Pros and cons to fasting prior to harvesting and other questions...

[chanceosunshine]

I will tell you what we do on our homestead.



One important point not to forget is the scalding water, have it plenty of it and at the right-ish temperature, I have a 55gal barrel with a wood fire under, temps are kept around 64-70C ( i think it's 145F if am not mistaken) not too low or it won't pluck, not too high or it will cook the skin.

Hope it helps!

Thank you for the reply. Tomorrow is the big day and I wish I could put it off another month or two but with them being meat birds I'm a little worried about how they would handle it "health wise". We had one drop dead for an unknown reason earlier this week. I was afraid that others would follow suit but thankfully they have not. He weighed 7lbs. (Does that sound like a good weight at 9 1/2 weeks?) I don't think that's excessive like a X would be, so I don't know if he just had a heart attack or what it could have been. If we weren't heading into November I'd be more tempted to wait as well.

I let them free range during the day. So my plan is to lure them back to their tractor this afternoon and allow them a snack. They'll have water all night, of course. Tomorrow I'll let them free range and eat whatever they can find but I won't allow their actual food. That way, they should be fairly empty with whatever they pick up in their crop to make it easier to identify. They have a favorite spot in my garden that will allow my husband to scoop them up pretty easily.

I'm considering keeping two hens, but I'm not 100% on that yet. They aren't as big as the boys and I've read about people keeping freedom rangers hens for a few years, so I might give it a try. I admit I've fallen for them. They are so docile. I wanted big ugly mean birds that I would want to kill myself, lol, and these are not those! I spend all kinds of time with my mixed layers and feed them from my hand and bring them treats, yet they are all so skiddish and act as though I've come in their run swinging a machete. But these freedom rangers, that I've kept as far from as I can except for letting them loose, giving them water and food and moving their tractor come to me when I get home and follow me around when I'm in the yard. Sometimes I think, "If you only knew that I'm going to eat you..."

 

[VanUnamed]

Well i am weak too. of the rangers I have... I have kept the girls. they do lay quite well for now. they weigh 8lb. I do feel you about the ugly meat birds, the boys at 4 months become a nightmare, it was such a relief to have them all go, when only girls were left it was so peaceful. Boys weighed 10, 11lb at 4 months. the chickens from my rooster+hens some reached 13, 14lb in the same span. good luck!!

 

[Morrigan]

Thank you for the reply. Tomorrow is the big day and I wish I could put it off another month or two but with them being meat birds I'm a little worried about how they would handle it "health wise". We had one drop dead for an unknown reason earlier this week. I was afraid that others would follow suit but thankfully they have not. He weighed 7lbs. (Does that sound like a good weight at 9 1/2 weeks?) I don't think that's excessive like a X would be, so I don't know if he just had a heart attack or what it could have been. If we weren't heading into November I'd be more tempted to wait as well.

I let them free range during the day. So my plan is to lure them back to their tractor this afternoon and allow them a snack. They'll have water all night, of course. Tomorrow I'll let them free range and eat whatever they can find but I won't allow their actual food. That way, they should be fairly empty with whatever they pick up in their crop to make it easier to identify. They have a favorite spot in my garden that will allow my husband to scoop them up pretty easily.

I'm considering keeping two hens, but I'm not 100% on that yet. They aren't as big as the boys and I've read about people keeping freedom rangers hens for a few years, so I might give it a try. I admit I've fallen for them. They are so docile. I wanted big ugly mean birds that I would want to kill myself, lol, and these are not those! I spend all kinds of time with my mixed layers and feed them from my hand and bring them treats, yet they are all so skiddish and act as though I've come in their run swinging a machete. But these freedom rangers, that I've kept as far from as I can except for letting them loose, giving them water and food and moving their tractor come to me when I get home and follow me around when I'm in the yard. Sometimes I think, "If you only knew that I'm going to eat you..."

It sounds like a good plan. I know what you mean about butchering meaties. The hens especially are so easy-going and nice to have around, it's always a tough day. Good luck today!

 

[chanceosunshine]

We put the birds away yesterday afternoon and withheld their food. I let them out to free range in the morning while we got set up. I threw some scratch into a section of garden and fenced the birds in.

This worked rather well for the poop factor and it certainly showed off the crop in several of the birds who scarfed so much down that I could barely get the crop to come out with the guts. Other crops were nearly empty.

How do I get the hard cartilage part of the gizzard off? And is cutting the top part of the heart off sufficient or is there more to it? And do the livers need anything extra done to them? These will all be for human consumption.

I’ll attach some pics of our set up and of one of the really full crops.

 

[Morrigan]

View attachment 1939278 View attachment 1939288 View attachment 1939289 View attachment 1939290 View attachment 1939291 View attachment 1939285 We put the birds away yesterday afternoon and withheld their food. I let them out to free range in the morning while we got set up. I threw some scratch into a section of garden and fenced the birds in.

This worked rather well for the poop factor and it certainly showed off the crop in several of the birds who scarfed so much down that I could barely get the crop to come out with the guts. Other crops were nearly empty.

How do I get the hard cartilage part of the gizzard off? And is cutting the top part of the heart off sufficient or is there more to it? And do the livers need anything extra done to them? These will all be for human consumption.

I’ll attach some pics of our set up and of one of the really full crops.

Well done! To answer your questions:

Gizzard -- I'm not sure what you mean by the "cartilage part", but I carefully slice through the outer meaty layer along the "sharp" edge, until I just see the white-ish membrane peeking through. That white is the pouch that holds all the grit. Then peel off the gizzard off of the pouch. If the pouch breaks, no biggie, just continue to pull the white membrane off from the gizzard and wash the gizzard. Once the pouch is out, what you have left, should look like the gizzards you are used to seeing in the market. I hope that makes sense.

Heart -- I just pull it off the aorta and wash.

Liver -- Make sure you carefully remove the bile sac without breaking it. After that, I just wash and dry it. You can trim it up a bit, but since I use mine to make pate, I don't even do that.

 

[Beer can]

So, do you fast your birds? Why? Why not?

Never heard of doing that but I get in the habit of just not feeding them the morning of "it's time". For two reasons, one, why waste feed?, and two it can make a mess if you rip the crop getting the bloated thing out.
I've found that it does though actually make it easier to feed them some getting the crop out, can get a hold of it easier.
And I'll admit I once processing a few as whole birds skin on forgot about the crop, it'll shrink right down and hide under the skin tight. Yup I forgot about it

 

[aart]

Never heard of doing that but I get in the habit of just not feeding them the morning of "it's time". For two reasons, one, why waste feed?, and two it can make a mess if you rip the crop getting the bloated thing out.

Biggest reason is to empty the intestines over night.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How do I get the hard cartilage part of the gizzard off?

I split the gizzard open, dump the contents, and rinse it off. If I use it in broth that's all I do. After the broth is made I pull the meat off the lining. Depending on how you are cooking it that might be enough.

If you want to remove the lining before you cook it, pull it apart with your fingers. Takes some strength.

Splitting the gizzard open can be educational. You get to see what size they use for grit and might observe it is not sharp and angular as sometimes stated on here. Any sharp edges are quickly smoothed off just as you would expect. I've found things like plum pits in there. Pretty big.

 

[Morrigan]

Splitting the gizzard open can be educational. You get to see what size they use for grit and might observe it is not sharp and angular as sometimes stated on here. Any sharp edges are quickly smoothed off just as you would expect. I've found things like plum pits in there. Pretty big.

I live on rocky soil, and I'm amazed at how many rocks are in there. That pouch is heavy! The other thing I notice is how much larger the gizzards of my meat birds versus the grocery store birds. Then I thought about it and realized that the broiler house bird has no access to, or need for, grit. They are feed pellets their whole lives, so the gizzard is a muscle that really doesn't get used for them.

 

[chanceosunshine]

The lining is what I was calling cartilage. Lining is a much better term. It’s stiff like cartilage, ya know?
I tried very briefly to remove the lining but didn’t want to take any longer with the gutting than I already was. I don’t know how someone with big hands could get in that cavity!
If I can’t get the lining off pre cook I’ll do it after. We love the yummy gizzards!
I was little hard on the liver too. Some of them came out a bit crushed. I’m going to have to work on my technique!