The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Two more weeks should do it.
Those birds will be delicious on the grill

We're trying one tonight. I don't have to let them rest right? People can kill chickens and eat them the same day.. At least that's how it used to be.

Any tips for the darn pin feathers??

Also my skin was all tearing :/ I did the three dunks and swishes. The feathers wiped off, but somehow they still ripped.

Susan forgot how to process so we had to youtube it. The carcasses aren't as neat looking as I'd like. I want to sell them to family, and they just won't cut it like they are.

 

[delisha]

Quote: you can put them in a ziplock bag with apple juice or buttermilk for 6 hours in the fridge. Take them out and pull the pin feathers. They should be OK to cook than since they are young birds. It is always best to wait 24 hours. Decomp is important for best texture of the meat.

 

[mlowen]

I pulled up my day lily stalks and chopped them up a bit. I thought I'd throw them into the run deep litter unless someone says it's a bad idea. They are hollow. I thought they'd add some carbon that's not as acidic as the oak leaves.

 

[mikkles]

Not sure about chickens, but daylilies are bad for cats.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: I have read that the ice bath right after scalding before plucking can help the skin to tear less.
If your water is the right temp for removing feathers, you wipe feathers off and don't pull.


I boil my water and bring it outside. I test it and use it at 165- 170. Dunk the bird all the way down and all the way up 3 times. Wipe the feathers at the leg. If they do not come off by simply wiping, I re dunk. The only feathers I have to pull are primary's in the ends of wings. No torn skin.

My DH does not have trouble with the lighter colored feathers but some of the dark pin feathers are hard. But the sites I was reading about scalding then an ice dip turned out to be for pluckers like the power plucker.

Our birds are small too, one was small enough that DH just cut the wings off instead of messing with all of the feathers. He was looking at how tiny the wings were and said it just was not worth it.

 

[aoxa]

you can put them in a ziplock bag with apple juice or buttermilk for 6 hours in the fridge. Take them out and pull the pin feathers. They should be OK to cook than since they are young birds. It is always best to wait 24 hours. Decomp is important for best texture of the meat.

I didn't read this first. Yep way too tough to eat. The rest are all resting for 48 hours.

 

[Kassaundra]

We're trying one tonight. I don't have to let them rest right? People can kill chickens and eat them the same day.. At least that's how it used to be.

Any tips for the darn pin feathers??

Also my skin was all tearing :/ I did the three dunks and swishes. The feathers wiped off, but somehow they still ripped.

Susan forgot how to process so we had to youtube it. The carcasses aren't as neat looking as I'd like. I want to sell them to family, and they just won't cut it like they are.

I have a sure fire way to deal w/ pin feathers, ............................... skin the bird

 

[uglychickens]

I have a sure fire way to deal w/ pin feathers, ............................... skin the bird

Lmao that's what I did!! My DH don't like skin anyway so why deal with it?

 

[BlueMouse]

We don't eat the skin but I like to have skin on a bird I'm going to grill or roast in the oven. It keeps the meat moister. For the crock pot I'll skin before I pop it in. I had a much harder time with ripping the skin on the guineas than on the chickens. Their skin was almost papery. Also, I partially dry plucked those because I have someone to sell the feathers to, it was really hard not to rip the skin doing that. I read that pithing loosens the feathers, but don't trust myself to do that right. Throat slitting is easier.

 

[Leahs Mom]

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