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8:04 pm
April 13, 2010
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We have 12 Araucana chickens that have all but quit laying. I really would like to be able to do something with the meat, but have heard that will probably be too tough to cook. Does anyone have any suggestions? (Not sure where this should have been posted…sorry!)
8:52 pm
February 10, 2009
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Your post is in the old barn so that's the right place for chicken questions debbie…
Well, you can certainly make broth from them, which is what I'd do. I love to pressure can or freeze my own low sodium broth, which I do on my own in any case using chicken I get on sale. If I had chickens to butcher like you're talking about, I'd do, and did back in the day when I kept hens long enough to do that too.
Plenty of people will tell you that you could crock pot/stew them, but when I have older hens like that, I just make broth.
They may not be tender enough to eat, but they still provide flavor and protein for broth.
9:35 pm
December 14, 2010
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Chicken salad.
1:56 am
February 15, 2011
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Coq au Vin! Lol, the french made the dish especially for such chickens.
9:33 am
August 6, 2010
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I find them too tough to eat. They do make great stock--for the chicken soup that dreams are made of. 
(The kind of dreams you have when you have a bad cold and need NEED need some soup.)
I make my stock in the pressure cooker--if you pressure them long enough, the bones get soft and you can use the meat/bones/veggies as a great add-in for dog or cat food.
You can always try one in a long cooking recipe--coq au vin sounds good--and see if your family likes them.
9:53 am
August 24, 2010
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Ok I know nothing about this topic, but I need to know!! Wouldn't pressure cooking them make them less tough, so that at least the meat could be shredded and used for soup, salads, etc??
10:09 am
May 10, 2010
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I am such a softy, all my animals eventually become my pets. They all get to head to the retirement home or pasture to live out the rest of their very spoiled lives. If I did not have a butcher nearby, I would probably have to become a vegetarian…and I love my meat..LOL!!
11:27 am
February 6, 2011
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I asked just this question to some Amish friends of mine a couple of weeks ago. They can their chicken. They said it is not tough and tastes wonderful. I plan on doing this with our next batch of "oldies but goodies".
12:32 pm
March 24, 2011
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I'm with you, Sonia. LOL! Actually, I am vegetarian most of the time. I just really don't like meat. I'll eat it, because my husband really likes meat, and I don't always feel like cooking something different for myself. I think my chickies will most likely have a little retirement pen going on when they get to that point.
1:00 pm
August 6, 2010
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Hershiesgirl, your mileage may varybut I found that by the time they were pressure cooked to tenderness, all the flavor was leached out into the stock.
4:56 pm
February 8, 2009
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I have no experience with your "breed" of chickens, but I do know that the Leghorn can be very tough, they are better for broth and to can.
The ISA brown are "softer and meatier" and after their retirement perfectly for whatever you want to use them.
These are the only 2 kinds I have and have experience with.
6:15 pm
February 20, 2011
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my girls are pets and never will be eaten. 
They will be placed in the "burial spot " in my back yard with my first dog. It may seem like a waste of meat to some , but then, I would never eat my dog either. Everyone feels differently on this topic and to each their own. My meat birds that I raise are a whole 'nother story they are a BIG part of why I bought a pressure canner.
TinaH
7:55 pm
April 3, 2011
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When we get to MS my BIL wants to get chickens and I am not sure how I will feel about that either. Like you said about the dog. When I was a child, I was not concerned with calves I raised being butchered or chickens either. Not as young as I was though. I guess if times are very tough, I might have to be too. I do have the pressure canner!
9:09 pm
January 21, 2011
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mamallama said:
I'm with you, Sonia. LOL! Actually, I am vegetarian most of the time. I just really don't like meat. I'll eat it, because my husband really likes meat, and I don't always feel like cooking something different for myself. I think my chickies will most likely have a little retirement pen going on when they get to that point.
Sonia said:
I am such a softy, all my animals eventually become my pets. They all get to head to the retirement home or pasture to live out the rest of their very spoiled lives. If I did not have a butcher nearby, I would probably have to become a vegetarian…and I love my meat..LOL!!
I knew I loved you guys! You are women after my own heart! 
4:19 am
January 21, 2011
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How long do chickens live ? How old are they when they quit laying?
7:55 am
March 24, 2011
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Hehee! Yeah, I'm a softie.
Chickens live for 8-10 years and typically lay steadily for 5-7 years. They don't just stop laying eggs at any given point, but they lay fewer and fewer as they get older.
8:59 am
January 21, 2011
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Oh I see. Thank you mamallama! I never thought about how long they live or lay. See, I learned something new around here, again!
10:44 am
I don't feel so bad. I often wondered what I will do when the girls get too old to lay. I was sure I could raise them without getting tooo close to them, but that was not the case. I'm a sucker for a cute beak!! AND, the little buggers know it. …Although, there are a few I could easily imagine simmering in a stew pot, but the marshmallow in me will no doubt say "NO" when the time comes.
11:29 am
January 21, 2011
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That's why I'm a want to be farmer. My husband tells me we can send them out to butcher, but I know I couldn't do it. I do know it is a needed job
.
11:53 am
August 24, 2010
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I used to think that I would be too big a baby, too. But then I read a really good article on how meloncholy it is to butcher, but that it is done with respect for the animal providing for the farmer, in return for the farmer providing a good life for the animal.
Still don't know how I will take it when the time comes…but as a friend said that just moved to a farm a couple of years ago…."I can't help butcher, I can't….but if you bring me back something that looks just like store bought, I can cook it." That may end up being our solution also. 
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