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

[aart]

The Royal Red is a BOX.

A brick .... house!

 

[igorsMistress]

@RUNuts have you heard of this hatchery here in TX? It may be close to you. There’s a few farmers I’ve been reading things from that use them. I’m thinking of driving there to pickup my next batch, I’ve read good things about slow growing the Ross strain. They sell Ross 308 broilers for a DOLLAR!

https://windymeadowshatchery.com/

Thanks for this link!

I'm still reading about your experience from the beginning, just getting started with dual purpose birds again, but I'm seriously considering some Cornish X come Spring. Having them around short term is appealing. Thanks so much for all the info!

 

[igorsMistress]

For those of you that pressure cook older birds, how long do you cook them?

 

[aart]

For those of you that pressure cook older birds, how long do you cook them?

About one hour for the meat, then everything else goes back in for a couple more hours.
More important than cook time for older birds IMO is carcass resting time,
I've found 4 days better than 2-3.

 

[igorsMistress]

About one hour for the meat, then everything else goes back in for a couple more hours.
More important than cook time for older birds IMO is carcass resting time,
I've found 4 days better than 2-3.

Thanks! I think I'm going to give the next carcass a couple of days to rest in the fridge before using.

 

[igorsMistress]

@jolenesdad thank you so much for all the information and updates. Your experience has been a valuable resource and I've learned a lot reading your thread.

I'm currently in transition here, but my goal is to breed some larger Turkens to handle the heat in Phoenix. I have a couple of Dorking/Red Ranger chicks from @Compost King in my Turken flock and I really like the Dorking even though it's a slow grower. Nice sized breast and I've heard they're good eating. I know more about how to proceed now once all my chicks and pullets are grown out and I know what I've got.

Thanks all!

 

[Compost King]

I have a couple of Dorking/Red Ranger chicks from @Compost King in my Turken flock

Your Dorking is going to develop rapidly compared to Dorkings. Its 1/4 Red Ranger coming down the Maternal line so I suspect processing weight will be reached between 15-20 weeks depending on what you consider a processing weight. Every Generation will get a bit slower. The great flavor for Dorkings I am told is from how long it takes them to mature. Unfortunately I can't get a pure bred Male Dorking to survive to processing size, they lack survival vigor. I have gotten 1 Female to survive to POL and 2 more almost to that point. Even if I get one Male to survive to Roosterhood I have to keep him as a back up to his father. I feel I will never get to sample a Pure Bred Dorking. However I have eaten a lot of the Crosses with Red Rangers and it tastes really great but so are all the other Red Ranger crosses. The Dorking crossings compared to others did have significantly more breast meat and hind quarters even when they weighed the same as the other crosses.

 

[igorsMistress]

Your Dorking is going to develop rapidly compared to Dorkings. Its 1/4 Red Ranger coming down the Maternal line so I suspect processing weight will be reached between 15-20 weeks depending on what you consider a processing weight. Every Generation will get a bit slower. The great flavor for Dorkings I am told is from how long it takes them to mature. Unfortunately I can't get a pure bred Male Dorking to survive to processing size, they lack survival vigor. I have gotten 1 Female to survive to POL and 2 more almost to that point. Even if I get one Male to survive to Roosterhood I have to keep him as a back up to his father. I feel I will never get to sample a Pure Bred Dorking. However I have eaten a lot of the Crosses with Red Rangers and it tastes really great but so are all the other Red Ranger crosses. The Dorking crossings compared to others did have significantly more breast meat and hind quarters even when they weighed the same as the other crosses.

My goal is to add some size to my Turkens. They're barnyard mixes, no "meat bird" genes.

Some are JG mixes, some are American Bresse mixes. I don't know what else for sure is in their background but the breeders goal is larger birds for the table. I want to keep them as dual purpose.

I'm pretty sure one of my Bresse mixes is a roo and I'm hoping at least one of the Dork X are a pullet, 2 would be better and if I can get them to POL and keep them, that's a mix I really want to try.

 

[aliciaplus3]

Tonight I plan to separate all the bresse eggs and set aside for hatching... supposed to be one more batch going in sat.

 

[ThracianHorse]

For those of you that pressure cook older birds, how long do you cook them?

No experience with a pressure cooker, but I'll do overnight on the lowest setting on the slow-cooker. Turns even the toughest old bird into a tender delight. (Beware - if you do this you might wanna debone. The carcass will literally fall apart if you leave it whole.)