What do you do with the remains?

[MKetter]

I also make broth out of the bones. I use the slow cooker/crock pot and let it simmer all night. I toss in any other bones I may have too (kept in the freezer). Great for keeping these old bones in good shape.

I always make a turkey stock with the Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys. I expect to do the same with this bird. Homemade broth or stock is great for homemade chicken noodle soup.

 

[fowltemptress]

I don’t think I’ll be doing that.

I think I’ll bag and freeze them until the trash man comes and send them off with the trash as suggested above.

If you ever need to process a bird or birds again, you can always schedule processing day for the day before trash pickup day to save you a step and freezer space.

 

[MKetter]

If you ever need to process a bird or birds again, you can always schedule processing day for the day before trash pickup day to save you a step and freezer space.

Yes. Today is the day after trash day.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Yes. Today is the day after trash day.

Today was trash day for me and the garbage truck came by as I was processing 6 chickens. So I dug a trench big enough to burry a 5gal bucket worth of bits and pieces.

 

[SnackMeat]

I have a black soldier fly bin, which isn't as bad as you think it would be. Coffee grounds, and/or used pine shavings from the chickens, and then whatever scraps I don't want the chickens to have, like entrails, the heads, or any feet that had bumblefoot. Or corpses that I found an issue with, like an abscess.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BlackSoldierFly/

They appear to scare off actual flies that bite, while not being biting flies themselves so I like that too. And I can feed the larva to the chickens, though I have to occasionally mix the stuff to keep it from going anaerobic.

I cut open the hearts to check for heartworm and then throw that to the chickens, as well as any scraps of fat that were part of, say, the head or wing (lately I haven't been saving the wings because they are so small. I am thinking of making bone stock so may skin them and throw them in the crock pot.)


I save the gizzards, livers, feet and necks in separate bags. Then I either vacuum seal the torso with legs, or I am thinking about parting out the breasts and drumsticks and keeping the rest for bone stock.



As far as loving animals or not being able to do that to them, I get it. I never thought I would be able to either. However, unless someone is vegetarian (or rather vegan because of factory farmed dairy being problematic) this is hopefully more humane. One bad day, or hour, or minute versus their entire lives being factory farmed conditions.

 

[Ridgerunner]

So how do you dispose of all that remains? No compost pile. Throw them out in the yard for wild animals to eat?

You are only doing one and it is over. Freezing this stuff and sending it to the landfill is probably your best option.

I raise mine for meat and typically butcher 5 or 6 at a time. When I butcher I keep two buckets out there. One gets the guts (cut into 2" lengths), sexual organs, and bits and pieces (mainly fat) that I'll feed back to the others. The way I look at potential diseases and parasites if one has them they all have them so they are not going to get anything. I don't see a risk. The other bucket gets feathers, head, and other parts that I don't want them to eat. This gets buried deep in the garden or orchard, with protection so dogs, raccoons, coyotes, or such cannot dig up. It will become compost and feed the plants.

I cut it into serving pieces as I go. These are kept in an ice chest with ice water. I also save the back, neck, gizzard, heart, and feet. The feet require cleaning but I use these pieces with the other bones to make broth. When I finish cooking the broth I pick the meat and use it for soup, tacos, or sandwiches.

The liver is fed to the dogs.

The only thing that goes to the landfill is the bones after I've used them to make broth.

I'm glad you got through this. It sounds like you managed really well.