Chronicles of Raising Meat Birds - Modern Broilers, Heritage and Hybrids

[Morrigan]

We finally got around for processing the last of this years meat bird project. I hatched 26 chicks this year using my Naked Neck rooster over assorted hens (some slow growing broiler variety and some traditional heritage).

15 were cockerels, and all got butchered between 13 and 16 weeks. 11 were pullets. I wanted to keep 6 over winter for eggs. I ended up dithering quite it bit in deciding my final 6 keepers, and just got around to processing the las 3 of the non-keeper hens today. Two were 8 months old and one was 6 months. They were meaty, fatty birds dressing out at 4.8, 4.6 and 4.25 lbs. Plus have have a couple of pounds of fat to render into schmaltz. I'm very happy with the weights, and also very glad the butchering is over for the year. Butchering pullets has been the hardest part of my meat bird project. Only one was actively laying, and that one was the hardest.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Neat. Is there a reason you don't keep the laying gals?

 

[Morrigan]

Neat. Is there a reason you don't keep the laying gals?

I'm trying to manage my flock to be self-sufficient in both meat and eggs. If I hatched enough chickens so that the roosters could fulfill my meat needs, I would be overrun with hens and buried in eggs. I toyed around with the idea of selling excess pullets, but for a variety of reasons I decided against it. So, I select a few of the best looking and laying pullets and consider the rest meat birds.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm trying to manage my flock to be self-sufficient in both meat and eggs. If I hatched enough chickens so that the roosters could fulfill my meat needs, I would be overrun with hens and buried in eggs. I toyed around with the idea of selling excess pullets, but for a variety of reasons I decided against it. So, I select a few of the best looking and laying pullets and consider the rest meat birds.

Ahh, okay. That makes semse

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

We finally got around for processing the last of this years meat bird project. I hatched 26 chicks this year using my Naked Neck rooster over assorted hens (some slow growing broiler variety and some traditional heritage).

15 were cockerels, and all got butchered between 13 and 16 weeks. 11 were pullets. I wanted to keep 6 over winter for eggs. I ended up dithering quite it bit in deciding my final 6 keepers, and just got around to processing the las 3 of the non-keeper hens today. Two were 8 months old and one was 6 months. They were meaty, fatty birds dressing out at 4.8, 4.6 and 4.25 lbs. Plus have have a couple of pounds of fat to render into schmaltz. I'm very happy with the weights, and also very glad the butchering is over for the year. Butchering pullets has been the hardest part of my meat bird project. Only one was actively laying, and that one was the hardest.

Yes, I found processing pullets to be much harder mentally than the cockerels. It would have been even harder for laying birds! What is schmaltz and how do you make it?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm trying to manage my flock to be self-sufficient in both meat and eggs. ........ So, I select a few of the best looking and laying pullets and consider the rest meat birds.

Exactly the same here. Some people sell excess pullets to help pay for feed costs, makes sense to me. But for my own reasons I eat mine instead. I typically butcher my cockerels between 16 and 23 weeks but the pullets usually go to 8 months so i can see what eggs that are laying before I decide which to keep.

My typical laying/breeding flock is 6 to 8 hens, I tend to replace 3 or 4 a year. That suits my goals. I have no reason to house and feed any more than that.

 

[Morrigan]

What is schmaltz and how do you make it?

It's rendered down chicken fat. I use it to roast or pan fry vegetables. Here is a thread I started about chicken fat and about mid-way through describes with pictures how I made it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/talk-to-me-about-chicken-fat.1140873/

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

It's rendered down chicken fat. I use it to roast or pan fry vegetables. Here is a thread I started about chicken fat and about mid-way through describes with pictures how I made it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/talk-to-me-about-chicken-fat.1140873/

Great thread, thanks! I’ve been wondering what I can do with chicken fat!

 

[Molpet]

https://www.allaboutfeed.net/Raw-Ma...ritional-needs-of-slow-growing-birds-462471E/

Interesting article

 

[Newyorkrita]

It's rendered down chicken fat. I use it to roast or pan fry vegetables. Here is a thread I started about chicken fat and about mid-way through describes with pictures how I made it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/talk-to-me-about-chicken-fat.1140873/