Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Yellow House Farm]

Quote:
Hi Wynette! Fear not! You are already overrun with predators.

It's good housing that saves one's birds; that's all. They don't need blood to know that there's dinner available at such and such a house. We remember that, in the world of carnivores, poultry and rabbits are tantamount to apples.

Absolutely anything that would eat your birds, if they could, knows about them already.

The blood can be sprayed away, where it's quickly absorbed by the soil, or collected and dumped over the stone wall, or buried with the remains, or composted with the offal, depending on how you do it.

 

[Wynette]

I'm sure you must be right, Yellow! I've had chickens for several years now, and we built Fort Knox's of sorts so I wouldn't have to worry about predators...much. Good thing I don't live in northern Michigan, though...there are bears there, and I'm unsure of how one would go about building a coop that is safe from a bear! Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Morning all.....just a quick update on the Columbian Rocks from Canada. First, they have survived the snow here better than I. 7" for metro-Atlanta is a BUNCH of snow and I'm ready for it to be gone. Global warming?? Yeah, right

Anyway, just candled my first hatch from this trio (day 14) and the 3 fertile eggs each have VERY lively chicks kicking around in the shells. I also set another 8 eggs today...keeping and setting every one I get, just like the "poultry masters" here suggest. I just want the weather to warm up a bit...even for us its extremely cold. Expecting single digits here tonite

That's it for now....I'll post pix of the hatch when they get here, not that we can tell much from chicks.

Gotta go TRY to finish shoveling the driveway.....yuk

 

[Jared77]

I'm unsure of how one would go about building a coop that is safe from a bear!

2 words....

Hot Fence

Glad to hear things are going well Scott, keep up the good work!​

 

[cgmccary]

YellowHouse: . . . It's good housing that saves one's birds; that's all. . . .

Or in my situation, two good guard dogs & Nite Guard Lites strategically placed about the place. I free range my birds during the day. They put themselves up in the evening, and I just close & lock the door at night, but it is no Ft. Knox. The Turkeys and Geese stay out 24/7. We have lots of coyotes, fox, raccoons, opossums, mink, stray dogs & even some bears. I hear & see them nearby or their tracks.​

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Or in my situation, two good guard dogs & Nite Guard Lites strategically placed about the place. I free range my birds during the day. They put themselves up in the evening, and I just close & lock the door at night, but it is no Ft. Knox. The Turkeys and Geese stay out 24/7. We have lots of coyotes, fox, raccoons, opossums, mink, stray dogs & even some bears. I hear & see them nearby or their tracks.

cgmacary is using IPM (Integrated Pest Management) with multiple layers (coops, dogs, lights, proper chicken behavior and being there as a poultry keeper) such that if one fails, another will at least help control losses.

 

[Pyncheon guy]

Yes Wynette....We have bears here in Northern Michigan....so far none have visited my yard....We have 225 acres and I have seen tracks a couple of years ago. My cousin has one that eats the bird seed off his deck....3 miles from my farm.

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
Or in my situation, two good guard dogs & Nite Guard Lites strategically placed about the place. I free range my birds during the day. They put themselves up in the evening, and I just close & lock the door at night, but it is no Ft. Knox. The Turkeys and Geese stay out 24/7. We have lots of coyotes, fox, raccoons, opossums, mink, stray dogs & even some bears. I hear & see them nearby or their tracks.

It all depends on what works best for you.

 

[Wynette]

PG - 225 acres! Holy cow - I'm GREEN!

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Thoughts on heritage meat. Again, use this to consider your breed of choice, your culls, and your ability to breed in volume.

Chapter I: Spatchcocked broilers.

From 8 to 13 weeks, chickens are broilers. In French, we'd say poussin. You could pronounce that "poo-SANG" more or less. Any breed can be used for this. Often, in the past, excess cockerels (obvious culls) of egg-type fowl (think Mediterranean and Hamburg-types) were used for this. Butchering at this age produces a small yet outstandingly tasty carcass that you're going to use for BBQ, oven broiling, and quick frying (stir-fry). If you think about it, this is perfect. You hatch heavily in the spring, and, just when you're going to become voerwhelmed with cockerels, you process all those that aren't worth growing out. Voila! and just in time for BBQ season to begin.
Now, these are easy to process, and are done with very little time. Spatchcocking is the way to go. Print this out and tuck it away. You'll master this technique in no time this coming May/June/July.
To spatchcock:

bleed, scald, pluck.

Ready to eviscerate, put the bird on your work table backbone facing up.

Take hold of the uropygium, or Pope's nose (that fleshy knob from which the tail grows). With a sharp knife slice down to the backbone. With snips, snip through the backbone. Now, your uropygium is sort od dangling there. Don't cut it off; it is your handle. Holding the uropygium with one hand, gingerly slice down until you open the body cavity. Do not slice into the intestine. Then cut around the vent such that the anus and uropygium are attached and hanging there, still attached to the end of the intestine. With your finger, go around the intestine such that you losse the end of the intestine from any connective tissue holding it to the body cavity. The end result is a danlging knob and vent piece hanging out the back from the end of the intestine. This might sound complicated, but it's a 30 second step that you'll master in no time.

Now, with good poultry sheers, cut up either side of the backbone, leaving the backbone in tact, until you reach the to of the rib cage.

Then take hold of the freed backbone and pull it out. At this point the backbone is attached all the way to the head. The only continued attachment to the carcass is the neck skin, which easy cut through. Throw the backbone and head into your gut-bucket.

Now looking down at the carcass, the back is wide open, and you can see all of the viscera just sitting there. Pick up the bird, hang it over the gut-bucket and wipe out the viscera with your hands.

You're all done, spray the bird down and immerse it in ice water to bring the temperature down below 40 degrees as quickly as possible. Vaccuum seal them individually or in pairs and then freeze.

Half a bird is sufficient, but it wouldn't be hard to eat a whole bird. They're just delicious. Marinate in a good homemade sause and then slowly BBQ.

or

Check out a Joy of Cooking for some easy broiling recipes:
Broiling is a fast preparation and something you can easily do upon returning from the office or what have you. This actually fits well into the bracket of "How can I feed my family nourishing food with a busy life and no time?" Mix salt and pepper with some good herbs into some butter. Slather it all over the bird. Broil it up. Make some nice rice/potato/pasta/gnochhi and a good veggie. Bada bing!
Eastern European tradition might go heavy on the paprica. France: thyme and sage. Italy: rosemary and oregano. Greece: oregano and lemon. Spatchcocked broiler is quick, easy, and rudely yummy.

One Burgundian preparation would be to make a shallot and mustard sauce that you baste the bird in before broiling.

Now, why is this VERY IMPORTANT? Well, because it allows you to hatch in volume; cull hard at a useful age; and make heritage poultry a key element in your diet, which is highly salubrious (

)

You can use spatchcocked broilers to feed the fam once or twice weekly throughout the grilling season. Trust me, no one will tire of it!

If you read the ALBC program for improving heritage poultry, eight weeks of age is a critical week for assessment. You're going to cull 50% or more of your hatch. These can be spatchcocked then or removed to a finishing coop for a 3-4 of weeks of high protein feed. They are then spatchcocked, and you eat food that the wealthy pay big bucks to try to procure.

That's yet another excellent attribute of heritage poultry. It is so very democratic in nature. It is ART and HIGH LIVING that is accessible to MOST