Flavor of Cornish Cross When Eating Fermented Feed

[KCMOLisa]

I'm kind of jumping into this whole chicken raising thing after seeing a Tyson chicken truck on the road and being really disgusted with what I saw. I have been researching and reading this amazing forum for days and I'm picking up my first batch of Cornish Cross from Cackle Hatchery on 9/4.

So I've been reading a lot about fermented feed, and I really want to try it with my meat birds. However, I am concerned about the "tangy" taste some people have talked about in their finished birds. I love the benefits of feeding FF, but I really don't want any off flavors or weird tastes in my finished product. For those of you who have raised CX on FF, what is your opinion of the final flavor of the birds?

 

[AKCharle]

I posted on this very thing and no one seemed to know what I was talking about. However I did get a great idea from Turk Raphael. Here is his reply:
Regardless of what kind of chicken I plan to slaughter, I separate them from the others into a finishing pen, where they are fed nothing but buttermilk and cornbread...made from coarse ground yellow meal and this is all they want to eat for about 2 week, perhaps 3, depending on my schedule. Likely wouldn't need to bake the bread, just mix meal with buttermilk but I do it the way my grandma did.

I keep them on this feed (nothing else but clean fresh water) up to 2 days before processing...they get only the water after that until .......

I think this sounds wonderful, cornbread and chicken all in one. YUM. So I am going to try this and will post back in about two weeks when I start to process again.

 

[carolb5]

I fed fermented whole grains and didn't notice any off flavors. I also fed 4 pounds of ground liver each day. No off flavors.

Thank goodness.

Carol

 

[katbriar]

I fed commercial feed fermented from day one to day before slaughter. I did not notice any off flavor.

Hope you've picked up on some of the conversation about giving cornish x as much room as other breeds of chickens. They'll be more active a less prone to health issues.

Good luck with your birds and congratulations!

Eta- I keep mine on a higher protein (less carb) diet like game bird feed to the end and still have juicy birds. Some people like to finish them on commercial finisher or corn because they like the birds to develop a little fat. But I like to keep putting my money towards growing meat not fat so I don't finish on anything different feed-wise. They still roast into a beautiful, tender, delicious bird!

 

[LindaB220]

I'm kind of jumping into this whole chicken raising thing after seeing a Tyson chicken truck on the road and being really disgusted with what I saw. I have been researching and reading this amazing forum for days and I'm picking up my first batch of Cornish Cross from Cackle Hatchery on 9/4.

So I've been reading a lot about fermented feed, and I really want to try it with my meat birds. However, I am concerned about the "tangy" taste some people have talked about in their finished birds. I love the benefits of feeding FF, but I really don't want any off flavors or weird tastes in my finished product. For those of you who have raised CX on FF, what is your opinion of the final flavor of the birds?

Hey Lisa,

sounds like you're getting some good advice from the above folks. I processed my very first bird yesterday and fried up a bit tonight. It tastes very good and I don't get any of the fermented feed taste to them. This was a very important question that I had but BeeKissed got me started on fermenting and she said that it takes the metalic taste out of the eggs and she's right. The chicken tasted really good. I, too, tend to go for a higher protein level. Gamebird is 26% and while they don't need that much I like to add a scoop to the other grains or feed. It just bumps it up a little.

 

[KCMOLisa]

Thanks for all the info, everyone! I was thinking of doing some kind of finishing feed on them like a couple of you have mentioned or maybe just taking them off the fermented feed for the last week or so.

Since I'm so new to this, I'm thinking maybe I should just stick with the basics and not make it too complicated this first time out. Then in the future, I can maybe separate them into groups and try some different experiments with feed and finishing.

In the spring I would really like to try a comparison between groups where a group would be on only commercial feed, a group would be on fermented feed and a group would be on fodder and fermented feed. I would love to see the differences in flavor, fat, dressed weight, health and total cost between the groups.

 

[AKCharle]

Just an update, I left my meat birdies in the fridge for 4 days this time and the off flavor was almost completely gone. I will do 5 days next and see if I can eliminate it all together. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[KCMOLisa]

That's great, AKCharle! Definitely keep us updated! I'm really interested in what your final outcome will be!

 

[AKCharle]

Wow, I have been here, there and everywhere trying to solve these problems. Here's what I have so far.
Problem 1) Off flavor of FF chickens.
Solution: http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/ TikkTok was a tremendous help to me and stuck with me till we figured it out. Bless her.
"You also have tough and stringy, yes? Your issue is *not * feed- it’s method. You need to do either a straight ice water bath or brine soak to rest the meat before freezing.The buttermilk deal Turk is using has been around a long time.
The taste WILL NOT transfer to eggs. AT. ALL. You eliminate true benefit by feeding them anything else. Numerous people find the eggs are bigger when on FF and get smaller when they go back to standard feed. Taste won’t transfer to the eggs. People feed garlic {medicinal amounts} all the time with no taste transfer.
The only thing that does transfer to the eggs is that fish taste in that one brand of feed that has the omega three boost via fish oil. That stuff will make the eggs taste fishy, even if it’s not fermented. {Gag}"
But ya. Try the ice bath or the brine. That’s the issue. It’s not the feed.
Problem 2) Homemade Chicken Feed Mix.
Solution: https://homesteadapps.com/app/free/feedcalc/pearsonsquare.php
https://homesteadapps.com/app/animal/
http://www.lionsgrip.com/recipes.html
This was definitely my find of the day. I ran across this from two ladies discussing: Raising Meat birds on alternative feeds (ie CHEEP-ly). LindaB220 and carolb5
I now follow these two ladies in hopes of more gems. I want to thank everyone who replied to my posts. Your help is what led me to my answers. Thank you so very much my friends.