Thank you for the reply. My thought process was, free ranging, they are getting a LOT of exercise .vs. being penned up, and the muscles growing a lot more, hence possibly tougher meat because of this. I was thinking of free range to help cut down on the costs to feed them a bit, then thought, well if it makes them tougher, is the trade off worth it? I don't want to be a cheap ass I want good tasting meat, which is why I am considering home raising to butcher .vs. store bought hormone mutants, but if the price is really negligible on FR vs Pellet Fed, then Id get the pellets just to keep them healthy / happy till their big day
THank you for the inputs.
Aaron
My impression, as one who raises birds who free range (but understand, I've never raised "penned up" for comparison) and butchers his own is as follows:
1) Free Ranging cuts my feed bill 20-25% depending on season. I have a healthy, biodiverse, poly-cultural pasture and a long growing season - they don't lack for feed opportunities. I only feed once daily (in the evening) to get them to go to bed in the protected run with full crops, and motivate them to range in the mornings). Even so, they don't get the majority of their food from the pasture.
2) Free ranging slows weight gain, though they are seemingly eating more, in total, than a caged or penned bird. Its the exercise. (Based on comparison to weight gain postings from others here on BYC with similar breeds)
3) Fat is both decreased in quantity, and differently proportioned. I find less subcutaneous fat, and much less fat "padding" around the organs, and more intramuscular fat (based on renderings from making burgers and sausage). That's a flavor improvement, and helps to provide a sense of tenderness in spite of the additional muscle usage.
4) At a young age (9-16 weeks) I can't discern any difference between a boy chicken on the table and a girl chicken on the table. Both benefit from adding 5 degrees to the "target temperature" for doneness, 170 instead of 165, and the one tends to outweigh the other, but that's the limit of my impaired palate (long, irrelevant story - I can't "taste" much).
5) At much greater ages (8 months plus), there is a decided chew to the meat that makes it completely unsuited for roasting broiling, or grilling, which even long aging and acidic marinades (yogurt based, usually) can't turn "tender", and a stronger flavor which makes good background for curries and similar. Again, I can't tell a difference between boys and girls (its curry!) and haven't eaten many birds these ages - but none in the middle ground between 5 and 4.
And again, having not pen raised birds, I have no personal experience to set against my pasture/free range impressions. Take it with some salt, it definitely improves the finished dish.
Ok so do hens have very small wattles until they mature? Because I suddenly realized that the ones with the biggest and reddest combs also had big red wattles. And most of the ones with smaller or less red combs had very small wattles.
