Letting my broody raise 20 meaties. Now I have a rooster raising 50 CX chicks~new batch!

[Beekissed]

Mine were at 9-10 wk mark when we were in the worst of our drought with temps from 90-101....past the butcher point and had slowed down on eating. They just spent the majority of their time lying in the shade of the orchard and drinking the cool spring water in their waterer. Mornings and evening were spent foraging.

I got my meaties April and butchered July 4th weekend.....some of the highest temps we've had in this region in some time were happening the whole month of June.

I never lost one bird. I think it really matters the type of feed they are fed, the living conditions in which they are kept and keeping them hydrated. I mounted a fan in my chicken coop until I realized all the birds were spending their time outside in the cool grass....never had to use it.

 

[Beekissed]

BTW, finally got to try my meat birds.....best chicken I've ever tasted! Rich flavor, good texture, tender and juicy. Nothing like store bought....no resemblance, really. I'm amazed at the good flavor and how easy they are to eat....tenderest chicken I've ever eaten.

I give the CX five stars!!!!

 

[Young MacDonald]

This may sound like a weird question, but what color was the fat? Supermarket chickens tend to have white fat. When we've eaten a heritage breed cockerel from our backyard, the fat was yellow (for any breed we've had). Is that due to the breed or the pasture raising? Do pasture-raised CornishX have yellow fat too?

I'm planning on ordering the chicks today - a mixed brood with some meaties, some stadard heritage, and my son wants a bantam too (which will be hilarious) I know you gave your broody 20. Mine is a Salmon Favorelle. How many chicks do you think she can handle? She's pretty far down in the pecking order. I wonder if she can protect that many chicks. Maybe I should go with a dozen. Hmm . . . decisions, decisions.

 

[annageckos]

Quote:
I usually save the hearts and livers... then boil them and give them to the cat.

Last night while I was feathering and gutting though, she kept getting in the gut bucket from one of my birds... she took off with something she got, not sure what... but she had a good night!

No need to boil it at all. My six cats, three dogs and three ferrets all love it raw, and it is better for them that way too. My oldest cat LOVES liver. Cooking changes the molecule makeup and nutrients are lost. Cats and dogs (and ferrets) have a very short digestive tract for made to handle meats.

 

[Beekissed]

This may sound like a weird question, but what color was the fat? Supermarket chickens tend to have white fat. When we've eaten a heritage breed cockerel from our backyard, the fat was yellow (for any breed we've had). Is that due to the breed or the pasture raising? Do pasture-raised CornishX have yellow fat too?

The fat was a creamy yellow but not the very yellow of the fat on my dual purpose hens. Not white, though. These CX had a yellow layer of fat under the skin that gives the skin a pinky-golden glow....very pretty.

I feed my dogs the raw meats also....no need to cook them and the dogs really benefit from the muscle tissue.​

 

[Wolfwoman]

Just wanted to let you know that I butchered the last three of my CX today. They were 13 weeks old and got around just fine. Two hens and a roo... the roo was 11lbs live weight and 8.65 dressed...

LOL!! The one hen that I weighed was 7.6lbs dressed weight.

I decided to try plucking and as you said, it went quite well. 150 degree water, about a 15 second swish and off come the feathers. Hubby timed me and it took about 9 minutes to pluck. From kill to ice bucket is about 30 minutes. I let my bleed for about 5 minutes, so another 15 to gut, wash and re-pick pins and feathers that were left. Not too bad!!

I was happy with these birds, I have 20 more at the 5 week mark.

 

[Beekissed]

WOW! Big roo! Sounds like you are an old pro at this now, WW....

Can't wait until you taste it and see how it is....I just ate some baked thighs this evening and I can't tell you how different this meat tastes than the store bought variety. It has a sweet flavor and soooooo juicy!

Post some pics of your processing? Or did you take any? You got some enormous weights out of your birds!

 

[Wolfwoman]

Oh yes! We've had it just once, and hubby HAD to do southern fried chicken as the christening...lol He did some whole, and some nuggets and it was WONDERFUL!! If these birds weren't so poopy I'd hug em...LMAO!!!

Didn't take any pics, it's a one person operation as hubby has to mind the store... I'm hoping the next batch can wait til 9/15 or shortly after when we've shut down the store. THEN I can get pics as we both can be there.

But by then they will ALLLLL be 13+ weeks old... if they stay healthy, I might just do that!

That 11 pound roo!! You should seen me trying to get him in the cone!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hillsvale]

Quote:
We did a trial run last weekend of 7 - 9 week old birds... they weighed in at 10 live and dressed at 7 lbs. This weekend we are doing the remainin gof the first batch, 15 more and one af the roos weights 12 or 13 lbs... will know for certain tomorrow... these fellows

massive!!

We had the breasts and two legs off one of last weekends birds last night... the legs were the size of a beer mug! lol the 20 yo son loved it!

 

[Beekissed]

Since we are getting close to meaty season, I thought I would revive this thread from last year's meaty project so that others can try this if they wish to do so. It was easy to do and took all the worry and guess work out of just how to raise meaties.

The answer was quite simple....let an expert do it! A mama hen will beat a brooder, heat lamp and feed station any day to keep chicks alive and thriving.

After she left them to their own devices they just blended in with my layer flock and that too was easy.

If it had been difficult and messy with worries about turning on and off lights, removing feeds at certain times and regulating protein percentages for optimal growth I would have never did it.

Wishing everyone well and good luck with their meat bird projects!