Recent content by Chris Duke

Freezing the roo's may add tenderness. In addition to brining the birds for a couple days, I've read that freezing them overnight increases tenderness. I just let mine thaw out in the brine, and change the water after the first day. I don't have room in a refrigerator for this, so I use an ice...

Cool pix! Is the first and third dog a Anatolian Shepherd? I hear they are good with birds. What breed is the last one?

In another post here, there is mention of using fermented feed to stop the runny poops. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

Me too now that I've found this post!

I'm no where near reading all the posts yet on this thread, but this does bring up the only concern I have about the Cross X. I'm wondering about their egg laying ability in a free range environment. I know, they are not bread for laying eggs, etc, and that they are usually processed before that...

I just canned two pints of Shmaltz a couple days ago. Great for replacing lard in chicken pot pies! I was up reading this thread most of the night last night. Good stuff! I was planning on sprouting fodder for the birds already. I think I'm around page 18 or so, and don't see myself getting...

Old post but I was going to start up one asking where peoples favorite places are for great pickled eggs. Joe Jost's in Long Beach has some great eggs. You guys must have been there on a Sunday at the end of the month to think it was a biker bar. After the motorcycle swap meet is over a bunch of...

Ha! I just boiled a couple medium eggs for dinner tonight before finding this post. I like mine with the yoke still a little wet. Sort of between a hard boiled and a soft boiled like you get at a good Asian noodle place. But not runny. If the very center of the yolk looks like it wants to run...

Mmmm, that sounds good. I've found that I also need to use butter when using the chicken fat. I just use it to substitute the lard part of any recipe. I render my own lard as well, so it's not a health thing, just a flavor thing.

To render the chicken fat for canning, I put the hardened fat in a pot with a cup of water, and let simmer for about 1/2 hour, then put it in the freezer to reharden the fat. This gets any solids to drop down into the water on the bottom of the pot. Then I put the hard fat into another pot with...

I'm wondering if there is a California or state by state group section I'm missing on here? I guess it's not as important as with some other animals like turkeys. Oh yeah, I also want to raise turkeys when I get on the ranch. Can't forget the gobblers. I'm thinking the biggest challenge will...

I'm thinking I'll start out with Bantams. I think that's what I've been getting at the Asian market in town.

New here. I've been reading posts here the past couple days and find it a great place to learn. I've never raised chickens before so I'm learning from the ground up. I'm totally stoked to learn that there are still real unadulterated RIR's! I thought they were all gone 50 years ago. I'm in a...

Well, I'm just learning how to raise chickens, but I probably can about 20-30 birds per year. I prefer to use a big pot because I usually do 4 at a time. I cut them in half so they all fit into my 22qt pot (pressure cooker). I've both pressure cooked them and just simmered till semi tender...

I won't be ready for a couple years yet. When I am, I'll start out with less rare breeds. Need to learn some more than I know now and get some practical experience in before I try taking care of any expensive birds.