The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

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AFL, the lungs are way the heck up - and are kind of nestled in the rib cage. So you reach your hand in as far as you can, and scrape them off, they are bright pink. they don't seem to come out like the organs do, you really have to scrape. They even make special tools to get them out - if you were processing a lot of chickens it would be worth it.

Otherwise, fingers.

When you take the carcass out of the frig, lay it on the counter on its back. hand goes in palm down. Or if you are going to cut it up before you cook it, you will see the lungs.

I just had the best homemade chicken noodle soup at the town hall - someone asked the woman who made it for her recipe and she just laughed and said you have to start with a home grown chicken!
 
Okay, I know I've asked this twice before, but this time I swear I'll bookmark it. Do you have a link to a good page about herbs that go well with chickens? My wife wants to plant some around the runs, and wants me to find out what to plant.

Seems like I remember lavender and bee balm being high on the list. Anything else in particular?
 
BEWARE PICTURES OF PROCESSING A CHICKEN. IF YOU DONT WANT TO SEE THEM THEN SCROLL RIGHT BY (I don't can't use the spoiler option on my IPad)



Well I have sad news. Zorro just got louder and the neighbors were noticing. I tried to find him a new home but had no luck. So I put him in a dog crate last night and covered the windows in the hope he would be quiet. He was. So I did the right thing and culled him this morning, I used used milk jug to hang him in. Had to cut open the pouring end so his head fit through it. And I put a heavy duty leaf bag under the milk jug to catch the blood. He didn't fight after I sliced his neck. I let him drain about 20 min and then worked on feather removal. water temp was 150 degrees and the feathers wiped right off. I removed his feet and head then cut him open to take out his organs. He is currently reading in a milk bath in the fridge. I put a towel over him just because I know my son will yell if he sees the carcass. I took some pics of the organs. I've processed a chicken before when I was a kid but my job was feather removal.
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Carcass as I opened it, I was surprised to see the fat.
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More fat as I pulled out the organs
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the organs outside the body cavity
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I believe the lungs, liver & ? I cant remember what the small dark organ is. Gallbladder?
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I believe this is the crop. It was covered in yellow fat. Not thick fat just a layer around it.
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the intestines
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I have no idea what this is. Its at the opposite end of the anus.
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crop cut open. I would have to say the crop was the size of a tangerine. Solid. Inside was what he had to eat last night.
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Heart & testicles
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What was inside the crop that I took out. Fine & grainy. I could see little pieces of corn in there. He last ate last night around 5. I put him in a dog crate in the garage for the night.
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Heart, lungs, kidney? & testicles

If I have mislabeled something please let me know. I couldnt label them on the pictures because I dont know how.

I'm cuious to hear from the old timers is that fat is normal? I didnt see any in the breast area just when I cut him open to remove the organs. He was 21 weeks old and on FF once a day since he hatched. He has been foraging in their space since then. And of course leftovers as we had them. I thought he was real skinny. But being so young I was surprised he has some good meat on his breast. He is currently resting in the fridge in a milk bath. His hatch mates were enjoying his heart. If I cant eat him he wont go to waste. His hatch mates & the other hens will enjoy him.


I don't have time to look in detail right now as I'm racing the weather for the next two days, but what you are calling the crop is actually the gizzard. Turn it inside out, peel the lining out, edible part is left. The crop is much higher up in the digestive track in front of the left shoulder.
 
@ronott1
I'm using oregano oil on the roo and tea tree on the affected hens. The thing I was most worried about was getting it in there eyes... The sent made the roo sneeze a bit but that subsided quickly. So I managed not to get anything in their eyes and with the Roos odd pea comb it's easier to get oil in all the nooks than with cream. Any how I didn't treat for a few days between the Nystatin and the oregano oil... the nystatin appears (visually) to have started to work but it hasn't cured anything yet... There's a good size fungus on the back of the roosters comb, it has reduced in size but I'm going to keep going with the oregano oil on the male and the Teatree oil on the girls. the girls actually had it to a lesser degree, probably because they have single combs, less nooks for fungus to grow in... Anyway when I see results I will certainly update.
 
Bookmarked! Thanks!


While I'm here, I'd like to ask for prioritization opinions from the peanut gallery.

If you had to choose just 3 herbs to plant for your flock, what would they be?
You're welcome!

Only 3? Oh my!

I prefer to invest in plants that I can't harvest from the wild but use regularly and not just for my flock but cooking, tea and medicine.
Lemon balm is a must for me as are garlic and thyme (but so are many others).

I would avoid purchasing mint as you can find it growing wild and it's invasive. I dug up some wild mint and potted it to keep it where I want it. They pick at it when they want and I dry it to use for tea and for their house year round. Rosa Rugosa is another that grows wild and plants can be started from hips.
 
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@hoosiercheetah

Yes. It freezes. And quite solid in the feeder.

Last several years I used a flat heat base made from the heating element from a heated dog bowl and used pyrex pie pans (which are shallow) set on top of those heat bases to feed from. If you want to see them I can send you a pm...they're easy to make.


Otherwise, you could approach feeding by just putting out a little in the morning and a little in the evening and hopefully they will learn to eat what they need quickly before it freezes.

I am considering only feeding the wet feed in the late afternoon and not heating it this year. Haven't totally made up my mind on that. If I do that I would have the dry feed with a bit of lard stirred in available for the daytime which wouldn't freeze then feed wet when I get home from work.

My problem has been that I go to work before the sun is up in the winter and if I put out the wet feed in the morning before I go to work, it will be frozen before they get off the roost in the morning. So if I don't put a heater under it, they can't eat it in the morning.

Anyhow...just contemplating on whether I really want to run the heaters again this year.
I only feed once a day. Late afternoon and while they are eating I throw out scratch for the next morning.
 

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