Cornish Cross Spring 2019

[baymule]

I have 20 dressed chickens in the freezer.
Total whole chicken weight is 119 pounds, 3 ounces
Total cuts weight is 92 pounds, 13 ounces.
18 more to go...…

I think I'll process and can the backs and necks for dog food tomorrow and take up chicken slaughter again next week.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Whew - I know you're probably sick and tired of lookin at chickens! I think a break (and eggnog) might be in order, lol!

 

[baymule]

They are a lot of work. The easy part is slaughter and preliminary plucking and gutting. After I get them in the house, the real work begins. It takes me 45 minutes to an hour per chicken to fine pick it, those pin feathers drive me bonkers, wash, pick, wash, pull with the needle nose pliers, wash, make a cut, wash it, make another cut, wash it, wash just for the hell of it, make more cuts, wash, wash, wash it some more, pat it dry between paper towels and vacuum seal it, seeing yet another pin feather as the bag shrinks.

I don't want to say I'm anal about cleaning chicken, because it brings to mind a chickens butt hole squirting while I am cutting around it to drag the guts out. BUT-I want a CLEAN chicken!

Then I Clorox everything that touched dead chicken.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

They ARE a lot of work. I'd rather butcher a sheep or goat than chickens. The plucker does a pretty good job of plucking - but there's always some of those pin feathers that it just doesn't get. After doing it for awhile I feel like my hands are always gonna smell like dead chicken, lol!

 

[Mini Horses]

Even the bleach water doesn't seem to be enough to kill the odor on our hands. Maybe it's in the nasal passages. Maybe a mask while working. It's just a messy job.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I do believe the odor does get sucked up into the nasal passages.

 

[baymule]

I woke up at 4:30 this morning, gave up on going back to sleep and got up at 5:15. Been enjoying my coffee while chicken backs, necks and assorted pieces simmered on the stove. I still have 2, one gallon bags in the freezer to cook and can. Got to cook a pot of rice, then I'll be ready to pack jars. Somewhere in there I will get morning chores done. My husband has been hitting the quart jars of liver, heart and rice I canned for the dogs a month or so ago. He mixes it with their kibble and they love it. He splits one jar between 3 dogs. Back to the kitchen today......

 

[frustratedearthmother]

What was it my mama used to tell me... A man works from sun to sun- but a woman's work is never done. Truth!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Can you tell me what your ratio of "chicken bits"/broth/rice is?

 

[baymule]

I cook 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. I bring to a boil then cut it off and let the residual heat finish cooking it. Set aside. I put 1/2 cup of cooked rice in clean, hot quart jars. Then I fill with cooked chicken pieces, bones and all. The bones are small, in the neck and back pieces. Then I fill with broth, about a cup or more. I stir with a butter knife to dislodge air bubbles and add more broth, leaving 1” head space. I process at 10 pounds pressure for 90 minutes.

I use the back pieces, neck, skin, heart, some little round thing I think may be the kidney.

I clean the gizzards and livers for us, package and freeze them. What doesn’t make the cut for us goes in the dog pot.