Beyond Dinner
These usable poultry byproducts show that chickens are worth more than eggs and meat.
These usable poultry byproducts show that chickens are worth more than eggs and meat.
Have you been raising fowl for a few years already? Perhaps you’re comfortable with harvesting meat and eggs, but now wonder: What else can I do? This article explores some extra products that can be gained from raising poultry.
HACKLE FEATHERS
Watching the flashy plumage of a rooster’s saddle shine in the sunlight, it’s no wonder someone once decided there had to be a use for those feathers. Rooster saddle feathers, called hackles, are utilized for tying customized fishing lures by a few dedicated anglers.
I am not one such dedicated angler, so I visited a local fly-fishing shop to learn more. Matt Paulson, owner of The Superior Fly Angler in Superior, Wisconsin, and employee Aaron Nelson took time to discuss the craft of fly-tying with me.
Paulson says that hackles aren’t quite as big of a deal as they were at, say, the turn of the millennium. Since he opened the business in 1997, he’s seen hackle shelf space decrease while other options for tyers have garnered steam. Among the hackle options available, the dun and grizzly color patterns are likely the most commonly used. Various poultry species were represented on the wall at the shop, from peacocks to partridges. Many feathers retained their natural authentic coloring, while some were dyed bright hues.
Rooster hackles come in what are called capes, feathers still attached to the original skin. (Capes start at the beak/comb and end at the mid-back.) Hackle providers evaluate the capes for quality, which are frequently being prenumbered to coordinate with the correct size hook(s) an angler might desire to match.
Beyond rooster hackle, some fly-tyers find value in various other feathers, such as hen capes. These would come from the same portion of the bird as rooster capes, but as any poultry fancier knows, they would be duller, rounder feathers. Schlappen is the portion of the rooster directly behind the tail after the original cape ends; fly-tyers refer to it as “musky bacon.” Guinea feathers are highly desirable and priced accordingly, although it’s not sold in full or half capes as with hackles; instead, the individual feathers are strung together before packaging.
To be successful as a fly-tying featherprovider, it’s likely you’ll want a keen interest in the sport itself.
At the time of this writing, a pack of musky bacon schlappen retailed around $20; a small pack of guinea feathers (either natural or dyed) was about $8. Paulson mentioned that Hungarian partridge is very hard to get right now; those capes are running about $50 for retail customers! Also high on the prized feather list are the rooster tails of Lady Amherst pheasants.
CHICKEN FEET
When starting out, the thought of harvesting our own meat was mind-boggling, so my family took our birds to a small meat-processing plant in rural Illinois when I was a kid. Just into my early double-digits, I was amazed by the process to convert carcasses to kitchen-ready meat.
Midway through the harvesting process, I noticed the assistant cutting off the chickens’ feet at the joint and putting them into a separate bucket. I leaned over to my mother and quietly asked her why they were doing that.
She was as puzzled as I was, so she asked one of the workers, who looked at the owner. He gave a small grin and said they were for a local restaurant.
For purposes of this article, the term “chicken feet” refers to the yellow shank of the birds from the backward knee joint all the way down to the toenails. On a backyard scale (aside from starvation), I don’t see any practical purpose for trying to harvest the scant amounts of potentially edible meat from a chicken foot. However, I learned from a diehard DIY friend of mine that there’s another use: dog treats!
When harvesting meat birds, this family would set aside the feet, later clipping off the toenails and putting the feet into a large dehydrator to preserve for their doggy delight through the winter. While I’ve never
personally tried this, I think I’d smoke them before dehydrating.
Please note: Much controversy exists over the feeding of either cooked or uncooked bones to domestic canines; please consult with your veterinarian before attempting to feed any animal parts to your pets.
PHEASANT FEATHERS
Have you ever seen a decorative hat with fancy feathers atop? These came from birds such as your own. Pheasant, guinea fowl, peacock, even dyed chicken feathers all have their place in artisan crafts, or kindergarten crafts, as the case may be.
If you’re artistically inclined yourself, perhaps design some creations you can photograph for inspiration to potential customers. Otherwise, talk to floor managers and clerks at the local craft store or florist shop to find out what’s in demand. Who knows? You could become a supplier!
It goes without saying that feathers offered for sale should be squeaky clean with no barn odor; this article is too brief to cover options for cleaning feathers, but keeping your coop clean is a great start. You can also offer your poultry good clean sand for dry-bathing, and lastly, you could very gently wash the gathered feathers with a light detergent, but take care: Separation of the follicles could devalue the plume or possibly render it useless for the consumer.
EGGSHELLS
Eggshells can be white, brown, green, blue, pink, cream, speckled or variations of these colors. One thing all eggshells have in common is calcium. When the flock’s calcium supplies run low, eggs can be laid with weak and misshapen shells.
Weak shells can lead to broken eggs, which can start a hen egg-eating as she curiously pecks at the gooey mess that’s suddenly appeared underneath her. (A free-choice feeder of ground oyster shells usually solves any low calcium problems within a few days.)
Eggshells can be dried and finely ground for human food supplementation, though I can’t imagine children lining up and begging to have it sprinkled on their desserts. Eggshells may also be crushed and added to the compost heap or “recycled” and fed back to the hens.
To recycle eggshells, you must take extreme care to avoid sparking an egg-eating epidemic in your flock. While eggshells do work as a calcium supplement, there are a few precautions you should take to make sure the shells don’t even remotely resemble eggs if you feed them to the hens.
Here are a few recommendations:
ROAST THE SHELLS IN THE OVEN — fast or slow, so long as they’re dried. You may want to spread aluminum foil on the cooking pan in advance, as they shells tend to stick badly, or use a disposable tray left over from a frozen lasagna.
GRIND THE DRIED SHELLS. Process roasted shells through the blender. Grinding the shells to powder after they’ve been dried will make them unrecognizable from the eggs they originally housed.
MIX WITH OTHER FOODS. You can mix a treat for your hens with grains, eggshells and suet or simply keep a bucket of kitchen food scraps with a different variety of ingredients each week.
We’ve tried just roasting or crunching the shells, but each time the chickens were smart enough to figure out just where those shells came from and the egg-eating commenced. May I suggest you save yourself some headaches and follow all three steps or just keep toss the shells into the compost heap or hog slop?
MANURE
This one almost goes without saying, but it’s so obvious I’d be remiss to neglect it! While you may be weary of the manipulation of manure (i.e., cleaning the coop), many gardeners are willing to pay for quality fertilizer from your birds. The vibrant greens of lettuce fertilized with this brown gold are unparalleled.
If you decide to try marketing manure, consider doing more than shoveling it into the back of a truck and collecting cash. Because selling premium products is best for business, here are a few factors to take into consideration:
IS IT READY TO USE? Serious gardeners are your target market, and they’ll be most interested in product that is ready to use. In the case of poultry manure, this means that it’s been aged and, if applicable, any residual bedding has been composted.
Fresh, “green” poultry manure is too “hot” to use immediately on a garden; this means that the ammonia content is so high it’ll likely burn the roots of plants. I’ve seen it happen. The aging process “cools” the manure down into a rich, safe fertilizer that retains a high nitrogen content.
Your aging system could be as simple as a large rubber tub or trashcan that you flip and stir from time to time. It could also be a fancy three-section composting site built out of wooden pallets. Whatever you decide, maintain consistency and have patience. If you clean out your coop in the spring, that set should
be nicely composted and ready to sell the following year, provided you actually kept turning it, etc. to maintain the composting process.
IS IT ORGANIC? This isn’t necessary, but if you happen to feed your birds organic feeds and use organic bedding, make sure to market your manure products as such. It could help you earn a premium price or at least give you an edge over any competition.
HOW WILL YOU PACKAGE IT? Of course, you could purchase burlap and run straight seams to create your own custom packaging, but … it is manure you’re selling! Likely gardeners won’t really mind if you recycle empty feed bags as fertilizer packaging; they’re interested in the contents.
Think of sizes (and weights) convenient for your targeted customer base. If you’re trying for large-scale gardeners, 50-pound bags might be good. If you’re selling to retirees, perhaps keep the sizes smaller and lighter. Also consider adding a paid delivery option.
This isn’t at all an exhaustive list; we haven’t covered using down from waterfowl (one of my favorites!), quills from geese or the fact that often, discarded poultry parts can be fed to hogs for additional calcium, iron and protein. Despite its limited scope, I hope this article gives you some workable options or inspires better ones.
Jacey Dean is a former West Coast tax accountant, small business owner and avid sustainable farming enthusiast. She currently lives and farms in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.