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I used to have Khaki Campbells, they were prolific layers, the eggs were white, and they laid year round. They tend to get the eggs muddy, and you really have to scrub to get them clean, if the customer is wanting porcelain white. They lay year round, seems like they slowed down or stopped for...

I never feed medicated feed at all, ever. I eat my extra roos. Medicated feed is not needed to raise chickens, whether for meat or for eggs. It does nothing to make meat safer, it may in fact, contribute to the development antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Medicated feed isn't used to...

Quote: It's not really the pin feathers they singe off, which would leave a chunk of feather shaft in the skin. It the thin ones that are more like hair that they singe off. I pull most of those out, and ignore the rest. Choosing the right time to butcher helps. If you do them when they'll...

If you're just feeding them to the dogs, you could behead, (or cut the throats, dogs would be happy to eat the heads, too) scald and just do a rough pluck, and as for gutting, just open the abdomen, pull out the actual intestines, and leave the rest intact. Throw them into empty bread bags and...

You are neither boning nor filleting. A fillet is a boneless piece of meat. (not limited to fish) It can be any meat, fish, chicken, turkey, beef, alligator, or whatever. Sounds like what you are doing is cutting the big pieces off of the carcass and throwing the rest away, is that right? I...

It's not the Swiss army one, but Walmart carries (in the sporting goods department) a fillet knife, the brand name is Gerber, it comes with a sheath, holds an edge really well, and it's not very expensive. It's what we use for chickens, turkeys, deer. pork, what ever. I can cut up a whole deer...

Quote: Just getting out most of the feathers in 5 minutes...that makes a lot of difference. I've gotten faster, but the fastest I've managed is about 20 minutes per bird, that was with broilers I got from a broiler op, you know, the runts. They grew fine once I got them, but they were a little...

Yes, you're right, cooling the carcass faster is another reason, in addition to the weight, for the field dressing. We've butchered hogs, too, same thing. Those big animals do hold a lot of heat. I've never noticed any strong scent from the oil glands on the tails of chickens and turkeys. I've...

When you field dress a deer, it's called field dressing because you're out in the field or woods somewhere, and you can't really do the entire process where you are. That's why the modifier "field" is added, you're just doing a basic quick gutting, before you haul the beast off to where you'll...

Quote: I always took it to mean the entire process of cleaning a carcass to prepare it as food, including skinning or plucking, gutting, and whatever clean-up or trimming may be needed. But I could be mistaken, maybe dressing is separate from the rest of the butchering process.I always thought...

Quote: That's a perfect analogy! Thank you for that wonderful mental image. And you're welcome!

Quote: Quote: There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of threads on this forum about how to raise meat birds, especially Cornish X's. You can do a BYC search for raising meat birds, but really, all you have to do is scroll down through a few pages of threads, click on the threads...

Quote: You might want to do a BYC search on "tractors", limit it to the meat bird section, and there will be a lot of threads, with pics and details, about building pens to raise meaties in. I free-range everything, so folks with pens would have better answers for you, there. My runs are...

Quote: A couple of small, easily movable pens might be best for you, so you could over them. the birds will need shade, and a cover to keep out predators. Chicken wire has worked fine for us, to keep out predators, but I know in some areas, people have had critters tear right through it to get...

Ok, I stand corrected. I just didn't think somebody getting meaties the first time, who said they only want about 10 or so to try it out, would want to try to get them caponized, by local experts that might not even exist, or jump right into chicken surgery on live, awake, birds, when they...

Good job, Charlene, you got the first one done! You know to let the meat rest at least one day before you cook it, right? Otherwise, it can be tough from rigor. Though with a 6 week old bird, it may not make much difference. I'd wait anyway, just to be sure.

Well, for one thing, they aren't plucking by hand. And, if you look close on a store bought bird, they don't get all the feathers out. When I have a store bought bird, a rare occasion, anymore, I look them over closely, and always find some feathers to yank out. Especially on and under the...

If you couldn't get to the jugulars, maybe you were trying to cut in the wrong place. The spots you want are just under the jaw, cut from the earlobe toward the center of the throat. The cuts should be on the sides, so you don't cut the windpipe. Once you've made these cuts, and the bird has...

Any Asian markets or communities nearby? Silkies are a delicacy, and the meat and broth are both used medicinally. You could probably sell them. What breeds are the others? If the only option turns out to be killing them, I'd definitely dress them and eat them. Even if they make one meal each...

Here's the thread, https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=371929 , it's Bigredfeather doing this one. I have a friend who has a good blend, too, and somebody had Joel Salatin's current formula, not long ago. Might've been Buster52, or if not, he might remember who it was.