Jan./Feb. 2014 hatch a long

[jan12]

I can't wait!
21 days is sooo long!

It's an eternity!!

 

[Farmer Viola]

Getting action.......

Helped the one I posted about this morning...membrane was stuck just a tiny place on it's head....
Got that loose and she was out in a matter of minutes on her own...............now have a blue Orp.......
Didn't even see it pip.just thought it was loud in the hatcher and when I looked .there were two chicks......
Really sneaky........

hooray! so glad she's okay would love to see photos!!

Sorry, its 97%..
Here is the article

http://www.businessinsider.com/report-97-of-chicken-breasts-are-tainted-with-bacteria-2013-12

OMG thanks for the link
that's.........

boy there is nothing better than knowing where your food comes from..

 

[chicken pickin]

Haha I know I will be in the minority when I say this here.... but I also raise a flock of meat birds yearly... so a lot of exposure to slaughter and butchering my own meat, has really changed the way I view my egg laying flock.

I ALWAYS try to sell the extras, but I love eating meat that I know was fed organic grain, raised properly (saw the sun! ate worms and grass! rolled in dirt!), and were given lots of love. MMMM! delicious.

I would eat chicken from my backyard over the grocery store any day. if you have ever watched videos of the conditions those birds are kept in.... you will never go back to eating it. or I won't..... giving them money is like giving them money to treat birds bad.

I also raise my own pork, beef

pasture raised! no hormones! no funny business!
*end soapbox*

I just got done boiling 2 birds with veggies and I made 4 gallons of homemade chicken broth, my house smells soooooo good right now

X2 I also do a yearly batch of meat birds. I have a tall refrigerator sized upright freezer FULL of chicken and turkey, I also raise turkeys. They are all my "pets" and I love them all dearly but some are for meat including all the extra roosters I don't rehome. I do not and have not bought grocery store chicken or turkey for the past 17months or so. Im still a newbie lol

We may raise a pig this year for meat or possible barter with a neighbor down the road for one of their pigs full grown and slaughtered.

One day "wishful thinking" we will raise cows, I want a milking cow DH wants a beef cow. For now we settle for the goats.

Next year we start raising honey bees YAY!

 

[luvmypets]

I want more than anything red Pyle old english game chicks look up them the are gorgeous.

 

[AmericanMom]

OMG thanks for the link
that's.........

boy there is nothing better than knowing where your food comes from..

I worked at a chicken processing plant for a short time, I can attest to how the birds are brought in (alive), how they are treated while awaiting slaughter and how they are handled up to packaging.. I don't have the ability to raise my own beef or pork (yet) but my Brother just purchased five acres last summer and has told us we can put livestock with his on his property...

 

[dolfi]

 heard on the news a few weeks ago that 100% of the store bought chicken you buy is infected with bacteria, cant remember the name of it, having worked at a slaughter house for a few weeks I can certainly see why.. We have yet to slaughter our chickens (first time will be in a couple weeks) but we do raise rabbits for the meat and they are so good! Cant wait to taste the chicken.. They gets lots of sun, free range and live in healthy clean conditions.

I get concerned cause of the lack of knowledge. I don't deworme or vacillate. So I feel uneasy if they are not healthy enough. And I don't know when I can get the soft chicken meat. One time my mother in law cooked one of my roo and the meat had to be cooked in a pressure pot.

If someone can help on this

1 . which breeds are good for meat
2 . what age meat is soft to eat

And so on.

This information would be so highly appreciated

 

[luvmypets]

Do not eat Tyson thought i was watching a vid about hatcheries and then I saw them killing day old boys. So sad they're are so many other options. The lady was picking up Li'l fluff balls and crushing there skulls and throwing them down a shoot. :,(

 

[AmericanMom]

I get concerned cause of the lack of knowledge. I don't deworme or vacillate. So I feel uneasy if they are not healthy enough. And I don't know when I can get the soft chicken meat. One time my mother in law cooked one of my roo and the meat had to be cooked in a pressure pot.

If someone can help on this

1 . which breeds are good for meat
2 . what age meat is soft to eat

And so on.

This information would be so highly appreciated

Im new to the eating chicken I raise, but from what I have read you need to allow them to rest for a few days before cooking.. I know with our rabbits we tested 3,4 and 5 days and the five days was the best, most tender. They usually are four months when we cull them. Got 7 going out this month and our best momma due next week to birth more, she usually gives 7-9 kits
We have a spare refrigerator that we plug in just for this...got seven 4 month old roosters and two old hens were culling at the end of the month

 

[AmericanMom]

Older chickens are only good for long slow cooking, there are certain breeds you can buy that reach butcher weight within a few months, I'm not going that way, instead will find a good dual purpose bird, cull the roosters and keep the hens...rinse, repeat

 

[Farmer Viola]

Quote:

X2 I also do a yearly batch of meat birds. I have a tall refrigerator sized upright freezer FULL of chicken and turkey, I also raise turkeys. They are all my "pets" and I love them all dearly but some are for meat including all the extra roosters I don't rehome. I do not and have not bought grocery store chicken or turkey for the past 17months or so. Im still a newbie lol

We may raise a pig this year for meat or possible barter with a neighbor down the road for one of their pigs full grown and slaughtered.

One day "wishful thinking" we will raise cows, I want a milking cow DH wants a beef cow. For now we settle for the goats.

Next year we start raising honey bees YAY!

Wow, very nice!! I would love to raise honey bees too, you should update me on how that goes and what you learn starting out because I would have no clue where to begin..........

Do not eat Tyson thought i was watching a vid about hatcheries and then I saw them killing day old boys. So sad they're are so many other options. The lady was picking up Li'l fluff balls and crushing there skulls and throwing them down a shoot. :,(

bleh it makes me upset to watch too

I don't buy their products!

I worked at a chicken processing plant for a short time, I can attest to how the birds are brought in (alive), how they are treated while awaiting slaughter and how they are handled up to packaging.. I don't have the ability to raise my own beef or pork (yet) but my Brother just purchased five acres last summer and has told us we can put livestock with his on his property...

I have hopes that if more people know about it, they won't buy the meat... and then they will go out of business!! OR at the very least, be forced to listen to consumer demands and begin treating their animals properly. They need to see the sun, walk on the ground, eat grass. Pretty basic stuff..

I get concerned cause of the lack of knowledge. I don't deworme or vacillate. So I feel uneasy if they are not healthy enough. And I don't know when I can get the soft chicken meat. One time my mother in law cooked one of my roo and the meat had to be cooked in a pressure pot.

If someone can help on this

1 . which breeds are good for meat
2 . what age meat is soft to eat

And so on.

This information would be so highly appreciated

you can use garlic as a natural wormer (and worm preventative)
mince up a whole clove (the entire bulb of about 12 small cloves) - I use a slap-chop type of device, it's off-brand, works amazing
give it to them in their feed, they love it! do this every day for 7 days if you're worming them. I do 7 day runs of garlic every few months just for preventative
you don't have to vaccinate to eat them, if they are alive, look healthy and robust, then they qualify!

as for tough vs soft meat, it really depends on how you treat the meat. first, you have to put it in an ice bath for 24-48hrs, this will give it a chance to rest and come out of rigor mortis, if you eat meat that has not been properly rested it will be very stringy! the ice bath is basically a brine, so you can add salt, sugar, herbs, fruit juices (cranberry for turkey!) if you like. rest for an additional 2-3 days, maybe 5 days rest total.

then when you cook it, slow and low is the key.

I will post some information that I saved from another BYC user about how to cook per age range!