Free range meat quality

[ChickMandy]

This is our first year with meat chickens. According to our hatchery (in Ontario) we have White Rock Broilers. We've slaughtered a few, ate one too soon (i.e. still in rigor), let others rest a few days or more, had some roasted, others breasted and in cutlets.

Our birds have been free ranging over our yard for the entirety of their short lifespan, as well as having grain feed from the local feed mill. Right now they are on a "finisher."

My question, do free range birds naturally turn out tougher because they've been able to use their bodies more than birds left in small cages? Our neighbours who are also raising meat chickens, but in cages or small sheds, have commented on how great our birds look, but I wonder if their meat is more tender seeing as their birds aren't moving around so much.

I'd love to hear your experiences.

Thanks!

 

[HEChicken]

If all you have ever had is commercial chicken, you may notice a difference in the texture and taste of true free-range meat birds. In other words, there will be more of both. I'm a vegetarian except for the animals I raise myself, so the only chicken I've had in years has been what I grew myself. I don't really notice that it is tougher or has a stronger taste but I don't have any recent experience to compare it to.

Commercial chicken has become so bland that many recipes use strong flavors to go with it. When preparing your home-raised birds, you might try eating it somewhat plainer to begin with, so that you can get the real taste of it.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I did some 12 week old Cornish Cross this year. They had all the room they wanted to move around. The breasts are huge and you can cut them with a fork. Legs are enormous and I simmer them and the meat falls off the bone and is nice and tender.

Penning birds up so they can not move will cause you health issues in fast growing chickens intended for the table.

Also, although I feed a good quality commercial feed, I believe that flavor is improved if there is more variety in the chicken's diet. If they are allowed to wander around, they will get some bugs and greenery. I also take garden scraps out to my birds to increase the amount of greenery they eat.

 

[Buster52]

This is our first year with meat chickens. According to our hatchery (in Ontario) we have White Rock Broilers. We've slaughtered a few, ate one too soon (i.e. still in rigor), let others rest a few days or more, had some roasted, others breasted and in cutlets.

Our birds have been free ranging over our yard for the entirety of their short lifespan, as well as having grain feed from the local feed mill. Right now they are on a "finisher."

My question, do free range birds naturally turn out tougher because they've been able to use their bodies more than birds left in small cages? Our neighbours who are also raising meat chickens, but in cages or small sheds, have commented on how great our birds look, but I wonder if their meat is more tender seeing as their birds aren't moving around so much.

I'd love to hear your experiences.

Thanks!

White Rocks? How old were they when you processed them? There is a huge difference between a White Rock and a Cornish Rock Cross. That could explain the difference in texture. You have to grow a White Rock a lot longer to get to a decent butchering size.