Butchering and canning some chickens?
tracydr
12 years ago
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vaherbmom
12 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Fast Butcher of a Chicken
Comments (3)OK lets say we do the fast butchering of chickens and we get the breast and of course we take the legs. How much are we throwing away to save time and money on the butchering. Good Question. here is a good item on the internet. This guy broke down a store bought large chicken. I always wondered how this might break down. Well here is what he said. I had heard of a suggestion that you could save quite a bit of money by butchering your own chicken, so I thought I¡¯d give it a try. Last week a Purdue Oven Roaster whole chicken was on sale for $0.99, so we picked up a 6.73 lb. chicken for $6.66 (ooooh, creepy!). This was the first time I butchered a chicken, so it took a little longer than it will in the future, and it took me about a half an hour to complete. Here's what I got out of a 6.73 lb. oven roaster chicken: 10.8 oz. Wings 30.2 oz. Drumsticks & Sides 30.4 oz. Breasts 22.0 oz. Carcass 8.0 oz. Innards Sack (neck, gizzards, etc.) 3.7 oz. Skin The total weight of all that was 105.1 oz, meaning the package had 2.58 oz. of plastic wrapping and liquid. So, was it worth it? If we peg the price of chicken breast at $2.99 and the wings, drumsticks, and sides at $1.79 (those are typical prices here), we get a total value of $5.68 for the chicken breast and $4.59 for the wings, drumsticks & sides. On that meat alone, we have a total value of $10.27 ¨C or we saved $3.61 and that¡¯s not even counting everything else. I tossed the skin but used the carcass and the sack of innards to make chicken stock. $3.61 on $6.66? That¡¯s a return of 54%. Not bad right? In the end though, the process did take a half hour so from a strictly time is money perspective, it may or may not be worth it to you. Personally, I thought it was a fun experiment. +++++ +++++++ ++++++ ++++++++++++ +++++++ ++++++ But of course we want different mathematics. We are keeping 60.6 ounces out of 105. for about 60%. We are throwing away 40%. Personally I do not think they get much for the backs. The backs are mostly fat and bone. They are used some for making chicken stock. The wings really have very little meat. mostly skin and bone but do sell well for chicken wings. But I suspect that for our own use and freezing up in the freezer that we are doing well. we can process butcher more than twice the birds in the time. Somewhere it said that 70 to 75% of the live weight of modern broiler crosses are saleable. meaning skin and carcass. So he bought 105 ounces which was 70% of 150 ounces /16 = 9.375 pounds live weight approx. That was a big bird. Our final harvest is 60.6 ounces out of almost 10 pounds comes to 60/150 = .40 = 40% of live weight. 60/105 = 57% Lets say it cost me $1 a pound to grow out a roaster to 105 ounces of cleaned up carcass weight. I keep 60 ounces of that. So my cost of the good meat is $1/.57 = $1.75 It does not look like I have a bargain any more. ......See Morechicken predators...can chickens be safe?
Comments (67)My son has chickens, 16 I believe, he has lost a few to predators, they are out of their pen during the day, but the other day he lost the pretty rooster, golden polish, he had won in a pet contest and blue ribbon at the fair. The neighbors dogs escaped their pen and they were awakened by the indoor dog barking his head off, this was 6 a.m. dog inside the pen, it was covered in that chicken mesh stuff, now covered in the heavier wire. He has cochins, a blue silkie (rooster), domineckers, white crested polish, two kinds that came from rural King that I don't know what they are, but they keep to themselves, I would get chickens too, but we have alot of dogs going through as well as all the other varmits..hope you enjoy yours as much as we have theirs....See MoreWhen to butcher chickens
Comments (6)hey I've raised both the meat breeds (cornish x's) and buff O's and Wyandottes. you should be doing the deed now. You don't want those birds much older as they start getting a little tuff. There are ways to cook them to diminish it. They won't end up looking like the chicken you buy from the store. your bird will have less meant and more bone. That's ok though. They make great soup and roasted birds. Not great on the grill unless merinaded 1st with something to tenderize them. The chickens in the store are special cornish x's that are butchered by 6 weeks old. . I Like large multipurpose breeds best because they are hardier, you don't get the death rates you get with cornish x's. Here is my current favorite breed. Delewares, which I ordered from Ideal hatcheries. These really clean well (white feathers) and have a good amount of meat by about 12 weeks old. They were used at market meat birds in the 50's before the current hybrids became popular. Of my last year chick order I dressed almost all of the Delewares and only kept like 2 hens and a roo. Both are gentle and non-agressive. I also have speckled sussex (never again-they are wild and have speckled pin feathers) and Rode Isl. Reds that lay like crazy. I am getting 15 eggs a day. Best of luck with the butchering. Shelly http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGD/Dels/BRKDelawares.html Here is a link that might be useful: Ideal...See MoreMy first try at canning just-butchered chicken
Comments (11)Here's the results of the work - 5 cans of chicken (2 failed to seal) 14 cans of broth. I sectioned the birds into breasts, thighs, wings, and legs. I then cut off all I could of the fat and skinned all the pieces but the wings (which I also took the tips off). Those pieces got canned. I then boiled the backs and skins with onions, celery, peppercorns, bay leaves, and salt to make the broth. After I strained the broth twice, I loaded up my second canner. The chicken was just getting done when I finally got the broth done. I traded canners and let the chicken canner cool while I loaded the third canner I just scored for $15 off CL. With this long canning times for meat, I was pretty thankful I had the second and third canner. They really sped things up! I have a fourth one found for $10, too......See Morezabby17
12 years agotracydr
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12 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
12 years agotracydr
12 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
12 years agodgkritch
12 years agozabby17
12 years agoJohn__ShowMe__USA
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