utilizing whole chicken at slaughter? rec reading?

[kfacres]

Quote:
You ever read about John Smith and the pilgrims learning to bury fish to feed the cornfields? Fat isn't good for the soil but nearly everything else is food for the soil. Think compost, chicken poo.. etc. Yes, they do mean burying the stuff by saying enrich the soil with it. Soil is not an inert object made of sand. It needs organic matter to enrich it so plants grow better.

your better off feeding it to the dogs, then taking that dog manure to bury... with this, you get a 3 step cycle, instead of one... There won't be any nutrients lost, just traded back and forth... nutrition 101
chicken<dog<soil
or
chicken<soil

 

[2overeasy]

Great! I have heard somewhere about burying fish parts, but I had forgotten that (I don't think I heard it from John Smith, however). So I can feed the dogs everything - heads and all? Just not the intestines and gall bladder, right?
And as a side note: everyone should read Michael Pollan's _Omnivore's Dilemma_ - makes you look at your food a whole new way. I don't think I can ever eat fast food, or meat from the grocery store again! Truly a homesteader's handbook!

 

[kizanne]

I have an old country farm journal cookbook that has recipes for rendering lard and roasting a whole pig, when I get home I'll check for any interesting recipes for chicken parts but I think stock is the way to go there.

 

[Renee']

You don't need to buy a book, you are logged on to the best "book" you'd ever set eyes on. BYC is an awesome resource for information. Many of the folks that comment have years of hands-on experience. In addition, you usually get many many different suggestions so you can pick and choose what works for you.

Like you, I didn't want to waste. I spent a lot of money on these birds so I didn't want to throw any of it in the trash. I cut the feet off and froze them in gallon zip lock bags (uncooked) and gave them to the dogs as treats (they can also be used to make fantastic stock).

I saved all of the gizzards and organs. I don't eat gizzards and organs so I cleaned all of the gizzards (very easy and interesting) and put them in a deep sauce pan with the necks and organs, covered it with water and simmered for 3 hours. I drained the water, picked the bits of meat off of the neck and threw it in the food processor, with the other organs, then packed it in pint jars and froze it for dog food. I made brown rice once a week and portioned it to daily servings with the canned dog food.

The parts I threw in the trash were the heads, intestines and blood. I wasn't comfortable with throwing these parts in my compost pile because my compost pile isn't hot enough to decompose them.

 

[2overeasy]

kizanne: thank you!
Renee': you are absolutely right! I got my first chickens 2 years ago and since then everything - and I mean everything! - I have learned about chickens has come from BYC. Invaluable resource.
Thanks to all

 

[wyoDreamer]

Renee' :

...

I saved all of the gizzards and organs. I don't eat gizzards and organs so I cleaned all of the gizzards (very easy and interesting) and put them in a deep sauce pan with the necks and organs, covered it with water and simmered for 3 hours. I drained the water, picked the bits of meat off of the neck and threw it in the food processor, with the other organs, then packed it in pint jars and froze it for dog food. I made brown rice once a week and portioned it to daily servings with the canned dog food.

...

Why throw away the water that you boiled the parts in? I always use that water to make the rice with, it just adds more flavor to the rice. Then I mix in the picked meat, portion it out and freeze it that way.​

 

[2overeasy]

How do you clean a gizzard?

 

[LiLRedCV]

With all the bones and many of the innards (livers, gizzards, hearts, etc) with some root veggies you can make a really good healthy bone broth that you can utilize in your cooking. It will be chock full of essential vitamins and minerals that your body can use to fight off illness. Once it's done, just pour the broth with all the scraps through a strainer (such as cheese cloth) so you don't end up with chunks of stuff you don't want. You can pick out the veggies and then puree them and mix them back into the broth for either added texture or to help keep additional vitamins in the mix.

http://friendslovefood.blogspot.com/2010/11/making-bone-broth.html

 

[galanie]

Quote:
You ever read about John Smith and the pilgrims learning to bury fish to feed the cornfields? Fat isn't good for the soil but nearly everything else is food for the soil. Think compost, chicken poo.. etc. Yes, they do mean burying the stuff by saying enrich the soil with it. Soil is not an inert object made of sand. It needs organic matter to enrich it so plants grow better.

your better off feeding it to the dogs, then taking that dog manure to bury... with this, you get a 3 step cycle, instead of one... There won't be any nutrients lost, just traded back and forth... nutrition 101
chicken<dog<soil
or
chicken<soil

Well thanks but I was telling him/her why burying chicken or anything else "enriches" the soil, not whether it's a good idea to do so or not. She might be like me, and not have any dogs anyhow. Not everyone does, you know.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
You ever read about John Smith and the pilgrims learning to bury fish to feed the cornfields? Fat isn't good for the soil but nearly everything else is food for the soil. Think compost, chicken poo.. etc. Yes, they do mean burying the stuff by saying enrich the soil with it. Soil is not an inert object made of sand. It needs organic matter to enrich it so plants grow better.

your better off feeding it to the dogs, then taking that dog manure to bury... with this, you get a 3 step cycle, instead of one... There won't be any nutrients lost, just traded back and forth... Pathogens 101
chicken<dog<soil
or
chicken<soil

fixed.