Recent content by ixnay

  1. ixnay

    Ranger type meat birds

    I think what I'm actually looking for is Kosher Kings from Noll's - where I got the "gray" idea, I have no clue. So, that said, anyone have any experience with these meaties?
  2. ixnay

    Ranger type meat birds

    I have done the Colored Ranger thing, and while the results were fantastic, I would like to try another breed this year. Sometime in the last year, there was mention of a strain that is raised, I believe, by someone in Pennsylvania who has no online presence: you have to call and ask for a price...
  3. ixnay

    How do you keep your turkeys home?

    Thanks for the suggestions. Looks like I have some work to do. Meantime, I'll keep the hen cooped up or under supervision.
  4. ixnay

    How do you keep your turkeys home?

    I live in Maine, and we have lots of wild turkeys (who appear, sometimes, to be saying to my flock, "Come camp out with us!!") Also, we have lots of field and woods. My Bourbon Reds free-range, within an electric poultry fence. EXCEPT - they readily fly over the fence. I have one year-old hen...
  5. ixnay

    Six days too long to rest a freshly slaughtered pullet?

    According to Mick Jagger, "the meat I eat for dinner must be hung up for a week." Of course, the first line is "I got nasty habits." As always, I rely very seriously on the smell test. If your processing is very clean, and you go to sniff the resting bird, and it essentially has no smell, then...
  6. ixnay

    Butcher a couple at 6.5 weeks?

    Even if the birds are small-ish, (and by that, I mean whatever you consider small) - a great way to prepare 'em is to spatchcock, or butterfly. Then they are more or less a uniform thickness, and will cook on the grill better than the big, thick guys. YMMV, but we either pre-cook in the oven and...
  7. ixnay

    Ordered my Whizbang parts

    We ordered Whiz Bang parts last year, and DH built the thing. It is absolutely everything you might wish! When you read the instructions, go to the very end before you start cutting up a barrel. We went with the original instructions, which said cut the end off the barrel, and too late found the...
  8. ixnay

    Why do my BR poults look so different?

    I have to agree with Longranger: where's the little bump for the snood? To be honest, I don't see the bump for the other one either. -- ixnay
  9. ixnay

    time to the canner?

    My Freedom Rangers were 4+ pounds, without giblets, and with a lot of the internal fat removed, at 9.5 weeks. They were pastured (tractor plus area enclosed with electric fence). At this age, they were starting to pack on the internal fat. Next year I am going to get some similar bird (Kosher...
  10. ixnay

    No More Meaties

    Having just processed 25 birds in temperatures that were approaching 90 by the time we were done, I am completely with the idea of starting in mid-summer (less expense for keeping them warm!) and processing in the early fall. Plus, it's a pain in the neck to get the birds back into their...
  11. ixnay

    Processing question

    Thanks for the reply. Can't tell you about after cooking (I've been cutting out most of the gray stuff), but there certainly is no odor. Haven't seen it any place but around the vent - in the fat and the loose connective tissue on the inside. I'll trust your judgment that it's harmless; just...
  12. ixnay

    Processing question

    Nobody has a thought about this? Surely I'm not the only one ever to see this phenomenon. Hoping for information, Nan
  13. ixnay

    Processing question

    The last couple of times we have processed Freedom Rangers, using our very best technique (bled well, scalded, plucked in a whiz-bang plucker, then into ice water), there has been some discolored (honestly, dark gray) tissue in the area around the butt. I am really, really careful about...
  14. ixnay

    WOO!! More free chicken for me!!!

    It's amazing what you can pick up if you're willing to do the "dirty work." If I didn't have so many meat birds on hand right now, I'd put up an ad for unwanted cockerels. Got a bunch last year. We have a great, but not certified, processing set-up. I have this vague suspicion that perhaps a...
  15. ixnay

    Interesting Observations After Butchering

    We started out with 102 FRs, lost 3 at about 2 weeks to an unknown condition, but maybe they were crowded/smothered. A fourth was a runt or something (sat around looking like she wasn't paying attention; not sick looking, just dumb), so we culled her - no apparent abnormalities apart from being...
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