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

[eKo_birdies]

i really love the scalder set up!

that's awesome that it worked out so perfectly for you!!

 

[Beekissed]

I did too!

It even looks neat...like it was made that way. It really was the best setup I've used for processing to date.

We processed a total of 28 birds this weekend....over 100lbs. of meat. I'm glad its over but this was definitely the easiest processing I've ever done. The setup was convenient, the weather was nice, there was a good breeze going, and my work partner was experienced and steady.

The problem we are having now it finding room in our small freezer for all this meat until I can can up the portions that require canning.

 

[lorieMN]

feed those heads to your dogs also..they love them..mine eat them up like candy..

 

[Dogfish]

Nice job from beginning to end!

 

[Wolfwoman]

Quote:
Beaks and all?

 

[bumpershoot]

I just found this thread...my current round of meat birds have had a broody momma taking care of them. These guys are cornish x and it is my opinion that they are doing better with a momma. They eat better and sleep better and they seem more like just regular chickens rather than crazed aggressive meaties. Right now mine are at four weeks and I am extremely pleased. This week I will get in 45 meat and 5 layers from Schlect hatchery and they too will have mommas. It will give my two current broodies babies since these are first time broodies and not one of their eggs are going to make it. Win win, if you ask me.

 

[Beekissed]

You are correct, Bumpershoot, it is a win/win situation. I will tell you this, though, my little meaties were great at 4 wks. also but a little later on they became like sharks at feeding time. Give them time and they lose all their good manners!

I would have fed the dogs the heads but I kept imagining them not actually eating them but just playing around with them and then me having to pick them up out of the yard later.....

NOT my idea of pleasant....

It is very, very hot and dry here, so anything left out in that yard is going to stink to high heavens in short order.

 

[Wolfwoman]

Here's the first one I processed today:

He weighed in at 9.85 live weight and 5.65 completely processed. I think the innards weighed 1.4 or something close to that. So I'm guessing the other few pounds were lost on the feet and skin. I have a couple pics that I'll get on here later.

 

[Beekissed]

That's a nice looking bird, WW! So pink and meaty! Its funny how they all turn out about the same weights, isn't it? Like they are engineered to be uniform and I'll be darned if I know how in the world they did that...weird!

How many do you have to process? How did you find the processing? More or less difficult than regular birds?

 

[Wolfwoman]

Thank you! I am VERY pleased with what he looks like, hardly ANY fat, and nice and plump everywhere

I think after a certain period of time they gain weight in their FEET... LMAO!! You know what else is strange, they aren't eating as much as they have been. I'm noticing that there is feed left at 9 o'clock at night when I go to cover them up. Maybe they do regulate themselves?

I had it set in my mind that I was going to use the pithing method on all my birds... so I tried it and, let's just say it didn't work as I'd planned and so I cut it's neck... and that's the way it's going to be from now on. I was a tad nervous because I didn't want to make it suffer, but it doesn't BOTHER me to do it - just want to do it RIGHT. This is only my second bird I've ever processed, the first was a Blue Wyandotte - was a much slimmer bird, but the process was the same.

The rest of it, because I am skinning all my birds it's going to be a learning curve on skinning - I've done lots of snowshoe hares and gotten used to that, but the feathers flummox me as they seem to want to turn IN and get in my way. I'm sure by the time I'm finished I'll have figured it all out

The next one I'm going to try and dorsal skin and see how that works.

I have 10 more CXs and three Sexlinks that will be processed last because they need more growing time. I'll probably let them go to 16 weeks. Because we are SO busy here at the store and there are NO days off till winter, I am just going to do one or two a day until they are done. So, some of them are even going to make it to 12 weeks.