Post pics of your Heritage chickens (processed and/or cooked)

I would love to see photos of your whole, processed heritage or non-commercial meat birds! The hope is to have a good reference thread where people can compare different types of meat birds, and can make decisions about which breeds they want to raise. Please list the breed or non-commercial mix of the bird/s you post. Age, gender, weight after processing, and details about husbandry (ie. fed a commercial diet, free-ranged, etc) are bonus bits of information. Can't wait to see people's birds!

Please do not include photos of Cornish cross/commercial broilers/Cornish giants/etc or of Freedom Rangers. For comparison purposes, I have included links to each of these birds. The photos are not mine.

Cornish Cross:
http://withlovefromandrea.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/roast-chicken.jpeg

Freedom Ranger:
http://www.springhillfarms.us/uploads/2/7/2/7/2727868/393655.jpg (listed as 5 pounds and 12 ounces at 68 days)

Oooh perfect timing!! I will have to get back to you tomorrow. I just took out a whole Light Brahma Roo from the freezer to put in the crock pot tomorrow morning before I leave for work. I will take a picture of it when I get home to show you.

What a timely post to start. I just processed these three birds. Right to left on top 9 week CornishX 9 week Freedom Ranger and 5 month barr rock rooster, bottom picture is Freedom Ranger, CX, BR rooster.
Look at the legs on the CX, no wonder they can't get around. When I was cleaning them there is almost no room in the throat to get my finger in to clean it, how does the bird breathe? The BR rooster was the best flavor IMO and very similar to the FR most other taste testers agreed. Some did like the CX, the ones who like the CX are people who like breast meat and really don't like, won't eat dark meat. I can't eat the CX breast meat. The mealy texture makes me sick.
The Freedom ranger was obviously processed way too early, but it had surprisingly a lot of meat on it for being so young. We wanted to convince ourselves it was worth the extra time and effort and expense to raise the freedom rangers. For us it is.
We just got some FR chicks in and I am feeding fermented food for the first time. They love it so far!

Can't wait to see the brahma!

Excellent photos Maggie. What a great line up that really showcases the three birds well. That barred rock looks like it crisped up really well, and the drumsticks are making my mouth water. Thanks so much for the detailed post.

Great thread! I have some processed mixed farm roos coming to me next week, and I'll post pics! They're RIR mixes and are about 5-6 months old. I'm getting 5 to compare the flavor to the cornish X I have in my freezer before deciding whether I want to raise meaties or DP's for my first batch of meat birds. I expect them to be pretty scrawny - it's just for a taste test, if I raise DP's, I'll choose a different breed.

Can't wait to see this thread develop!

What are dp's? I am new on this board and am having a hard time learning the acronyms. Maybe on the FAQ page someone could add some frequently used acronyms.

DP = dual purpose = they are supposed to be productive meat producers as well as egg layers. In reality, they are mediaocre in both catagories that can't come close to the specialists for meat = CornishX ( most efficient converter of feed into meat in the shortest time frame in all of chickendom) , or egg layers = Leghorn ( most efficient converter of feed into eggs in all of chickendom).

Erica, eager to see your RIR mixes. Let us know how the flavor was on your thin little fellows.

Not the best picture, but this was a 1 year old RIR mix rooster that we did last year. We never attempted to plump him or anything and he made perfect chicken and dumplings.
I have never had chicken skin give me so much trouble in my life! I eventually got fed up with it and just cooked him like that, then pulled the skin off once he was cooked so I could shred him. lol




This was a white mutt rooster we had. He was tall and slender, so I don't think he was a Sussex or anything. Probably some type of game mix. I skinned him and cut his drumsticks and breasts off for stew meat. Fed the rest to my dogs.

Mmm, cowgirl, that second guy looks so tasty! Wonder what he was?