Virginia

[ki4got]

Quote: personally, I hate plucking. so I peel 'em. my description might be a bit graphic for some, so be warned!!!

if you're in the Roanoke area, i'd be glad to demonstrate, but you have to provide the chicken. LOL

once he's DRT (dead right there) I cut the wings off at the first joint (prior to peeling) and the legs at the hock. good scissors or pruning shears work well. if you start at the center of the joint you can usually get it off cleanly without breaking the bone. then I make a small snip in the skin on the belly, then pull the skin apart up towards the neck. usually it will split easily. using fingers (if you're not squeamish) you can just run your fingers under the skin to separate it from the muscle, usually pretty easy. once you've got it open up to the top (I leave as much neck as possible) work around the back of the neck and shoulders, and around the wing, then just pull the loose skin over the wing bone. do the same down around the belly/legs but leave the skin intact around the lower belly/vent. going down the back is a bit harder, since the back feathers are more deeply inserted, especially near the saddle, so be careful to get all the fat pad with the skin when you're pulling it loose. at this point you'll have an inside out feather 'coat' still attached at the tail/vent. for this, I use scissors, and cut a V at the top of the back just above the preen glands (2, 1 on each side of the center line just above the tail), taking the preen gland and tail in one shot - yes you might cut some of the spine/tailbone doing this. what you'll see is an opening above the vent now with the whole skin attached at and around the vent.

at this point, I cut into the abdomen, making a H shaped cut. (the I isn't shaped right LOL) one cut down the center line from the point of the keel to just before the vent (where the skin's still attached), then from left to right just below the ribs and the same at the bottom end from leg to leg. this lets you open 'flaps' to each side. don't cut ANYTHING inside the abdomen. you should be able to run your finger all the way around the lower colon where it goes to the vent. without cutting the colon itself, cut the skin around the vent. (I cut thru the pelvic bones on each side with the scissors just because it's more convenient, then horizontally to finish the process.) this should give you the 'coat' plus the abdominal contents. the last thing you do is, reaching up into the rib/breast area, you'll find the gizzard (hard and fairly large, roundish organ) and just above it the stomach (to your right, the bird's left). grab that up as high as you can inside, and pull steadily. there might be a lot of resistance depending how full his crop was, but a steady pull will get it out... once that's out, you'll have one very neat package you can wrap back up in the feather 'coat' to dispose of. if you like the liver, keep that (rinse well, the gall bladder sometimes leaks out when you cut this part). the rest I just baggie and freeze, and put in the trash on trash day. if you compost, that'll work too. the heart may still be in the chest cavity, as well as lungs. you can pull the heart free (eat or toss, up to you).

from here it's up to you what to do (if you chose to follow my method)... personally, I cut the ribs on each side a few bones at the top of the breast to get the entire breast off in one piece. if you want to go one step further, the breast will easily peel off the bone, cutting the ligaments top and bottom. just under them is the tenderloin (1 on each side) which you can again separate from the underlying bone with your fingers, and cut the ligaments that hold it on. once the breast is removed, you can get rid of the lungs and trachea easily. the rest goes into a soup pot. I boil for half hour to an hour (or more on low simmer), cool and separate the meat out from the bone, saving the meat/broth/fat for cooking and toss the bones in the garbage. make sure dogs can't get to it, cooked bones are brittle and will splinter. personally, I usually just save the thigh and breast meat and the dog gets the rest of the raw carcass. YES dogs can eat RAW chicken bones without issue. it's cooked that is a problem.

 

[ki4got]

one of my ee girls. thought i'd put her up...
calling her blackbeard. LOL... sounded better than blackhead.


and my 'formerly known as black cochin girl' now known as blue cochin girl...

 

[Tiller]

Blackbeard is a pretty bird. EE's always seem to have a lot of character to their coloration.

 

[ki4got]

Blackbeard is a pretty bird. EE's always seem to have a lot of character to their coloration.

ROFL.

hubby's calling her blackhead now. KNEW I shouldn't have said anything.

 

[DirtyAnkleAcres]

Culpeper TSC Swap is Saturday July 13th! to those that can make it.

 

[ki4got]

be warned... photo bombing on the way. LOL some more pics I took today that I thought were interesting.

can't help it, Big'un's son's name is now Mini-Me


my silver laced cochin roo.


12 week old silver laced cochin pullet... the best of 4...
her lacing is coming in better as she grows her adult feathers!
crossing fingers she's got good type AND lacing, to go with the roo above.




junior with his comb healed from the hawk attack...


and my newest bunch. Silver grey dorkings.
I tried to buy these guys last year and she wouldn't sell...
new guy with my EE roo Weeble, showing who's bigger. LOL


and the whole bunch. 7 girls 1 roo. all very nice type and size.


and my sfh. 8)
my blue girl. look close she's got some gold in her hackles. very pretty in the sun.


closeups of my crested roo's head.
(and yes, I know he's got side sprigs on the comb...)




my crested girl


and the mille fleur girl that Bulldogma wants. playing peekaboo

 

[jmarie]

This is the the roo my wyandotte is from? my husband was very impressed
I take it Big'un is aptly named because he looks huge in this pic. Our boy at 9 weeks is almost as tall as my 17week Plymouth barred rocks...

be warned... photo bombing on the way. LOL some more pics I took today that I thought were interesting.

can't help it, c's son's name is now Mini-Me

 

[ki4got]

This is the the roo my wyandotte is from? my husband was very impressed
I take it Big'un is aptly named because he looks huge in this pic. Our boy at 9 weeks is almost as tall as my 17week Plymouth barred rocks...
Quote: yup. he's big. not huge, but big... understand, he's standing on some sloping ground, and on top of a brick. LOL you see how much I had to raise the water tub to get the front level with the back...

the swede behind him is one of gunnar's boys, probably 3/4 grown. and my blrw chick hatched the same time as yours. just got the slow feathering gene. you can estimate his height, since he's standing right next to the brick...

the yellow trash can is a standard 35 gallon can... (recycled aluminum)

 

[ki4got]

one more pic for the night... one of the newest weebies, currently with OrpingMomma.

it's a weeble-dotte. (still an EE)

 

[pysankigirl]

I LOVE the pictures!!! who did you get the SG's from? someone local, I take it? nice!

I love the comb even if it does have sprigs...I love wiggly combs...so much personality!!!