Recent content by rbefarm

I love Delawares. The hens lay 3-4 eggs a week and are friendly and calm. The roosters are not aggressive and very attractive. I slaughtered about 12 roos at 4.5 months and got 3-3.5 lb carcass weights. These were just hatchery birds. I suspect if you got some of Whitmore Farm's Delawares...

I just wanted to add that I checked the temp in my scalder...refilled it and got a thermometer and it was 150 F at the top...so it was certainly hot enough. I thought I had the scald right so I was baffled at the awful pinfeathers. Not sure what to make of it...would love to hear from someone...

I processed some 14-15 week old Delaware roosters this past Spring that ended up about 3-3.5 lb roasters...just hatchery birds and nothing special breeding wise. Not bad at all and the meat was incredible...put even the Freedom rangers to shame. I cooked them a touch lower heat but that was all...

I just slaughtered and "cleaned" my first batch of Kosher Kings. I'm used to Freedom Rangers and am experienced in processing. My question is this..I kept getting a lot of "hairs" left on the carcass. Black, short ones...all over them...and awful to get off...I guess pinfeathers. I am not...

I thought I'd share this article here from our local paper. We raised a batch of Midget White and Bourbon Red turkeys this summer. I started with 60 and have managed to get 48 to maturity and processing age. We did four last week and our local foodie column writer took one hen of each breed...

Hey no worries. I love this stuff and am fascinated with the possibilities! I really like the idea of dual purpose broilers also. The Delawares intrigue me. S and G sent me only roosters when I ordered Delawares and they did finish out right about 5 lbs at 12 weeks as promised. Of course you...

I raised mostly Freedom Rangers this year in our Pastured Poultry business. I'm getting $3.75 a lb for a roaster which is the same as my local competition's Cornish X prices. Interestingly I've had a lot of people this summer tell me my chicken is the best they've ever eaten and way superior to...

I am a Pastured Poultry grower and do the Farmer's Markets, sell privately, etc. I've done probably 6 batches of 100 Freedom Rangers now in the last year since we've started as well as several others from S&G Poultry. We find the Freedom Rangers to be the best eating bird we've ever had and get...

Thanks for all the tips and info on duck processing and how to butcher/cook. We are going to do the rest of our Pekins tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes but you all have my mouth watering reading all this. I will definitely keep the skins for rendering fat and all the carcass parts...

Hi all, I have a few questions about turkey behavior and the best way to manage them. This is my first year with turkeys and I'm learning fast...but still am in uncharted territory right now. I'm having some issues and I'm a bit worried about the right course. We have 51 turkeys... a mixed...

I raise Freedom Rangers and we've done about 4-5 batches of 100 birds now. I have also tried a few of the other slow growing broilers strains also but keep coming back to the Freedom Rangers as the best eating of the bunch. I won't raise Cornish Rocks..they don't come close to the eating quality...

Thanks bwmichaud for the info. We are hoping to do whole duck roasters. That was the plan. All but one of the three I did yesterday ended up skinned and I kept the breasts and thighs only. One I managed to get 99% of the pinfeathers out and we'll keep it for our own use. I guess I'll give...

Hi all..I'm new here and found this thread on a google search. Cool forum..I hope to hang out a bit on here. I'm a pastured poultry producer in SE Virginia and it looks like a great site. Anyway, I tried to slaughter my first ducks today (Pekins just under 10 weeks old). OMG but the pinfeathers...