Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[Beekissed]

I agree. Aging them and storing them until later is best if you are not used to seeing meat as meat and are still seeing the meat as the animal. As the stored meat joins other stored meats in the freezer it becomes less the bird you knew and more just...meat.

 

[AQHAchick22]

Quote:
I just had birds processed for the first time yesterday and I'm planning to let them sit for awhile. I really can't handle looking at them right now. Hopefully in a week or so I'll feel better about it.

 

[chicksooner]

My hatchet experience was a mercy cull, she wasn't moving at all, mortally wounded in shock and I couldn't / didn't hit the neck on the first or second try, HORRIBLE experience I will NEVER do again!

I wish you lived closer to me. I need someone with experience to hold my hand. I need a tutor as I failed chicken processing 101 the first time. My cockerels are on the count down. As soon as it cools off a bit more I am going to process.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Has anyone ever done Freedom Rangers before?
So far I'm really really happy with them.
But I was wondering what age you guys processed them (they say between 9-12 weeks) and how the taste was compared to a typical broiler chicken?

We got cornish crosses once and I HATED them, I ended up giving them away at 3 weeks old. They were just gross little freakish blobs haha. I think I may have gotten a bad batch because I have heard others say they love them.

My freedom rangers are so pretty and have a ridiculous amount of personality (which will probably make the culling a little tough, especially on a few of my favs)

 

[Beekissed]

Has anyone ever done Freedom Rangers before?
So far I'm really really happy with them.
But I was wondering what age you guys processed them (they say between 9-12 weeks) and how the taste was compared to a typical broiler chicken?

We got cornish crosses once and I HATED them, I ended up giving them away at 3 weeks old. They were just gross little freakish blobs haha. I think I may have gotten a bad batch because I have heard others say they love them.

My freedom rangers are so pretty and have a ridiculous amount of personality (which will probably make the culling a little tough, especially on a few of my favs)

CX are what you make of them...depends on how you raise them. They can be gross, stinking, monstrous things if confined and fed up like pigs on grower feed.

 

[jajeanpierre]

It really does get easier.

Often it helps to wait longer before cooking them. They usually become more like the chicken from the store. The mind is funny that way. I would send them to Freezer camp for at least two weeks.

Best!

I thought about that, but my husband wanted really fresh chicken. I was not sure I would be able to eat any. These chickens I am going to slaughter will never look like chickens from the store--they're Silkies, so the flesh is a really weird color, kind of grey, with jet black layers as well. It almost seems that any flesh that lays against the black bones picks up the black pigment. It is really weird--I'll take a picture of the next one.

I bought another knife today.

The healthy Silkie cockerels are all crowing away now that their hierarchy is upset with the removal of four of their flock (one slaughtered, one died and two in hospital cages). They need to go to freezer camp.

 

[jajeanpierre]

It really does get easier.

Often it helps to wait longer before cooking them. They usually become more like the chicken from the store. The mind is funny that way. I would send them to Freezer camp for at least two weeks.

Best!

Well that last post didn't turn out very well, did it.

They will never look like store chicken--they're Silkies with a grey flesh with lots of black. It is really weird looking. I'll try to get a picture of the next one I process. The three that were not hurt have started crowing up a storm now their hierarchy has changed. I bought a new knife for them. Maybe this weekend I will grow a spine.

My husband did want to have the chicken really fresh. I let it age in the fridge by the pool (so I wouldn't have to see it!) for something like three days. I thought I probably couldn't eat any, and was surprised I took a few bites.

 

[ronott1]

I thought about that, but my husband wanted really fresh chicken. I was not sure I would be able to eat any. These chickens I am going to slaughter will never look like chickens from the store--they're Silkies, so the flesh is a really weird color, kind of grey, with jet black layers as well. It almost seems that any flesh that lays against the black bones picks up the black pigment. It is really weird--I'll take a picture of the next one.

I bought another knife today.

The healthy Silkie cockerels are all crowing away now that their hierarchy is upset with the removal of four of their flock (one slaughtered, one died and two in hospital cages). They need to go to freezer camp.

Yes, they do look weird!

They making chicken pot pie or broth for soup--Maybe tell the family you are cooking Turtle soup(unless they know what turtle meat looks like....)

 

[Elke Beck]

Thanks. I wish there was someone near me too. I've recently moved to the San Antonio area, so don't have any friends yet.

I did make a broth from the bones and am surprised that the smell of it cooking bothered me. Normally I love the smell of a broth being made. I wonder how much is my being upset about the whole thing.

Yes, it is a good thing. It is a kind thing. I will be able to do this. It just isn't easy. In retrospect, I wish I had slaughtered all the hurt chickens at the time, but I didn't. Oh well.

Today I'm off to buy a better knife.

If I make broth the same day that I butcher it is like I can't tell the difference between the processing smells and the broth smell. If I wait a day or two, then it just smells like broth. For me, it is hard to get the wet feathers/entrails/feces processing smell out of my nose for a day or two. I also cannot eat chicken the day I butcher because it tastes off to me, no doubt because of the lingering smell.

 

[Beekissed]

I thought about that, but my husband wanted really fresh chicken. I was not sure I would be able to eat any. These chickens I am going to slaughter will never look like chickens from the store--they're Silkies, so the flesh is a really weird color, kind of grey, with jet black layers as well. It almost seems that any flesh that lays against the black bones picks up the black pigment. It is really weird--I'll take a picture of the next one.

I bought another knife today.

The healthy Silkie cockerels are all crowing away now that their hierarchy is upset with the removal of four of their flock (one slaughtered, one died and two in hospital cages). They need to go to freezer camp.

I'd have trouble eating black meat too!

Maybe time to grow a different breed? Nice, normal birds with healthy, pink looking flesh? Could make all the difference in the prospect of eating home grown chicken if it had a pleasing appearance in the first place.