Chicken Diet and the Way They Taste

[hyanezco]

I have been using flock raiser on my CXR and tried the first one at six weeks and it was kind of lean and tough. I am now finishing with cracked corn Any suggestions on finishing feed? Or brining or aging after processing for more tender meat?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

After I make sure the carcass is very clean, I put them on in ice water loaded down with sea salt and leave them like that for about 3 days or more before cooking or freezing. The longer they age the more tender. The salt also keeps the bacteria at bay.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

My last batch was raised only on Flock Raiser and grass. I butchered at 8 weeks and they were a little fatty but super tender and juicy.

 

[HandsomeRyan]

Not sure about chickens but I personally prefer grain fed beef to grass fed even though grass fed is marketed as being "tastier" and is often more expensive. The reason is, as someone else already mentioned, fat. The flavor and juiciness comes largely from fat and grain is a lot more fattening than grass is. What you want is inter-muscular fat (or "marbling" as we might call it in beef) as opposed to intra-muscular fat which is the big hunks of fat between the muscles which is just sort of mushy and chewy.

I have very serious doubts that what a bird eats will flavor the meat with that specific flavor (eg. spiciness from peppers, or herbal flavors from herbs) and the best we can probably hope for is changing the fat content or possibly moisture content of the bird pre-slaughter because the way food is broken down during digestion. It would be interesting to know if there have been any controlled studies on the subject and not just empirical evidence.

 

[Bossroo]

I have personally seen quite a few scientific tests as well as double blind taste tests ( by faculty, staff students, their families as well as interested public) on beef and lambs at a major Agricultural University. Those that were Grain fed for at least the last 90 - 120 days came out the most tender and had superior flavor .

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Read the book 'Salt, Sugar, Fat'. It tells about how the perfect balance of those 3 have us addicted to certain manufactured 'foods'.

 

[lmatvey]

What about changing the color of the meat or skin,? Like when a person eats too many carrots?

 

[lizanne]

Maybe I'll start mixing some BBQ sauce into the feed. . I have a coworker that hunt squirrels sometimes. He goes up into the mountains to get them. He says city squirrels taste bad.

 

[lmatvey]

Maybe I'll start mixing some BBQ sauce into the feed.

. I have a coworker that hunt squirrels sometimes. He goes up into the mountains to get them. He says city squirrels taste bad.

LOL!!!!