Background: I work at a lumber yard. Most of the time, I pull loads to deliver, help customers load up their materials, or deliver materials to job sites.
So I was out delivering some materials to a place in the country this morning… chickens running around eating bugs. This is always the case at this place; we deliver here frequently. However, today a couple of these chickens caught my eye. They were those “black laced” hens like Whiting sells… The feathers are white in the middle with black around the edge. I ALMOST knocked one of 'em in the head and threw it in the truck with me!
If you deliver there frequently, talk to the owner. They may be willing to sell you a chicken for the pot, and could probably skin it out for you as well, as long as you have a place to dry it out.
JeffHamm- These chickens are around for eggs. The lady of the house would probably skin ME for asking! haha I am happy to pay a fly tying supplier for their time and effort, and if I really wanted some of these feathers I’d buy from them. That’s how they stay in business!
Back when I was in grade school, my friend’s father had a farm with beautiful roosters with long brown hackles on them that were absolutely perfect for big Atlantic Salmon dry flies just running around the yard. We used to put the chickens head under its wing and then rock it back and forth which put it to sleep, then bring head back out, snip off what we wanted for the afternoon /evening tying, then leave. The father never missed a few hackles, but one day we needed a few extras and the poor thing was almost bald by the time “daddy” got home.
Needless to say we had to be careful after that…so we wouldn’t get caught borrowing feathers.
If this chicken farmers knew the selling price of hackle, they would flood the market. I had the “pleasure” of inspecting an egg producing farm several years ago. I was surprised to learn when chicken pass their prime they are killed and composted. It is not profitable to process the meat. I thought that was a shame, I am not again eating a tasty animal but waste really bugs me.
Uncle Jesse I can assure you that there is not much waste involved in throwing out old laying hens. Many years ago my aunt lined up a deal to buy a big batch of them for ten cents each. My dad and my grandmother said they wanted in too so we all worked a long day plucking and gutting all of those hens. There was literally no meat on them. We gave them all to my grandmother who made a big batch of broth and then threw out the carcases which were just skin and bone.
I guess that explainsa lot about why they are not harvested for the food. I know hand processing chicken is a lot of work, although I was a little young I remember when I lived on a farm as a child my mother killing, plucking and cleaning chickens. We didn’t have a freezer then so it was done on a need to eat basis. A child doesn’t have an appreciation for the quality of food but that was probably the best tasting chicken I have ever eaten. You got me thinking back on those times, fresh pork tenderloin, fresh spicy sausage and probably my favorite salt cured smoked ham and bacon.
Old roosters and laying hens are pefect for “chicken ‘n’ biscuits”. Toss the meat into a crock pot, pull out the bones about 5 hours later, mix up some gravy. Bake some biscuits and go to town!
I tried to hypnotize a chicken once, because I heard it was possible on anything with a weak mind. I don’t think it worked though.
But ever since then, I’ve had this tremendous urge to go out and scratch in the dirt…