Does not pasturing change taste?

[jhudson]

I am getting some cornish X this weekend and I will be keeping them in a shed out back. Since there is still 8" of snow on the ground here, they will not be outside at all. They will only be eating the feed I give them. No grass, bugs, etc. Will these birds taste any better than the store bought ones since they will basically be fed like the commercial birds?

 

[CoopCrazy]

First off .. I have a feeling you are not gonna be happy raising them inside.. Bruntyfarms tried it and hated it.. The X's create huge amounts of waste and very high ammonia.. I cant even immagine how you will keep the shed ventilated and clean... I would think the flavor wouldnt be as good as pastured but I wouldnt think it would make a huge difference.. Let us knwo what happens..

BTW How many Cornish X are you raising and how big of a shed???

 

[jhudson]

it is more of an old play house. The walls are 4' high with 3 feet above that covered in rat wire. Plastic is covering that with a tin roof. It is 8x8 and I will be raising 10 birds. There is alot of ventilation in this. I'm not concerned about the enclouser just was wondering about the taste of the birds and not being on pasture.

 

[CARS]

I don't know how it will effect taste. I raise them on grass to help with the waste and to give them some exercise.

You could supplement their feed with greens such as alfalfa hay or maybe vegetable table scraps.

I don't think that my birds eat that much grass but they do seem more active if they have a green run to... well, run it

 

[daleeper]

They will be better than what you buy in the store, because you raised them! I really can't say that the flavor is a whole lot different, but we let ours get bigger than store bought, and so there is more meat on those bones. We have never raised chickens in tractors, only inside, but we have eaten some raised in tractors and really wasn't all that impressed. They tasted a bit gamey and were tough. Ours are nice and tender. I know there are a lot of folks suspicious of commercial feeds, but we have no problem with the feed we are buying, our concern is the way the commercial chickens are processed, and the fact they are not big enough. When we do the processing, we know how healthy the chicken is, how they were killed, how quickly they chilled down, and what the water looks like that they are soaking in.

To reduce the ammonia smell just add more bedding, it will help capture that nitrogen for use in your garden later. They do create quite a bit of waste, if you carry 50 lb of feed and water in, you are going to carry most of it back out in one form or another.