Good, tasty meat birds

[ronaldconaway]

I am at a loss as what breed to get for meat chickens. I have been raising layers for about a year to supplement my income as a disabled veteran abad recently bought some Cornish chicks from Atwood's and was not satisfied at all with the results. I killed my first one at 8.5 weeks and it was incredibly tough. I killed the other four today @ 10 weeks, because I wanted a bigger chicken, and their meat is tough. I know that I was a bit late since I have been told to slaughter them at 8 weeks but there was absolutely no taste at all to their meat and it was very fibrous and tough to eat. I have had chicken before that would almost melt in your mouth. I kept the 5 of them in a pen about 5 feet wide by 14 feet long. I would let them out every once in a while, like once every three days for a couple hours to forage for bugs etc. What am I doing wrong? Is the Cornish a particularly poor breed for good tasting chicken? I am also thinking about buying a turkey for Thanksgiving. Is there a particular breed to look at? Thanks! Any advice respond on here or email me at [email protected]

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

Many people grow other breeds for meat purposes. CX is sadly bred for weight gain not taste. Pure Cornish (Dark white and red I think) are a popular, but more rare meat bird. Also sustainable. I have read naked necks, buckeyes and some other versions of CX spin offs (Pioneer, Red Ranger, Dixie etc.) have a better flavor but all take more time/feed to process weight. Or many LF DP breeds like BA, BO, BPR etc. make good fryers, but this takes 16+ weeks for any size to bird. The body shape is much different, but more flavorful but might be tougher than CX (Yours were tough? Should have been tender at young age. How did you process the birds? Chill down and let set before cooking/freezing?) since exercise adds a lot of toughness. I have some Roosters from last year I will be replacing and most likely harvest for freezer. I did one already and skinned him. Was enough meat to feed my 4 older kids (18,16,12,7) and myself. Was tough but I BBQ'd him lol, w/o skin probably made it tougher. But was great flavor. He however was 8-12 mo. old. I'd say we had 5lb+ carcass from him, w/o skin and innards (I feed these to laying hens as my family doesn't eat these normally.) Free-ranged from about 5-8 weeks all though winter until butcher. Only shelled corn for scratch a few times a week.
I bleed, skinned quartered, chilled (3 hrs. cool water) re-chilled in fresh water leaving in fridge for 24 hours. Probably would have been more tender if I had aged another day or 2 in fridge, but grill was going and didn't want to forget about the meat (Memory sucks anymore).

All in all for meat gain, CX is highest. But taste, most have a favorite breed from LF/DP for meats. The older the bird the slower longer they should be cooked. Slow cooking/canning would be best for aged bird (over 1 year) we have some canned soup made last fall, meat melts in your mouth. But most meat does when pressure cooked like this was.

 

[Mehjr10]

Did you let the birds rest after processing for a period of time? I let mine rest 2-3 days or until the rigor passes.. Kind of like aging beef or venison.. Our first batch we did we slapped the first one on the grill as soon as it was plucked and cleaned, as were eating the DW and I looked at each other as we were chewing and chewing. I have tried the red and black rangers and raising roos. But to us the best have been the CX's, and we let all of our processed birds stay in the fridge until rigor has passed. We have 12 CX's growing out now.

 

[Triple Willow]

I am raising my first batch of meat birds but from what I have been told, the flavor comes with time. Birds such as the CX that are killed so young just won't have the flavor of a older bird. Also free ranging plays a big part in flavor. I killed some dual purpose roosters last year that were around 22 weeks. To me they tasted just like squirrel or rabbit, lots of flavor.

 

[ronaldconaway]

Thanks for the comment! I was not aware that one needs to let birds rest. The only time I have ever let any kind of bird rest is after a hunting trip when I had too many to eat or if I was on a mission to supply my family with meat for an extended period. I will try that next time. I have never had Cornish meat birds before. Thanks!

 

[ronaldconaway]

Thanks for the comment! I was not aware that one needs to let birds rest. The only time I have ever let any kind of bird rest is after a hunting trip when I had too many to eat or if I was on a mission to supply my family with meat for an extended period. I will try that next time. I have never had Cornish meat birds before. Thanks!

 

[Coralietg]

The toughness is definitely coming from not letting them rest. I've been leaving ours in the fridge for 48-72 hours afterwards, before freezing or cooking. Even with my haphazard roasting methods (I tend to let them cook too long), they've always been very moist and tender, just with more natural texture to them.

 

[Arielle]

I am at a loss as what breed to get for meat chickens. I have been raising layers for about a year to supplement my income as a disabled veteran abad recently bought some Cornish chicks from Atwood's and was not satisfied at all with the results. I killed my first one at 8.5 weeks and it was incredibly tough. I killed the other four today @ 10 weeks, because I wanted a bigger chicken, and their meat is tough. I know that I was a bit late since I have been told to slaughter them at 8 weeks but there was absolutely no taste at all to their meat and it was very fibrous and tough to eat. I have had chicken before that would almost melt in your mouth. I kept the 5 of them in a pen about 5 feet wide by 14 feet long. I would let them out every once in a while, like once every three days for a couple hours to forage for bugs etc. What am I doing wrong? Is the Cornish a particularly poor breed for good tasting chicken? I am also thinking about buying a turkey for Thanksgiving. Is there a particular breed to look at? Thanks! Any advice respond on here or email me at [email protected]

Ron, I'm happy to share my limited experience.

My first questions is were the birds true cornish , or were they cornish crosses or cornish rocks)??? THe latter is the meat bird typically in our grocery stores. ANd yes they are tender at 8 weeks, if they are not allowed to run around a lot is my guess.

I raised two batches of 15 last spring/summer. Most I started processing at over 10 weeks old. Mostly because I like the richer flavor of an older bird because I had been processing my older 6 month birds and liked the flavor better than the watery super tender birds of the grocery sotre ( Actually I like both but for different dishes.)

My understanding of the true cornisn( did a little digging on that breed) is that it is a firmer meat, and therefore I suspect more like most dual purpose birds.

Running around makes for a tougher meat according to some of my reading, se I kept my birds in a limited area, like an 8 x 10 box stall, ANd the bigger they got, the less they moved around. THey were like white bowling balls and though I did let them out to walk around, it was supervision because there was no way it could defent itself against a coyote.


SO if the birds were too tough. I would ask?

Cornish cross or true cornish?

How much activity?

ANd how much feed and what kind of feed??


As you are interested in making money on this venture, I would read all that Yellow House Farm has written. FInd Joel Saladins books and get a handle on how feasible raising chickens for profit is. I ran into a number of stumbling blocks that you may very well be able to over come. Here in this state I cannot process for sale -- it must all go to a licensed facility and that adds $5/chicken; then it was poorly packaged and I needed to repackage, which as a sale bird runs the risk of contamination. We personally handle food very carefully and always cook throughly, and I have concerns about how customers may handle food then blame me for a food born illness. WOuld insurance be another consideration??

Saladin uses the commercial cornish crosses, on grass with a special grain mix to complement the grass feeding. He can maximize his product value AND maximize growth.

My impression was that given the cost of labor, mass production was important. My land is not flat pastures and I cannot run chickens in such a manner.

ANd heat bothers the big cornish crosses. My sumer heat and being in the sun was too much for them-- I had to move them to the horse barn that is in the afternoon shade and stays pleasantly cool.

OVerall Iwas turned off by the amt of reguation that needed following and at this time it would not fit into my time contraints. BUt I do try to cover my families needs as I am allowed to butcher fro my own use.

I hope you find your answers, and can build a productive enterprize. Definitely look up Yellow House Farm as he sells his dorkings as a commercial enterprise.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

 

[ronaldconaway]

I am not sure if they were true Cornish or a cross. I purchased them at Atwood's (farm supply store) and the individual told me that they were Cornish. The hens dressed out at 10 weeks to about 5.5 lbs. I raised them on 18% protein starter for the first iteration, then when I had to repurchase feed I got the grower that was 16% because there was no 18%. For the most part I kept them in a cage approx. 5"x14". At times, I would let them out to forage for grass and bugs. I replaced their water about four times a day because they were constantly panting when the heat was over 80 degrees.

Thanks for the insight, I really appreciate it. I remembered when I was growing up we had meat chickens and we would kill them and immediately butcher them for dinner and I never remember the meat being as tough as these birds were.

 

[LindaB220]

I am not sure if they were true Cornish or a cross. I purchased them at Atwood's (farm supply store) and the individual told me that they were Cornish. The hens dressed out at 10 weeks to about 5.5 lbs. I raised them on 18% protein starter for the first iteration, then when I had to repurchase feed I got the grower that was 16% because there was no 18%. For the most part I kept them in a cage approx. 5"x14". At times, I would let them out to forage for grass and bugs. I replaced their water about four times a day because they were constantly panting when the heat was over 80 degrees.

Thanks for the insight, I really appreciate it. I remembered when I was growing up we had meat chickens and we would kill them and immediately butcher them for dinner and I never remember the meat being as tough as these birds were.

Ronald. If you don't have room in the fridge just keep them in a cooler with ice and a little water. Two or three days then freeze or cook.