Price of Whole Chickens

[KenK]

Quote:
At our store you can buy parts way cheaper than a whole chicken. Bone in breasts are frequently .99/lb. The last time I bought leg quarters they were .49/lb.

Not only will many not kill and dress a chicken, they won't even cut one up.
If you go to the buy sell section here right now you will see many free roosters.

I wouldn't kill and dress a (free) chicken for $8.73 to sell but it's worth doing to me if I'm going to be eating it myself.

 

[T-Amy]

I raise my own pork & beef & most recently we purchased 20 meat chicks for the first time... I'm apprehensive about processing them in a couple of wks but, just like the pork & beef, I have more appreciation & respect for the meat we eat than I ever did. I also know the kind of life my 'meat' had, with respect, good food, and not abused or injected with hormones/antibiotics, etc. And that quality of meat comes back to nourish our bodies.

There are a LOT of people out there who don't have the means to raise their own meat but are willing to pay more b/c you just don't know what you're getting on that styrofoam at the store. There is a poultry farm near me that sells their chickens for $15-$20 each!

When it comes to processing, we have a friend who is going to show us so please don't be discouraged if it's important to you to try this. I may feel differently after processing day but there's no turning back. I am more than happy to share with you my experiences privately so feel free to email me directly.

About processing layer birds or roosters- I would LOVE to hear from you about your experiences. I have heard they are very tough so if there is a particular rule of thumb about using layers for meat, I'd like to learn. I think our plan for our birds (when they're done laying) is to sell or give them to the local Amish. We haven't crossed that bridge yet.

 

[KenK]

Quote:
Older birds are tough, you wouldn't want to use them for fried chicken or other quick cooking recipe. However; there isn't any chicken that can't be cooked into submission by a crock pot, pressure cooker, or simply long, slow, stewing in a stock pot. They make delicious soups and stews.

Something that is popular here with wild turkeys is to bone the breast out and cut it into slices and pound it into cube steak and then batter and fry it. I've done it with the turkey and intend to try it with the next old chicken I kill.

 

[Oregon Blues]

The free roosters probably aren't prime eating birds. Nobody seems to be selling 8 week old Cornish Cross for cheap. But there are ways to cook the older birds and they will be delicious.

The reason that they are cheap is that the sellers don't want to process them, and there are very few people who want to kill and process chickens, and those people have all learned that there are free chickens, so no need to pay. That means there are few buyers for live chickens.

I process my home raised poultry, but I don't need any roosters past their prime butchering age and I don't bring strange birds onto my property, anyway, because of bio-security issues.

There are a lot of places where health rules will not allow the sale of home butchered chickens. Too bad, because there could be a nice little business taking free roosters and selling them dressed as stewing birds, or grinding them into homemade sausage and then getting super-premium prices for the meat.

I know a couple of people who feed their families by picking up a lot of free roosters. You have to consider the cost of gasoline to go and pick them up.

 

[jerryb]

If you would feel a sense of satisfaction and self sufficiency by processing surplus roosters then I think you should give it a go.

I used to process a lot of wild ducks when I hunted them a lot and I learned a little secret that I am going to share with you, don't tell anyone now OK?


plucking stinks, bad. so SKIN them birds. you can skin a duck, or chicken, in a minute with a bit of practice so unless you are pan frying and need the skin for that skinning is fast and easy.

kill your bird, skin and take out the innards 5 minutes per bird max with a bit of practice. don't forget to save the giblets, you can freeze them in a margarine tub until you have enough to make a dinner, or some broth.

another option is to do a search for a local processor, don't do the obvious search though, google free range chicken (your city) and see what pops up. In my area there are several farms that will sell you chicken or process your chickens for you on their regular processing day. The closest charges $3 per chicken to process and vacuum wrap. They have an inspected facility so its as safe as doing it yourself. Take a look around.


good luck
Jerry