California - Northern

[capayvalleychick]

AmyBeth, I made a cheap coop/chicken tractor out of one of the short dog kennels that you can get at Tractor Supply. I put those plastic like roof panels on the top & sides, reinforced around the door & along the bottom with hardware cloth. Put a roost inside and plastic storage boxes for nest boxes. I put the open side away from the direction of the rain. Straw inside on the ground if I'm not moving it around. The chickens have stayed dry inside. You could do the same sort of thing with wire livestock panels, like what I used for a bachelor/grow out pen. That had garage doors as a roof.

 

[PetRock]

I had my first experience with processing chickens for meat yesterday. We have friends who have a 10 acre farm and they raise all of their own meat. They slaughter 1 cow and 1 pig per year and process chickens 3 times per year. We processed over 40 chickens in the pouring rain yesterday. My DH thought that I couldn't do it. My job was actually pretty easy. I had to go to the coop, grab the chicken, and hold it until the killer was ready for it. I got to give some of them their last bit of love before their cone experience. My DH said that if I start rubbing his head and talking to him, he is going to get worried. I told him that he is safe as long as I'm not petting his ears! Probably the hardest part for me was deciding which of our silver pencilled plymouth rock cockerels to keep for breeding. I was going to only keep 3 out of 11 cockerels but my favorite somehow made it back in the coop so I kept 4. ;-)

Most of the chickens were meaties who were around 10 weeks old. My friend wants to stop raising the meaties and is looking for a heritage breed or 2 that are dual purpose. So, we processed the meaties, seven SPPR cockerels, and two langshan cockerels. I'm going to roast one of each and compare the taste. If anyone knows of a breed that has exceptional taste and isn't too bad in the laying department, please let me know. Kim, I've read that Dorkings are excellent for meat. Is that true in your experience?

 

[ronott1]

I had my first experience with processing chickens for meat yesterday. We have friends who have a 10 acre farm and they raise all of their own meat. They slaughter 1 cow and 1 pig per year and process chickens 3 times per year. We processed over 40 chickens in the pouring rain yesterday. My DH thought that I couldn't do it. My job was actually pretty easy. I had to go to the coop, grab the chicken, and hold it until the killer was ready for it. I got to give some of them their last bit of love before their cone experience. My DH said that if I start rubbing his head and talking to him, he is going to get worried. I told him that he is safe as long as I'm not petting his ears! Probably the hardest part for me was deciding which of our silver pencilled plymouth rock cockerels to keep for breeding. I was going to only keep 3 out of 11 cockerels but my favorite somehow made it back in the coop so I kept 4. ;-)

Most of the chickens were meaties who were around 10 weeks old. My friend wants to stop raising the meaties and is looking for a heritage breed or 2 that are dual purpose. So, we processed the meaties, seven SPPR cockerels, and two langshan cockerels. I'm going to roast one of each and compare the taste. If anyone knows of a breed that has exceptional taste and isn't too bad in the laying department, please let me know. Kim, I've read that Dorkings are excellent for meat. Is that true in your experience?

I will let kim answer for the Dorkings.

This was on the Basque thread yesterday.



Dang, Aspen! When I looked at this pic I thought you had a pushme-pullyou!!!

Look out, Cornish Crosses - Mrs. Fluffy Puffy has double breasted EOs!!!

They are ready a bit slower than Heritage Delawares. There are starting to be quite a few around here with them.

I made one of mine into Chicken Tika Masala.


I have been asked to make that recipe more often.....

 

[PetRock]

I will let kim answer for the Dorkings.

This was on the Basque thread yesterday.



Dang, Aspen! When I looked at this pic I thought you had a pushme-pullyou!!!

Look out, Cornish Crosses - Mrs. Fluffy Puffy has double breasted EOs!!!

They are ready a bit slower than Heritage Delawares. There are starting to be quite a few around here with them.

I made one of mine into Chicken Tika Masala.


I have been asked to make that recipe more often.....

So, Ron, EOs are double breasted??? That's one difference we noted between the meaties and the SPPR's/Langshans. But you should see the drumsticks on the Langshans!!! They have meat all the way down their long legs! I may have to troll craigslist/BYC for unwanted cockerels of different breeds for us to try. It would be interesting to do some more comparison tasting!

 

[chiqita]

Ha! Our hatcher is also in the master bath. most chicks are not that bad, but this batch of marans! One of them got the top of the egg stuck to his head, and he was sitting up in the egg with this hat hollering for her dear life.
but the 2 right next to her were pipped so no moving them. everyone was out this morning so into the baby brooder they went to sleep off the whole egg ordeal.

I wish I could have gotten a pic, she looked like a cartoon chicken.
here is a site with a listing of a lot of reuse places.. anything you see close?
http://www.greenecoservices.com/salvage-reclaimed-fsc-wood-used-building-materials-california-82408/
or you could try a pallet coop.

Our new soon to be neighbors dropped by today. They bought the house next door and expect to be remodeling for a year. The good news is if I have to hear a construction crew for a year, they are not going to be complaining about roosters! The dog who hates men also liked him, so its a double plus. Now lets hope they like eggs.

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
The EO Marraduna are a true Dual Purpose breed that has not been messed by Hatcheries(or others). They lay a lot of eggs and have a lot of meat quickly. You can tell because the Roosters are a lot bigger than the hens. They were "working" chickens as recently as the1980s. You should be able to get a Cockerel from Papa Brooder or someone else with them on this thread. I have 2 more in the freezer.

 

[Chooklet]

I had my first experience with processing chickens for meat yesterday. We have friends who have a 10 acre farm and they raise all of their own meat. They slaughter 1 cow and 1 pig per year and process chickens 3 times per year. We processed over 40 chickens in the pouring rain yesterday.

Most of the chickens were meaties who were around 10 weeks old. My friend wants to stop raising the meaties and is looking for a heritage breed or 2 that are dual purpose. So, we processed the meaties, seven SPPR cockerels, and two langshan cockerels. I'm going to roast one of each and compare the taste. If anyone knows of a breed that has exceptional taste and isn't too bad in the laying department, please let me know. Kim, I've read that Dorkings are excellent for meat. Is that true in your experience?

Debi - I was wondering when this was going to be! You should have called me - I would have come out to help. I am still thinking about trying the Freedom Rangers or Rainbow Rangers next year. I am also interested in hearing about the dorkings.

The EO Marraduna are a true Dual Purpose breed that has not been messed by Hatcheries(or others). They lay a lot of eggs and have a lot of meat quickly. You can tell because the Rooster are a lot bigger than the hens. They were "working" chickens as recently as the1980s. You should be able to get a Cockerel from Papa Brooder or someone else with them on this thread. I have 2 more in the freezer.

Ron - how old do the EOs need to be before processing them?

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
Kim will go into more detail on the Dorkings but they are a slow maturing breed, so you have to wait longer before processing. them.

I processed EOs at 20 weeks and they were 3.5 pounds processed. Freedom rangers are in between the Cornish Xs and the Delaware and EO types. Delawares and EOs lay eggs better. It depends on what your goals are. Delawares would be a good choice, but you would have to work to get good ones. Most of the Basque are already good. You can get a couple dozen hatching eggs from James Meeks(Skyline on BYC), have a 90% hatch on shipped eggs and be set up by next spring.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Debi, Liked your post! How nice to have a group to do the work together.

Dorkings historically were known for their meat qualities, but they haven't been bred properly for so many years that the breed is not what it used to be. That said, I just had someone pick up some eggs & birds from me who said that he had Dorking in France that was the best chicken he had ever tasted. There's a breeder in NH that also says that his are superior to other chicken.

I think a lot has to do with how they are raised, what they eat, and how they are cooked. It has been a huge learning experience for me, since I was raised eating only supermarket chicken. Heritage chicken is very different from the Cornish x, which can take time to get used to. My first attempts with eating Dorking were disappointing. I still need to bring my birds up in size, but I've learned a lot about how to cook them.

The last Dorking that we ate, we unexpectedly had company and I was worried about serving them this heritage chicken, since they are foodies. They actually enjoyed it and my husband said it was the best yet.

The breeder in NH says that his are big enough to butcher at 5 months but mine take 7 months to reach a large enough size to be worth eating. By that age, they are a roasting fowl. I've found roasting them slowly on low heat makes a tasty bird. So Dorking is not for the impatient, they are truly slow food. Maybe that will change if I can get their weight and size up to Standard.

I also really enjoy Delawares. They mature faster, are ready at 5 months for butchering. Since they are butchered younger, you can grill them or cook them with faster methods than roasting. The flavor is also very good. Again, mine are smaller than Standard, yet I've been pleased with the amount of meat on the birds. I'm hoping to get some awesome, much bigger Dels from a breeder who has recreated them from BRs x NHs. Walt says they will be the best around.

I've been happy with both breeds as egg layers. I was preferring the Dels as meat birds until we tasted this last Dork...now it's a tie.

 

[PetRock]

Debi, Liked your post! How nice to have a group to do the work together.

Dorkings historically were known for their meat qualities, but they haven't been bred properly for so many years that the breed is not what it used to be. That said, I just had someone pick up some eggs & birds from me who said that he had Dorking in France that was the best chicken he had ever tasted. There's a breeder in NH that also says that his are superior to other chicken.

I think a lot has to do with how they are raised, what they eat, and how they are cooked. It has been a huge learning experience for me, since I was raised eating only supermarket chicken. Heritage chicken is very different from the Cornish x, which can take time to get used to. My first attempts with eating Dorking were disappointing. I still need to bring my birds up in size, but I've learned a lot about how to cook them.

The last Dorking that we ate, we unexpectedly had company and I was worried about serving them this heritage chicken, since they are foodies. They actually enjoyed it and my husband said it was the best yet.

The breeder in NH says that his are big enough to butcher at 5 months but mine take 7 months to reach a large enough size to be worth eating. By that age, they are a roasting fowl. I've found roasting them slowly on low heat makes a tasty bird. So Dorking is not for the impatient, they are truly slow food. Maybe that will change if I can get their weight and size up to Standard.

I also really enjoy Delawares. They mature faster, are ready at 5 months for butchering. Since they are butchered younger, you can grill them or cook them with faster methods than roasting. The flavor is also very good. Again, mine are smaller than Standard, yet I've been pleased with the amount of meat on the birds. I'm hoping to get some awesome, much bigger Dels from a breeder who has recreated them from BRs x NHs. Walt says they will be the best around.

I've been happy with both breeds as egg layers. I was preferring the Dels as meat birds until we tasted this last Dork...now it's a tie.

Thanks, Kim! Langshans are slower to mature birds, also. The 2 that we processed were only 19 weeks old and dressed out weighed 3.6 and 3.9 lb. The SPPRs were 20 weeks old, weighed between 3.2 and 3.9 lb. but look to have a little more meat on them. The meaties (cornish x) were around 10 weeks old and weighed between 3 and 4 lb. I wish that we would have waited a few more weeks with the Langshans but it is all a learning curve. I may need to get a few Delawares and Dorkings this next spring to try them. Has anyone tried Marans? I read somewhere that their meat is supposed to be good, too.