Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

Not looking forward to processing in these cold temps and it will be snow showers tomorrow. I'll be a frozen chickie by the time I'm done! Poor planning on my part but I just couldn't turn down all this free meat. These bigger roos are very heavy birds, so the meat yield should be good on those but not so good on the younger leghorn mix birds. I'll be glad to have this job done and then no more roos for the rest of the winter.

It will be great to have that meat in the jar, though....I've never tasted better chicken in all my born days. Love how this FF flavors the meat!

 

[Beekissed]

Easter 2014 is April 20, so he would be 47 weeks old.....just shy of 11 months old. What do you think he would dress out now.....5-6 pounds?

Hard to say...depends on how much meat his breed is capable of putting on in the first place. It sure will be interesting to find out and will give you an idea at when it tops out. I've found with CX that each bird has a top out wt at which it plateaus no matter how much longer you keep it and feed it, so I'd keep doing regular wts on it and then note when it seems to plateau and gain no more. Then you'll know approx. when that particular breed reaches maximum growth as a capon and then you can stop feeding it at that point. Time to process.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Not looking forward to processing in these cold temps and it will be snow showers tomorrow. I'll be a frozen chickie by the time I'm done! Poor planning on my part but I just couldn't turn down all this free meat. These bigger roos are very heavy birds, so the meat yield should be good on those but not so good on the younger leghorn mix birds. I'll be glad to have this job done and then no more roos for the rest of the winter.

It will be great to have that meat in the jar, though....I've never tasted better chicken in all my born days. Love how this FF flavors the meat!

Bee,

I got more birds today, so I have them in quarantine. They are new Marans breeding stock. So I will be processing other birds next week. My DH had a week of vacation he had to take before the end of the year, so next week it is. Both kids are home for Christmas, so will be enlisting their help as well. I have 14 birds to process.....but will be looking at the weather next week to find the "least bad" day for it.

 

[LindaB220]

Okaaay... just how much is property in SOUTH Florida??? Ahhhh (sigh) I started out with 14 eggs this morning then Mr Ice smacked me down and now I have 8!!! Just walking along and W-H-A-M I'm on my back. But first I had to land right square on my bum knee. I layed there saying, "Oh God oh God please help don't let this mess my knee up!" LOL I layed there a little bit afraid to move and the rooster were having a cackling fit (seriously!). lol Finally I turned and looked at them and said, "I ain't dead." And they shut up immediately. Now hmmm, were they glad or disappointed? I finally got up and it didn't hurt... too much. I guess Somebody had a little mercy on me, YET AGAIN.

But how much is that property in SOUTH Florida? (Half a dozen broken eggs did tick me off!)

Until I can get to Florida I want some of these...
http://m.dickssportinggoods.com/pro...4&cp=4406646.4413887.4414035.4414014.12458307

Oh Jeez, Triple, hope you're ok? Come to Louisiana> I'm in zone 8b and it's been miserable the last few days. Frost on the ground in the morning lately and it drizzled all day. At least 40 degrees. Ha We do have some cold weather. Our lowest is maybe 18 degrees every winter a couple of times. I remember seeing snow before.

Every few years we will have a snow storm of 2-4 inches but it doesn't last but a day or so.
Speaking of falling, my daughter Aimee owns a dog grooming and boarding shop. Today she was taking a hugh dog out of a kennel and the strap wrapped around her wrist. Dog (over 100 lbs) went flying and so did she. Landed on her hip. NOT a happy camper. But up and around doing her chores. It wonderful to have a really good work ethic. Mine is not nearly as good.

 

[Beekissed]

Lucky you to have help! I'll be processing these 13 alone, which is no big thing for me normally, but hate to process when it's too cold as my age starts to show up and my hands stiffen up so bad that I can't hold the knife properly. Last summer I processed 54 CX by my lonesome and just kept bangin' 'em out every day until I had whittled the whole batch down.

I'm glad to know someone else is out there working on the same thing in the same season...makes me not feel so all alone!

Normally my old Ma would help me but she just can't seem to do those sort of things out in the cold any longer. You'd think a 79 yr old lady could keep up, wouldn't ya? Sheesh...she's such a wimp nowadays.

Only funnin'....she's a trooper most of the time and can work circles around most of us youngin's.

I'd wait for better weather but I need to get this done...I've got another project I'm working on and I need to get those roosters off my mind and my chore list.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Hard to say...depends on how much meat his breed is capable of putting on in the first place. It sure will be interesting to find out and will give you an idea at when it tops out. I've found with CX that each bird has a top out wt at which it plateaus no matter how much longer you keep it and feed it, so I'd keep doing regular wts on it and then note when it seems to plateau and gain no more. Then you'll know approx. when that particular breed reaches maximum growth as a capon and then you can stop feeding it at that point. Time to process.

He is a Marans/Lavender Orpington cross, so I am anticipating he still has some room to grow. I think Orpington Roos weigh in the 10 pound range on average, and Marans roos around 9 pounds, I think.

The thing I noticed about him when I weighed him the second time is that the breasts seem so much fuller, and he just had a denser feel, if that makes any sense. I guess what I am saying is that I think the last 3/4 pounds of weight was mostly flesh.

 

[Beekissed]

Okaaay... just how much is property in SOUTH Florida??? Ahhhh (sigh) I started out with 14 eggs this morning then Mr Ice smacked me down and now I have 8!!! Just walking along and W-H-A-M I'm on my back. But first I had to land right square on my bum knee. I layed there saying, "Oh God oh God please help don't let this mess my knee up!" LOL I layed there a little bit afraid to move and the rooster were having a cackling fit (seriously!). lol Finally I turned and looked at them and said, "I ain't dead." And they shut up immediately. Now hmmm, were they glad or disappointed? I finally got up and it didn't hurt... too much. I guess Somebody had a little mercy on me, YET AGAIN.

But how much is that property in SOUTH Florida? (Half a dozen broken eggs did tick me off!)

I missed this post! Awwwww, TW! I'm sorry you had a tumble!

Something like that can jar yer innards so badly that you don't know what you've hurt until the next couple of days when all the twinges show up. Old...old bodies hurt more after a fall. Ask me how I know.....

Here's what you need.....cheap and will make your shoes look like they are bad to the bone.

http://www.amazon.com/Cleat-Traction-Crampon-Winter-Carabiner/dp/B004TJEB9O/ref=pd_sim_sbs_shoe_3


We keep a set of similar crampons in the truck just in case of emergencies, but so far my winter boots are providing enough tread for choring around, though ice is another thing altogether and simple rubber tread just sometimes doesn't cut it.

Jake sends some slobber for your boo-boos (he seems to think that helps...I keep tellin' him that only mother slobbers work but he feels boy slobbers work if they have enough warmth to them).

 

[Beekissed]

He is a Marans/Lavender Orpington cross, so I am anticipating he still has some room to grow. I think Orpington Roos weigh in the 10 pound range on average, and Marans roos around 9 pounds, I think.

The thing I noticed about him when I weighed him the second time is that the breasts seem so much fuller, and he just had a denser feel, if that makes any sense. I guess what I am saying is that I think the last 3/4 pounds of weight was mostly flesh.

That makes a lot of sense and I know just what you are talking about. That's when the meat starts to really flesh out the bone structure and that's about the age I see it the most on heavy DP breeds. All the sudden they go from just big looking to big feeling...those breast and thighs finally start to pack on muscle depth.

Plymouth White Rock hens feel like that compared to all other breeds I've raised...they look just a little bit bigger but it's when you lift them is when you get a sense of the difference. That density of the meat is the big difference and when you shuck those birds down you can see why...the breasts and thighs are enormous compared to the other hens. A comparison of their legs and feet to other birds gives the first clue...thick and big.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Lucky you to have help! I'll be processing these 13 alone, which is no big thing for me normally, but hate to process when it's too cold as my age starts to show up and my hands stiffen up so bad that I can't hold the knife properly. Last summer I processed 54 CX by my lonesome and just kept bangin' 'em out every day until I had whittled the whole batch down.

I'm glad to know someone else is out there working on the same thing in the same season...makes me not feel so all alone!

Normally my old Ma would help me but she just can't seem to do those sort of things out in the cold any longer. You'd think a 79 yr old lady could keep up, wouldn't ya? Sheesh...she's such a wimp nowadays.

Only funnin'....she's a trooper most of the time and can work circles around most of us youngin's.

I'd wait for better weather but I need to get this done...I've got another project I'm working on and I need to get those roosters off my mind and my chore list.

I know what you mean about the cold. My hands just throb when they get cold. This may sound silly, but when I go outside to feed on these cold mornings, I put a pair of tight fitting rubber gloves on under my work gloves. I figure since my hands sweat inside the glove in warmer weather that they would help hold in some heat in the winter. It really seems to help.

 

[BCMaraniac]

That makes a lot of sense and I know just what you are talking about. That's when the meat starts to really flesh out the bone structure and that's about the age I see it the most on heavy DP breeds. All the sudden they go from just big looking to big feeling...those breast and thighs finally start to pack on muscle depth.

Plymouth White Rock hens feel like that compared to all other breeds I've raised...they look just a little bit bigger but it's when you lift them is when you get a sense of the difference. That density of the meat is the big difference and when you shuck those birds down you can see why...the breasts and thighs are enormous compared to the other hens. A comparison of their legs and feet to other birds gives the first clue...thick and big.

They definitely got the big gams. I am very hopeful about their size and prospect for continued growth.