tough old bird

[kissing bandit]

so i went on line found some chickens close to where i live....5 bucks each! Thought what a great deal..plus he let us process them there...code talk for butcher! haha

Anyway got home that night with our chickens and OMG they were tough as nails....so i ground them up with my meat grinder and mixed some pork in with them...i ended up with 17 pounds ground chcicken and pork....made greek meat balls tonight...fantastic!:)

I was looking online tonight a guy has roosters for 3 bucks each.....8 of them. Bone them out right there and grind when i get home. Roosters and egg laying hens are on sale right now...no one wants to feed them for the winter and if a guy can get a good deal...why not? Getting pretty good at skinning chickens now...haha.

 

[noboundaries]

Thanks for the post.  I used it to do some research on local sales of live animals.  It has been decades since I "processed" a live chicken on my dad's family farm, now long gone.  Your post gave me some ideas. 

Sadly, I learned a local livestock auction that had been in my town for sixty years shut down a few years ago.  The main facility is still a farmer's market for veggies and fruit, plus a swap meet, but the auction is gone.     

 

[kissing bandit]

thanks for the reply.....i went out tonight and got 6 ducks...FREE!:)

they are in the fridge resting right now.....got some jerky mix and plan on a big batch.

my freind plans to trade me for some of her canning....pickels i think.

im sorry no pics..ill do my best to up load some of the jerky process.

 

[TARM]

Just to add for reference purposes

Always allow freshly butchered chickens to rest for 24hr preferably 48hrs in the frig before parting out or cooking. It relaxes the meat and more tender. Also try wet brining if not freezing and being cooked.

Old chickens make the very best chicken stock and soup. The older they are the more real chickeny flavor they have developed. Todays CX chickens have almost no flavor as they are only 6-8 wk old at processing. Day old to butcher in under 2 months.

ETA: old birds are best cooked in a pressure cooker.

 

[Hockeydudde]

I started reading this post and was trying to figure out how the OP was finding chickens that cheap. Even spent hens are going for at least $15 around here.
Then realized how old the thread is, lol.
Do agree though, cooked properly they are very tasty. They make the BEST canned chicken.