Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[glddog]

I had 3 out 5 Americaunas go broody this summer. All 3 black. The blues did not. All well bred, not hatchery. I find putting them in a spare rabbit cage snaps them out of it quickly. I've another black gearing up again. Turkey bird lol!
Yup I learned the hard way to separate broodies. Though I don't really have egg eaters, the americaunas will peck at an egg with a hole in it. Not good for chicks :-(((

 

[Extra Java]

Spatchcocking:

So, I just finnished spatchcocking 6 ckls and the only how to video I saw was of an already cleaned chicken from the grocery store. Big, giant, tender hybrid X chick. LOL Definitely not a heritage spatchcock job.

Question:

Do you clean/gut the bird BEFORE spatchcocking? I was using not so sharp shears and cutting from the tail to the neck up both sides of the spine..THEN, gutting it but it seemed to make a mess and the keel was a bit difficult to remove. Any video links? Step by steps? I'm a visual learner.

Thanks
I'm doing 6 more next weekend. Practice, practice, practice...

 

[Extra Java]

So here's a photo series of prepping 12-week Ancona spatchcocks for the grill. They're delicious. Yes, their size is different than what one has come to expect, but they're an old-fashioned "cut" that is perfect for summer. It allows you to breed heavy and then cull mid-season when growing birds need more room. We have two friends, one a small-scale farmer with a CSA, the other a rigorous home food production gal, who do everything with Anconas. I love our Dorkings and am glad to see interest in them, and all good DP breeds, grow, but I cannot stress enough that I think that a lot of folks would really find their needs met by a good Mediterranean breed. They're gorgeous and elegant, great foragers, solid layers, hardy and vigorous, and good eating. The only place they fail is in the whole roaster department in comparison with a Dorking. However, cut up at roaster age, they're great. I remember a dinner party once at our CSA farmer friend's, she did Chicken Marbella with a couple of roaster age Anconas all cut up--delicious!:

OK I don't know HOW I missed this post. LOL Took a day off I guess.

Thanks Joseph these are great! It appears you pre-cleaned/eviscerated them prior to spatchcocking.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

OK I don't know HOW I missed this post. LOL Took a day off I guess.

Thanks Joseph these are great! It appears you pre-cleaned/eviscerated them prior to spatchcocking.

Spatchcocking is the whole process. On this thread somewhere is a description of the slaughter aspect. What you're seeing above is the culinary starting point with the birds' spines and all viscera removed. Then you're here:



I start from the front with the clever and cut through the breast bone, I don't remove it. One certainly could filet it out, and after time one would become efficient. I just work my way up it splitting it with the clever. It creates a rough edge, but that doesn't bother us. It might be easier then to remover the breast bone halves if one wanted to.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

PS: If you're BBQing them, there's a learning curve. Try to keep the grill from flaring above 325F. Be patient; you'll get it.

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

It took me a couple weeks, but I finally read through all 131 pages of the thread!

I learned a lot. I will be moving in 2 or 3 years and plan on applying a lot of the knowledge I've gained at the new place. I plan on building open-air chicken houses and using the four pen breeding plan. Previously, I wanted the most rare and unique chickens I could find. Now, I plan on raising heritage dom large fowl and bantam RIRs and improving the lines I will acquire. I love a scrambled bantam egg with ham for breakfast. I will get bantam RIR hatching eggs as soon as a couple of my hens decide to brood. After I sort of get the hang of them, I will get the doms in a couple years. I have hatchery layers that will hopefully hold out until I'm ready for the doms. I am disgusted with the poor quality of my hatchery hens. One is a goose stepper, several are pretty crow headed, they are narrow and have pinched butts, they burn out way too fast, they have poor feathers and have difficulty molting, I could go on and on. Extensive culling is necessary just to get decent birds. I am glad I started out with the hatchery birds though; I've learned what not* to have in my flock. I want to find a chicken partner near me that I can trade birds with after a time to get new blood. This is the only thread I've been able to read through fully. Most delve into things I have no interest in or get off topic way too much. Thanks everyone for an excellent thread that I can enjoy and learn from!

 

[Arielle]

PS: If you're BBQing them, there's a learning curve. Try to keep the grill from flaring above 325F. Be patient; you'll get it.

I was butchering this week and the knife broke-- Joseph, I see you use a cleaver. Any other knife that is high quality and holds an edge. Or do all need reg sharpening-- total dunce on that score. THe knives I have now don't use the sharpener I have. ANd the shears seem dull after a few birds-- how does one sharpen those? Or better question-- what is a good brand name and type of tool to buy just for this job??

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

A couple times, I saw people asking about having a few birds of a different breed that are known for brooding like silkies or cochins to hatch chicks instead of having dual-purpose birds that do it. No one said what I was thinking, so I'll say it now. I have been around chickens my entire life and been in charge of my own for 7 years. I have had cochins, frizzles, sizzles, and silkies. Maybe my expectations are too high, but I found them to be poor mothers. They'll brood frequently and are not easily disturbed from the nest, but they are very dumb about how they do it IME and IMO. They'll poo the nest, a pet peeve of mine. Some of mine have not left the nest to eat enough and grew skinny, not good when you want them to keep a large clutch of eggs warm. They will not properly fight to keep their chicks safe, if the time comes. How could a silkie anyways? They have so much fluff on their face that I don't see how they could spot a hawk. My broody hens will brutally attack each other, at times. Idk what goes on in their little heads. They just are not bright enough to make the cut here as broody mothers and I'm ready to be done with the sizzles I have now. I would say, pick a dual-purpose breed that will hatch their own eggs. All dual-purpose breeds really should anyways. I'm going with large fowl doms and bantam RIRs myself. The bantams are for a bantam laying flock.

 

[cgmccary]

A couple times, I saw people asking about having a few birds of a different breed that are known for brooding like silkies or cochins to hatch chicks instead of having dual-purpose birds that do it. No one said what I was thinking, so I'll say it now. I have been around chickens my entire life and been in charge of my own for 7 years. I have had cochins, frizzles, sizzles, and silkies. Maybe my expectations are too high, but I found them to be poor mothers. They'll brood frequently and are not easily disturbed from the nest, but they are very dumb about how they do it IME and IMO. They'll poo the nest, a pet peeve of mine. Some of mine have not left the nest to eat enough and grew skinny, not good when you want them to keep a large clutch of eggs warm. They will not properly fight to keep their chicks safe, if the time comes. How could a silkie anyways? They have so much fluff on their face that I don't see how they could spot a hawk. My broody hens will brutally attack each other, at times. Idk what goes on in their little heads. They just are not bright enough to make the cut here as broody mothers and I'm ready to be done with the sizzles I have now. I would say, pick a dual-purpose breed that will hatch their own eggs. All dual-purpose breeds really should anyways. I'm going with large fowl doms and bantam RIRs myself. The bantams are for a bantam laying flock.

There's no better mother hen than a game hen. On my place, all the chickens fear my Toulouse Geese. The Toulouse rule the barnyard. My gander will even attack my 90 lb dog -- fortunately my dog does not attack back but just gets out of the way. I had a game hen who had hatched chicks under the tractor pit. Her nest was all the way at the end of the pit. She hatched her brood and the first day, the chicks cannot travel so she stays in the pit near the nest. My Toulouse went in the pit and they'd normally tear a chicken to pieces. Here was a game hen where the only escape from being torn apart was to abandon her newly hatched chicks to the geese. It didn't happen that way. I heard a goose in distress and went running out thinking something had a goose. It was the game hen defending her chicks. The geese wanted no part of her.

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

There's no better mother hen than a game hen. On my place, all the chickens fear my Toulouse Geese. The Toulouse rule the barnyard. My gander will even attack my 90 lb dog -- fortunately my dog does not attack back but just gets out of the way. I had a game hen who had hatched chicks under the tractor pit. Her nest was all the way at the end of the pit. She hatched her brood and the first day, the chicks cannot travel so she stays in the pit near the nest. My Toulouse went in the pit and they'd normally tear a chicken to pieces. Here was a game hen where the only escape from being torn apart was to abandon her newly hatched chicks to the geese. It didn't happen that way. I heard a goose in distress and went running out thinking something had a goose. It was the game hen defending her chicks. The geese wanted no part of her.

Games sound like great chickens. It seems like most people would never think of one going broody. Meat and broodiness are great qualities to have in one bird.