Inspiration for Butchering Day

[menageriemama]

I think we should start a thread where everyone can post "inspirational" pics of their meat birds who have, erm, fulfilled their destiny. Sometimes its tough to psych yourself up for doing the deed, so maybe this thread will help

. Oh, and should we post recipes here or on the recipe thread? You decide.

This is my most recent, a cornish cross who became my mother's birthday dinner. I did him beer can style on the grill.

Here is the same bird with my hungry little son looking on as grandpa did the honors. He was finger lickin good, the chicken I mean.

 

[dacjohns]

Wow, that was a nice sized bird.

 

[Daycare Mom]

Yummy!!!! That is just the kind of inspration I need! I just ordered my first batch of broilers! Can't wait until they look like that!!! How much did that bird weigh?

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Nice!!!! I tried my first one beer can style but the doggone thing kept falling over.

Your chicken looks wonderful!!! Any idea how many pounds?

I don't have an inspirational recipe of my own but I did try Missy Prissy's fried chicken recipe and it was wonderful!!

 

[menageriemama]

He dressed out to just over 8lbs. I got 3 meals out of him, plus some sandwiches

! This guy was my first cornish butchering experience and it was great! I am filling up the freezer with the rest of them this weekend, in between running my 8 year old to his musical performances. I love the cornish crosses!!! He was so much easier to process than the dual purpose breeds I have done in the past. Post pics when you do yours!! And good luck with them

 

[dacjohns]

Quote:
How was it easier to process?

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Wow - that's a great size! I had Freedom Rangers that dressed out to about 5 lbs. at 10 weeks.

I have to honestly admit that I don't care for the meat and that makes me sad...we were wondering if it could be the proten % that we fed them that would make them tough/dry/chewy no matter how we cook them. Tried the beer can chicken, brined/BBQ, and fried (which was the best). Edible, yes. Wonderfully different, no. Started them off on 24% gamebird feed and dropped down to 20% after the feedstore quit carrying the 24%. Does anyone know if this would make a difference? Note: they did not free range; they were in a coop.

Assuming easier to process because they had less feathers? That was the worst part for me.

Anyway, congrats because it does look absolutely delicious!!!

 

[menageriemama]

He was soooo much easier to pluck, the feathers pulled out like a dream and he had a lot of them. They are so calm and slow, that they are super easy to catch. They dont struggle a lot and are just generally pretty placid. I have to say that the fact that he LOOKED like a bird I would want to eat, with a nice full breast and thighs made a huge difference in the process for me mentally. I dont know a whole lot about the ins and outs of the protien in feeds. We just used unmedicated broiler feeds and they have access to a very large run, so they did get quite a bit of exercise. I have been wondering about the freedom rangers that I have been reading about here, but for now I am going to stick with the cornish crosses. Maybe when I graduate to advanced poultry husbandry, I will give the others a shot

.

 

[MoonbeamQueen]

I need inspiration! Was hoping to buy some cornish x's this fall after we're home from our vacation in Sept. My neighbor said he'd go halves with me and help with the butchering. Boy, that nice big bird did look finger-licking good!!!

 

[chicken mamma]

This one was done last week, I'm sure we could have waited a bit longer but DF and his friends couldn't wait.

we ate her with fresh eggplant and okra from the garden. It was awesome to know exactly where everything came from before it ended up on the dinner table.