Waiting 6-8 hours to gut after kill

[Henery Hawk]

I'm in a situation where I need to butcher my 7 remaining meaties due to the rest of the flock eating them alive. At the same time I'm taking care of my 3 month old son by myself since my wife is unexpectedly away. I was wondering how bad it would be if I killed and plucked them, put them on ice and gutted and finished them 6-8 hours later. Would this affect the taste/quality of the meat much? I've killed elk before that I didn't find and gut until 8 hours later and it was fine. I just don't know if chickens are different and spoil faster. Your opinions are appreciated.

 

[mstricer]

No I would not do that. I don't understand what you mean by the rest of the flock eating them alive. Can you put them in a pen by themselves?

 

[Henery Hawk]

No I would not do that. I don't understand what you mean by the rest of the flock eating them alive. Can you put them in a pen by themselves?

My leghorns (same age) started pecking their butts to the point of dripping blood. I moved them to pen #2 and those occupants are even worse. They are now out with the free range flock and it isn't quite as bad but I'm still thinking they'll be dead in the next day or two. If you folks tell me to avoid the method mentioned above, I'll boot the birds from pen #2 to the free range flock (earlier than intended) and put the meaties in there. Although it is sort of past the point of separating them for half of them since their wounds are pretty serious. I may have to just put them out of their misery, wasting meat or not.

 

[v.cyr]

a lot of books recommend hanging game for a while before cleaning it, "to improve the flavor".... IMHO, all it does is make it more "gamey"... I would not recomend doing for chicken(or anything else)

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Although it is sort of past the point of separating them for half of them since their wounds are pretty serious. I may have to just put them out of their misery, wasting meat or not.

I am far from expert, but I do remember reading some posts or articles on alternative, quick ways to butcher a chicken that harvests the main meat areas (legs, breasts mostly I think) without taking the time to pluck, gut etc. I think some folks process game birds this way because that's all that they consider worth eating. Perhaps with the worst of your poor CX birds, a quick death and a quick harvest would be better than choosing between putting off the slaughtering date or simply wasting the meat. Then perhaps you can put the rest in a separate pen where they won't be pecked to death by the others.

 

[Henery Hawk]

I am far from expert, but I do remember reading some posts or articles on alternative, quick ways to butcher a chicken that harvests the main meat areas (legs, breasts mostly I think) without taking the time to pluck, gut etc.  I think some folks process game birds this way because that's all that they consider worth eating.  Perhaps with the worst of your poor CX birds, a quick death and a quick harvest would be better than choosing between putting off the slaughtering date or simply wasting the meat.  Then perhaps you can put the rest in a separate pen where they won't be pecked to death by the others.

That's what I do when I harvest a grouse. All that I eat are the breast and leg quarters. I did this the other day with some meaties when this problem started. I was hoping to not waste all that meat this time but I have very few options. Never again will I raise meaties with other breeds. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Mingming]

Is that the cause of the problem? Different breeds being with the meat birds? Were they all the same age to start? Just planning for the future...

 

[bobbi-j]

I would not wait that long to gut them. I don't think they'd cool down fast enough. I think it would be best to skin them, then just cut off the breast, legs and wings. You're not wasting much that way. Just a little meat off the carcass. We do it that way often.

 

[Henery Hawk]

Is that the cause of the problem? Different breeds being with the meat birds? Were they all the same age to start? Just planning for the future...

All from the same Murray McMurray order there was a mix of cornish x rock, white leghorn, white rock and wlr cornish. It seems like most of the pecking is from the leghorns but once the blood trail starts, the rest of the young birds start at it. The meaties don't eat at the other meaties as far as I know. Someone in another thread mentioned that leghorns are notorious for picking on the meaties. I don't have enough experience at this to say for certain that different breeds with meat birds are a problem but that's what it looks like to me. Who knows, it could be that I started feeding them fermented feed. Maybe it makes their butts more yummy, lol.


By the way, I was able to find enough time to quick butcher the two really bad ones. The rest are now completely free range. They seem to be happier since they now have 5 acres rather than 3000 sq ft. Hopefully the coyotes and eagles don't get to them before I do.

 

[mstricer]

It must have been nap time