Recent content by Sundown_Farmer

  1. Sundown_Farmer

    Questions about raising the "extra" male chicks in my hatchery order as meat birds

    We rarely get packing peanuts anymore. IF I specifically order a couple of roosters with my pullets they almost always double the rooster order. To this point we have raised all roosters, picked the best and butchered the rest. 10 extra birds really isn't a problem when you raise 300 at a...
  2. Sundown_Farmer

    Questions about raising the "extra" male chicks in my hatchery order as meat birds

    Packing peanuts could be anything. We find roosters to be tough in every respect. It's even hard to pull their heads off at butcher time. Long legs and razor breasts but flavorful, if tough, meat. You'll need 6 or 7 months to raise less bird than you could raise in 6 or 7 weeks if you had CX...
  3. Sundown_Farmer

    How to render a chicken unconscious before killing?

    A stun knife will do a pretty good job of it for you. Otherwise, a clean cut on each ear from a sharp knife doesn't hurt them (a shaving nick usually hurts later) and they pass out from blood loss in about 5-10 seconds.
  4. Sundown_Farmer

    Whizbang Plucker

    I have a whizbang. I also have a Featherman Gamebird Plucker. The Gamebird fingers are softer, shorter and much, much more numerous. There is no comparison between the whizbang and the Featherman. To channel Ferris Bueller, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."...
  5. Sundown_Farmer

    how do i save the giblets?

    Well, not just a tug on the liver. Be careful when scooping the guts out so you don't crush the liver and as you remove the liver you also have to carefully remove the gall bladder. Carefully!
  6. Sundown_Farmer

    First meat birds ever in the freezer

    With birds that large you should be looking for recipies, not recipe. You could brine and smoke one. You could roast one stuffed and basted with a peach sauce. You could just use a little salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary and onion to bake the bird. I could keep going. You could follow the...
  7. Sundown_Farmer

    Processing question

    Where are you? We teach a lot of farm visitors how to process chicken. A lot. First time through? Plan an hour to get ready and maybe 15 minutes per bird as you figure things out and get over the gross factor.
  8. Sundown_Farmer

    It's hot everywhere How do you keep pastured birds alive, cool and eating?

    We planned to finish up our broiler production before July 4 this year with our next butcher date mid-October. We avoided the heat wave. Our cow panel hoop tractors, lower numbers of chickens per tractor, full and functional waterers and early morning feeding seem to do the best you can with...
  9. Sundown_Farmer

    A How come you don't question

    Chill quicker? Maybe. Taste salty? Yup. Other things too. The salty bird will absorb more water...weighing more. My customers appreciate that we don't bleach or salt our chickens. They may or may not brine them. By not salting, they are free to choose. A fair portion of forum members do...
  10. Sundown_Farmer

    are cornish x natural?

    Quote: No, I think Pekins are awesome. They breed true, they get a high percentage of their diet from grass and they are good to eat. How do we pluck them though?
  11. Sundown_Farmer

    pasture planting suggestions?

    I second BRF. I raised mine in a pure alfalfa stand this year after watching them race to pick the clover clean year after year. They did very well. In fact, they were the healthiest birds I have ever raised.
  12. Sundown_Farmer

    How many meat birds would you suggest per year?

    We try to keep 50 for ourselves each year. That gives us a bird/week each week minus the week we eat turkey and the week we eat ham...lol. There are 6 of us and we work to stretch each bird out over several meals. Plus we keep a few backs and necks in the freezer for additional soup stock...
  13. Sundown_Farmer

    Anyone else nervous about this heat?

    We just finished butchering for the season so I don't have any meaties in the heat but I did lose 3 layers a few days ago. The next day I brought the house up from pasture and placed them under the maple trees in the front yard. It has been much hotter since the day I lost three but everybody...
  14. Sundown_Farmer

    Did I freeze them too soon?

    You're fine. They can rest while they thaw.
  15. Sundown_Farmer

    when will we stop calling them "cornish cross"?

    Well, we could call them a "Ross 308" or whatever but that doesn't roll off the keyboard as well as "Cx" They are cornish-ish-rock-ish-ish if you squint your eyes...
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