AL - Recording baby steps: Newest Addition

[Farmfresh]

Well it is all downhill from here! You will never again have to clean chickens without experience.

The next session will go MUCH smoother and easier. If the weather is bad - and I have had to process in too much heat, too much rain etc.. - I get the main feathers off, the guts out and the birds parted if necessary then plunk them into some salted ice water. Later out of the weather and in the kitchen sink I take care of any "fine cleaning" necessary.

Count yourself lucky today. Even though YOU feel like you did not accomplish all that you wanted to, you had LOTS of support for the first time processing. I was always the crazy lady lopping off heads alone.

By the way ... I think the "gut ooze" that you are referring to is probably lung tissue. You just scoop that out with a finger.

 

[AL]

thanks! and by the way... thanks for all of the encouragement during the processing as well!! I accessed it on my phone and read the posts to K .... we had a big laugh. Of course the theme for the 15yr old boy became "He's faking! You think he's still faking?"

Yeah, FF, it was leftover lung tissue and such. I was scraping the insides to pull stuff out but I just couldn't seem to get it all. I was concerned about it, but when we took them inside and rinsed really well it was sparkling clean.

We discussed if we would ever do this again. Before lunch it was a resounding no... but we are talking about a spring batch now.

 

[Farmfresh]

Just wait till you taste them. That will make a real believer out of you.

 

[TanksHill]

Wow, am so impressed. Sorry about the pot mishap. So is the big shiny pot the new one? My Kroger had those for Thanksgiving. Maybe I should get one.

Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us. I can't wait to hear how they taste.

So they go in the fridge for a few days before you can freeze them right?

7 chickens in one day. Sounds like a success to me. How did your parents take it?

Sleep well.

g

 

[framing fowl]

Great Job!!! My prediction: you'll be taking orders like the other Lori for spring!

 

[BarredBuff]

Thats great!!! The chicken breasts look great!! Im anxious for my meaties now!!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

how'd you sleep, baby?

i know you know this but remember to let the meat rest for a couple of days in the fridge. and some folks brine.

i hope you are proud of yourself - you did great!!!!

 

[AL]

I don' t think I slept at all.... I think I slipped into a light coma. I do not recommend having meatie day after more than 24 hours awake!

Yes, that was the new pot on my dad's old fish cooker stove. It worked really well.

I have 2 whole birds and 2 parted up ones in my fridge now. I can't believe how huge they parted out. Even the legs are massive. I'll take some down to my mom tomorrow and we'll have a taste test in the next couple of days.

Oh... and we already have adamantly said we will NOT do this for anyone but ourselved LOL

Now that I am a little bit more coherent:
I am not really a kid person. It isn't that I don't like them, just for whatever reason I get all nervous around little kids. And that attracts them like flies!! Kids love me! *sigh* lol
D7 followed me every step yesterday asking questions. She said "I'm just gonna stay with you all day and just keep learning stuff, ok?"
hahaha

Son decided at lunch that he will have to weigh the options of guilty conscience eating store chicken or the job of cleaning them himself. He actually did really well on the hatchet job, but he knows he can't kill and not clean.

Friend said she will never pluck another chicken. She looks at it as a motivation to eat healthier . She got really good and quick at parting them up after I skinned them. We just really have to figure out how we want to do the wings. I am thinking maybe scald and just pull wing feathers, but we are kind of hesitant around the hot water after the first 2 birds with skin seemed to start cooking or something.

Rio was beside himself with the kids being there. When D7 got bored and wandered off, she took him with her. He "played" with her while she cooked in the garden dirt. While K and I did the last 2, her son went out and played too. He would jump up and down and Rio would jump with him. You probably have to see it to appreciate it, but it was pretty funny.

After we knew we had caught the last one for the day, I put a couple of pieces of pumpkin in the meatie run. They usually won't eat anything that isn't in their dish but they destroyed that pumpkin. Hopefully they will do more eating veggies and leftovers because I don't want to have to buy another bag of feed.


ETA: I had this weather alert in my email:
A BLAST OF ARCTIC AIR WILL FLOW INTO THE REGION TODAY IN THE WAKE OF
A STRONG COLD FRONT & BRING THE COLDEST AIR YET THIS SEASON TO THE
AREA. BRISK NORTHWESTERLY WINDS & TEMPS PLUMMETING OVERNIGHT WILL
RESULT IN WIND CHILLS DROPPING INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS LATE TONIGHT
INTO EARLY MON MORNING OVER SE MS.SOUTHWEST AND
SOUTH CNTL AL & THE INTERIOR PORTION OF THE NORTHWEST
FL PANHANDLE.

WOW... single digit wind chill, 20* air temp... in December??? Our normal lows are in the 40s. I thought this was supposed to be a mild winter?!?

 

[AL]

Oh... just so you know.... we missed a Christmas tradition yesterday. Another reason to better plan processing.

You can only understand if you see it for yourself!!

http://www.northescambia.com/?p=38267


ETA another link

http://www.pnj.com/article/20101212/NEWS01/12120314/Happy-Yule-y-all-

 

[Denim Deb]

That parade looks like fun! I don't do parades anymore, to me, they're boring and noisy. But this is different.