do. Then he brought up "reservoir dogs" ??? What the heck are those!? Never even heard of one. I'm gonna have to google.

Edited: just googled but all I get is the movie...

Hope everyone is enjoying their day. Freezing here again. Well not freezing but cold enough where I can't seem to warm up!

 

[Tab's chicken obsession]

yes I emailed her the other day as I had not seen her around. She is just very busy and said she will check in as things slow down for her

thanks. glad to hear she's still around

 

[Tab's chicken obsession]

My girlies yesterday. They both wanted to hold the baby so I told them they both could and I took a picture. I need to get my DH another bat for his other hand. I got him one a couple years ago and labeled it daddy's big stick.

 

[houseofknauss]

Looked the ladies and roo over and they don't seem to bad. I need to take a closer look at my light colored red. I rushed it this morning trying to let them out of coop and get my self out of rain. So tomorrow she gets to come into the house and see how we live.

Making some deer stew atm in crockpot hope it turns out ok I really don't cook deer. Normaly deer chili only. We give the backstrap to grandparents since I don't know how to cook it. I've yet to find a way to cook it right. I'm not a big fan of the "gamey" taste. My mother inlaw is no help she just burns everything crisp. So I stick with roasts, chili, and stews.

sounds like me with toast, burn it everytime

 

[Glasshen]

Lynzi, could that have been res dogs? Sometimes people on the reservation kind of expect their dogs to stay around, and not all of them do.

I read the article you linked yesterday, good one, thanks.