Euskal Oiloa ( Basque Thread)

[Maggiesdad]

Sigh. The color. Like a slightly dirty creamsicle. In love

Wonderful looking little fellow!

That is rich coloring on him - would love for you to post pics every 4 weeks or so...

Love those big shanks and long body, too!

 

[ronott1]

Quote: I agree completely-This one has the potential to be a great Rooster. A great comb with no sprigs would be the icing on the cake.

Please do post new pictures every 4 weeks or more often if you can.

Congratulations!

 

[SusanC]

Sorry if i'm off topic, i will go back a read the last few pages. Just had to share. On Saturday, we butchered 9 Roos. They varied in age between 20weeks and 1 1/2 years. Not all were Euskal Oiloak. I found this awesome girl to come and do them for $5/ bird. A good deal I think, as she did them here, and parted or left whole whichever I chose. So I gave a roasting bird (EO) to my friend. She loved him! Said it was the best roast chicken ever. Ok, back to my point. Tonight I made a stir fry. I am looking for different uses for my heritage boys. I love roast chicken and chicken pot pie etc but I need diversity if it will be my main source of chicken. Tomorrow I hope to can some. Here is what I did tonight- super easy and fast!   
  Slice 4 raw breass diagonally across the grain. Let sit for 20 min to come to room temp. Heat evoo in fry pan to almost smoking. Place chicken in carefully to not burn yourself. ( it will spatter a lot a first). Keep pieces moving around the pan and cook until just cooked through (about 4 minutes). Remove from pan to a plate to rest. Add a bit of water to the pan and lots of veggies - all different types ( peppers, carrots, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, boy Choy ( you get the idea). I cheated and picked up an awesome stir fry vegetable mix my grocery has. Cook veggies to tender crisp. Stir in some stir fry sauce ( again took the quick route tonight, using bottled) and let cook down for about two minutes. Add chicken back in to warm. Serve over rice or noodles. Voila. Dinner in 15 minutes and THE most tender breasts I have ever eaten. They were amazing!!!

 

[skylinepoultry]

Purdy boy!

 

[ronott1]

Sorry if i'm off topic, i will go back a read the last few pages. Just had to share. On Saturday, we butchered 9 Roos. They varied in age between 20weeks and 1 1/2 years. Not all were Euskal Oiloak. I found this awesome girl to come and do them for $5/ bird. A good deal I think, as she did them here, and parted or left whole whichever I chose. So I gave a roasting bird (EO) to my friend. She loved him! Said it was the best roast chicken ever. Ok, back to my point. Tonight I made a stir fry. I am looking for different uses for my heritage boys. I love roast chicken and chicken pot pie etc but I need diversity if it will be my main source of chicken. Tomorrow I hope to can some. Here is what I did tonight- super easy and fast!
Slice 4 raw breass diagonally across the grain. Let sit for 20 min to come to room temp. Heat evoo in fry pan to almost smoking. Place chicken in carefully to not burn yourself. ( it will spatter a lot a first). Keep pieces moving around the pan and cook until just cooked through (about 4 minutes). Remove from pan to a plate to rest. Add a bit of water to the pan and lots of veggies - all different types ( peppers, carrots, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, boy Choy ( you get the idea). I cheated and picked up an awesome stir fry vegetable mix my grocery has. Cook veggies to tender crisp. Stir in some stir fry sauce ( again took the quick route tonight, using bottled) and let cook down for about two minutes. Add chicken back in to warm. Serve over rice or noodles. Voila. Dinner in 15 minutes and THE most tender breasts I have ever eaten. They were amazing!!!

Thank you for the recipe!

 

[FROMWHITEDOGHILL]

Hello Mr. Meeks.......Glad to see you on here. Are you still really busy....I am glad it is grow and maintain time rather than collect and hatch time. Hope you got your pens ready for winter...they say we are getting it in 2 days...................

 

[skylinepoultry]

Hello Mr. Meeks.......Glad to see you on here.  Are you still really busy....I am glad it is grow and maintain time rather than collect and hatch time.  Hope you got your pens ready for winter...they say we are getting it in 2 days...................

It's always collect and hatch over here. The bators never shut down. Too many projects and orders going on. Plus I'm building new pens and getting a pole barn set up. I believe I'll be working straight through winter until spring gets here then I'll take a break from building but the bators never ever shut down. Gonna be sheet rocking the new hatchery room and setting up a climate controlled room for chicks and started birds strictly. Clearing trees for more pasture, working on the house, keeping my honey-do list up to par. I believe I'll take a break when I pass out, lol.

 

[naturespace]

SusanC, that sounds good. I think the key to making it nice and tender is the way you slice it, against the grain. Especially if they are older boys.

Thanks for sharing your recipe.

 

[FROMWHITEDOGHILL]

James....Man it is a good thing you are young and energetic.....just make sure you have fun and enjoy it...which you obviously do. That ole saying about taking time to smell the Roses takes on more meaning as you get older. Keep us posted on what's going on in Tennessee!

 

[GaryDean26]

I think the medium thick you referred to is probably what we want. I just wanted to emphasize sturdy over a slight or fragile frame within the range of normal EOs. I didn't mean to overemphasize thickness. [GaryDean26] Ok, I wasn't sure what the EOs range was, but think from this and MD that we the upper part of the EO's is probably well within what we are looking for.

In the birds you described, I think I'd go with the lighter frames with the width back through the legs. I would probably put width above thickness when making my selections if I had to decide between the two. I haven't seen any EOs with a super thick frame typical of meat birds like the Cornish. I was just thinking about thick for an EO, so aiming for dual purpose.

[GaryDean26] Ok, am measuring thickness mostly by comparing skull width in side-by-side comparison at this point. I will also consider the pelvic bone thickness of the pullets since I will be evaluating that after they are laying consistently. I also look at the thinkness of the shanks.

Really good points, Gary.

Look at the legs on this guy. Medium thick? He's the rooster I drool over on Euskal Roots. How would you characterize his back?
[GaryDean26] My technique still needs some polishing, but I measure the back length and the keel length by the number of fingers. The two longer guys were about 5-10% longer than the wide guys. I would characterize the photo below as a shorter back. My wide guys are similar to him in shape.



How about this fellow's legs? Not that they're easy to see. [GaryDean26] Nice yellow legs! A keeper for sure. Just kidding. Great photo. I have been mostly going off the top view for the width through the legs since none of mine have a narrow stance like the photo below. I am looking for a square top view (wide shoulders and wide hips) as opposed to a triangle (wide at shoulders narrowing to the hips).