When butchering chickens, how do you dispose of the unused bits?

[DreamsInPink]

I really wasn't sure how to word this, as I do not know the proper terms.. but I need to know what you do with the parts of the chicken that you don't keep. Thank you.

 

[JetCat]

bury them. you can even compost them, but again bury them to cut down on smell.

 

[DreamsInPink]

I don't compost any meat or fat materials....

Would burying them encourage predators to dig up the remains...?

 

[JetCat]

only if you bury them shallow.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A few times I’ve set up where I butcher chickens and start a new compost pile the same day. That can be a long day. My composting method is to make a big pile, maybe turning it once or twice. I dump the ”remains”, add a layer of rough stuff from the garden (bean vines, dried sweet potato vines, whatever), then a layer of grass clippings, another layer of roughs, more grass clippings, a layer of chicken poop, more roughs, and top it off with grass clippings. Buried like that nothing can smell it so they don’t dig it up. Bones don’t compost all that well by the way. You‘ll find a lot when you get the compost. I don’t turn it for a couple of months either. I don’t know how long it takes for it to break down but I don’t rush it.

When I bury the remains in the orchard I take a couple of pieces of fencing and lay that over the spot, weighing that down with pavers. I did have something, probably a neighbor’s dogs, dig that up once. I thought it was deep enough, but not that time. With those dogs they may have just dug because it was freshly disturbed.

I occasionally bury that stuff in my garden if that section of the garden will be empty for a few weeks. The garden is fenced to keep dogs, coyotes, and such out so I don’t cover it with wire but I still go deep.

 

[DreamsInPink]

Thank you for that info!!! Is that the main way to dispose of the remains? I don't know how often we'll be butchering, so I don't know how this method will work for us. Someone mentioned something, (somewhere) about burning the remains. Have a hot fire burning and just burn it all.... Is that an acceptable method? I feel this may work better for us. We have a really large burn area that we use to dispose of paper, cardboard and brush...

 

[JetCat]

Thank you for that info!!! Is that the main way to dispose of the remains? I don't know how often we'll be butchering, so I don't know how this method will work for us. Someone mentioned something, (somewhere) about burning the remains. Have a hot fire burning and just burn it all.... Is that an acceptable method? I feel this may work better for us. We have a really large burn area that we use to dispose of paper, cardboard and brush...

yes you can burn it, that's how processing plants deal with remnants, but it's not a pleasant smell.

 

[DreamsInPink]

Hmm, well, our burn pile is a good ways away from our house... so I guess we'd just have to give it a try and see how it goes... and if it's unbearable, I suppose our next step would be burying.

Thank you!

 

[donrae]

I have a couple methods depending on time of year.

I like to bury in the garden when possible. I don't have much of a predator issue, but my dogs will dig on occasion. If I don't dig a very deep hole I cover it with wire or plywood or something like that for a while. Also helps me remember where I buried, so I don't go trying to plant something there before it's decomposed

.

Sometimes the grounds too wet or frozen. In that case, it depends on how close we are to making a dump run. We don't use regular trash service but haul out every few months. If it's close to a run, the entrails, etc get bagged and tossed in the bed of the truck. The wet/muddy ground also means the weather is cooler, so there's not a ton of smell if it sets for a few days.

If none of those are good options, we take the bag out in the woods and dump it off the side of a cliff. I'm sure the local coons and whatever else live there love that option the most.

 

[QueenMisha]

Usually dump it off out in the bluffs at the end of the road... here in the woods the coyotes and such take care of it quick.

Occasionally bury it if I'm too lazy to drive out.

Burned one once. It wasn't easy, took a lot more effort than it was worth and stunk to high heaven.