First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[mountain mom]

MountainMom is a softy!!!!


I would just accidentally lock the one you want to keep in a building until after all the butchering was done....


I wanted to keep 2 hens and 1 roosters... I had one hen that accidentally got locked in the granary.... so I have 4 and not 3 now. My wife has not noticed it yet.... When she does I suppose I will have to use a well crafted mistruth.

I also have 4 roosters in my DPs instead of three. One managed to escape every time I tried to get him. I had to shoot the last couple roosters that did not live in the coop or escaped. When I went to shoot this rooster I was out of bullets. So I tricked him into going into the coop one night, moved him to the run and named him Lucky. He is now safe...


So you can call me a softy too........ BUT they do taste good.... I just have 4 turkeys to clean in about 3 weeks and I am done for the year.

I am a complete softy!! I was thinking of helping her escape if she has not done it on her own... hehe!

You are correct, they taste SOOO GOOD!

 

[LindaB220]

I usually just go with chicken and a little salt. I use it for tacos, nachos, chicken patties, etc., so I just spice it when I'm cooking if I need to. What spices did your grandma put in there? It sounds interesting.

Hey Lisa, did y'all miss me? I've been without a computer for FIVE days and doing some serious grumping. Got it back tonight. Thank Gawd. In fact, I have my brand new Christmas list in my hand. I want a Power Pressure Cooker XL. It's on Amazon, but it's higher there. Got a lot of bells and whistles for 3 payments of $33 plus shipping on the infomercial. And it can be used as a pressure cooker as well as a canner. I like that. I like the idea of just using one tsp of salt in a jar and adding spices later depending on what I want to use it for. And it cooks a lot faster than 90 min or so. Check it out. I missed you guys. It's nice to be home.

 

[duluthralphie]

Welcome back Linda.

I thought you had left us!

I need a pressure cooker, the only one I have was my Mothers. It is older than I am. From what I read the old ones are dangerous compared to new ones. The new ones have a "plug" that melts or pushes out if the pressure gets dangerously high. I use this one without a cover as a big pot.

And my Wife found the 4th CX last night....... I acted surprised, and said " tricky little bugger must have been hiding, too bad we have the plucker and cleaning tables put away".


I think the baby is safe now!

 

[mountain mom]

Okay, we all know how voracious of eaters the meatballs are. BUT, today I saw one of the funniest eating acts from these birds.

I give them a lot of the kitchen scraps along with their fermented feed, as well as anything in the fridge that just isn't going to be eaten before it goes bad. Some bone in steaks were among the scraps yesterday. It is always an insane rush to the gate when they see me coming, followed by my inability to take more than two steps without squashing someone. Yesterday I just threw the food (it was snowing and freezing cold and I didn't want to spend 15 minutes trying to get their scraps into a feeder).
To say it was a swarm would be an understatement! Instantly there were flapping white wings and squeaks of excitement in the general direction of where I threw the scraps. One chicken grabbed a steak and "flew" to the top of the coop (mind you, the low end is a foot off the ground) so nobody else could enjoy her spoils. Her plan backfired and all the chickens were up there, or trying to get up there, within seconds.... all while one chicken (the "nameless" one) had her choosing of the scraps on the ground!

This morning, at 20 degrees, with not too much snow but a certain damp bite in the air, the meatballs were out before the sun, enjoying the snow!
Mind you, the big gals are still sleeping, and will be for at least another half hour after the sun rises.... they like their beauty rest

 

[mountain mom]

Welcome back Linda.

I thought you had left us!

I need a pressure cooker, the only one I have was my Mothers. It is older than I am. From what I read the old ones are dangerous compared to new ones. The new ones have a "plug" that melts or pushes out if the pressure gets dangerously high. I use this one without a cover as a big pot.

And my Wife found the 4th CX last night....... I acted surprised, and said " tricky little bugger must have been hiding, too bad we have the plucker and cleaning tables put away".


I think the baby is safe now!

The perfectly crafted mistruth

I am terrified of pressure cookers because of an explosion of sorts when I was a kid.... and again when I was in my early 20's.
I may have to just forge on and try it out, I enjoy canning, and it would really make it go quicker.
Next summer, fingers crossed we don't have another hail storm that completely destroys a 1/4 acre garden, there will be a lot of canning to do!

 

[LindaB220]

Welcome back Linda.

I thought you had left us!

I need a pressure cooker, the only one I have was my Mothers. It is older than I am. From what I read the old ones are dangerous compared to new ones. The new ones have a "plug" that melts or pushes out if the pressure gets dangerously high. I use this one without a cover as a big pot.

And my Wife found the 4th CX last night....... I acted surprised, and said " tricky little bugger must have been hiding, too bad we have the plucker and cleaning tables put away".


I think the baby is safe now!

Thanks Ralphie, I'll never go away. Bwahahahahaha I think I've changed my mind on the Power Pressure Cooker XL The reviews are all over the place. Some love it, some send it back as a scam. I liked the idea of the one touch button and it turned off when time was up. BUT, I want to can meats and I can't trust the validity of the claims. So I'm going with a $69 one from Walmarts.. Good enough and I have used them before. I just made the mistake and loaned it to my youngest DD and she moved and put it in storage. Too much trouble to unload all that stuff.
Another new thing for me. I want to make my own bread. I've found the best youtube site. Easy, peasy.

 

[Betsy57]

I baked the little chicken I butchered Saturday. YUM! Just coated the skin with a little oil to keep it moist, salt and pepper. Very good and tender and juicy! My first organic chicken. She was lame and so it was an early butcher. Just 1.5 lbs finished weight. But a good ‘ern! Will do more butchering in 2 weeks (I think). Tyson Cornish Hens eat your heart out! Mine is better than yours!

 

[mountain mom]

Thanks Ralphie, I'll never go away. Bwahahahahaha I think I've changed my mind on the Power Pressure Cooker XL The reviews are all over the place. Some love it, some send it back as a scam. I liked the idea of the one touch button and it turned off when time was up. BUT, I want to can meats and I can't trust the validity of the claims. So I'm going with a $69 one from Walmarts.. Good enough and I have used them before. I just made the mistake and loaned it to my youngest DD and she moved and put it in storage. Too much trouble to unload all that stuff.
Another new thing for me. I want to make my own bread. I've found the best youtube site. Easy, peasy.

Good to know! Thanks for reading all the reviews! I am terrified of pressure cooking.
On the bread front, I used to make my own for the longest time! It is easy, delicious, and so worth the time! Unfortunately I can't eat gluten anymore, NOT BY CHOICE, so now I make "goo" that becomes "bread". Not as satisfying to create, but still better than store bought!

 

[mountain mom]

I baked the little chicken I butchered Saturday. YUM! Just coated the skin with a little oil to keep it moist, salt and pepper. Very good and tender and juicy! My first organic chicken. She was lame and so it was an early butcher. Just 1.5 lbs finished weight. But a good ‘ern! Will do more butchering in 2 weeks (I think). Tyson Cornish Hens eat your heart out! Mine is better than yours!

Sounds delicious!!! Tyson anything doesn't have a thing on any of us!!!

 

[Morrigan]

A lot has been happening here.

Betsy -- Glad the early-bird worked out so well for you. Sounds tasty.

Mtn. Mom -- I'm finding it really hard not to get attached as well. As I was putting a couple of my young meaties on the scale today, I was soothing them with the typical "it's OK sweetie" stuff and had an out-of-body experience, wondering if this is what Cruella DeVille sounded like petting her puppies. "Yesssss, my darlings, you're ok, for NOW." Gulp. It is hard sometimes, knowing the outcome. But, I'm still convinced I'm doing the right thing. If they have 7 weeks on this planet, I better make sure they are good ones.

Lisa -- I showed my husband pictures of all the nice canned goods and so he hauled out the pressure cooker, made some chicken stock, manned up, and canned it. (We keep a bag in the freezer of chicken bones on an on-going basis, so we don't waste). It worked out beautifully! Thanks for the inspiration.

So, I weighed three random meatballs today, at one day shy of 4 weeks. Largest was at 2 lbs, 3 ounces, and smallest was 2 lbs, 1 ounce. They are getting bigger and more lazy. I've been letting them get hungry after their morning feeding, and then bring out my sprouted wheat fodder at noon an spread it all around the yard, so they have to search it out and get some exercise. They can move when motivated!