Processing a Cock Tomorrow

[rodriguezpoultry]

I'll be processing an older cockbird tomorrow. Bantam in size, so not much meat.

Needing recipe ideas. Probably going to wind up skinning him, so fried is "probably" not the best method. Seriously...kind of more trouble than it's worth with a bantam bird in my opinion.

Any ideas for old cockbird recipes?

I live in a fairly suburban area, any way to hide the draining process from view of neighbors and keep the blood from getting all over the ground and attracting bear, coyotes, etc.?

 

[itsy]

I bet there isn't too much to drain. Perhaps doing it into a grocery store bag that's doubled up?

No idea on the recipe other than turning the whole bird into stock (if there's really nuttin' on him)

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Was thinking about putting him as the chicken in a crock-pot chicken noodle soup. He's got a little meat on him...might be just enough for that?

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
What we did with ours to protect my elderly neighbors from seeing what I was doing was to hang the roo over a 5 gallon bucket. pretty much all you can see is the rope and the bucket and the roo is hidden in the bucket. When I pluck I have it over a large trash barrel too which makes for cleaner area after plucking.

Hope this helps.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

What did you do with the blood in the bucket afterwards? That's where my issue is...And since I'll be skinning, the plucking won't be an issue.

 

[booker81]

Wash the blood into the soil - if you have any garden plants, they'll appreciate it

Bloodmeal is yummy for plants. Rinsed down, it will soak in quickly, and frankly, there isn't a lot of blood to deal with, probably about half a cup or so. I lose more than that in a typical summer given my klutzy tendencies. You can also just wash it down the sink without issue.

For cooking him, skinning is fine - I'm given a lot of bantams to process by folks that don't want them, and to me, no amount of meat is too little to waste. Skin him out, remove the entrails, head and crop. Keep the neck if you'd like. I prefer now not to keep the livers of older birds, only the cornishX I raise, but the gizzard and heart can be kept. Toss it all in a crockpot or large stockpot. Add a gallon or so of water, some whole peppercorns, sliced carrots, celery and onions (leave the "clean" layer of brown skin on). Cook on low or simmer for a couple of hours. Strain the broth through a colander (add cheesecloth if you want it really nice), and then cool and pick the meat off the bird.

Add new carrots, celery and onion (without the brown skin), and add the chicken meat back in. Simmer til the veggies are softer. Add dumplings or noodles. Eat! (You can also portion and freeze the broth and meat after the straining process).

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Will do that then! I'll mix with water and spread it around my dormant garden for spring! Just chunk the skin and feathers. Thanks!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

THERE!

Didn't get to use the whole bird...couldn't fit my hand in there to eviscerate. So, I cute up pieces!

Not bad for my first bantam bird to do!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

My killing cone is directly above my stage one(the fresh stuff) compost pile. The blood drains in there and I mix it up.

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
Any of the refuse (blood, innards feathers and skin) can be used to fertilize your garden. I have also heard about the insides being used to feed the chickens more protein but I haven't tried that yet. The blood in the bucket gets dumped into the trash back with the feathers and other parts we don't use and gets either burned and spread on the garden or buried under the garden. Had to burn this time since it's too cold to dig in the dirt but any other season I would bury it.