"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[kuntrygirl]

My chicken plucking fingers have been ordered and they should be here Friday or Saturday. I hope my Bob The Builder guy can have this built in a few days. He says that he has everything else I need and I only needed to get the fingers. I'm ready to get to plucking.

Thanks. It's suppose to be made from the 55 gallon drums like this...............
(internet pic)

And will be in the wooden holder with wheels so that I can move it wherever I want.
(internet pic)

I know that all of the broilers won't make it to processing day, so as they drop, I will drop them in the plucker and then drop them in the freezer.

 

[CackedNut]

Thanks. It's suppose to be made from the 55 gallon drums like this...............



And will be in the wooden holder with wheels so that I can move it wherever I want.



I know that all of the broilers won't make it to processing day, so as they drop, I will drop them in the plucker and then drop them in the freezer.

That looks neat! I'll have to remember it, in case I ever find the time to DO the meatie thing.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I'm so excited about the plucker. This will make things a little easier for me. I have about 40 male ducks that have to be processed for the freezer and I know how difficult they are to process. Thanksgiving will be great this year with this plucker also.

 

[CackedNut]

If I was to get a lamb to raise for meat, what do I need to know? Is there a particular breed that would work better? Are there any special housing issues or conerns I need to be aware of? At what age would I process? Yes, I know I can do my "homework", but trying to decide if it's an avenue I can even go down right now.
Thanks,
Laurie

 

[LemonMeringue]

I am located in St. Martinville La. We have chicks for sale most of the time. At this time we have French Black Copper Marans and Lemon Cuckoo Orpingtons chicks $3.00 straight run.

Looks like you have some pretty chickens and lovely egg colors too.

 

[LemonMeringue]

Thanks. It's suppose to be made from the 55 gallon drums like this...............
(internet pic)



And will be in the wooden holder with wheels so that I can move it wherever I want.
(internet pic)



I know that all of the broilers won't make it to processing day, so as they drop, I will drop them in the plucker and then drop them in the freezer.

That looks wonderful..........after all the birds we have plucked by hand. I hope you post pics of yours once its made.

 

[kuntrygirl]

If I was to get a lamb to raise for meat, what do I need to know?  Is there a particular breed that would work better?  Are there any special housing issues or conerns I need to be aware of?  At what age would I process?  Yes, I know I can do my "homework", but trying to decide if it's an avenue I can even go down right now.
Thanks,
Laurie

In my opinion and this is from many years of raising them, I would definitely keep them grass fed with minimal grains. I also offer hay for them. It's really easy to raise sheep. I like the Barbado and Kathadin. I breed both for a larger sheep (more meat). Both of these are hair sheep, so you don't have to worry about shearing in our hot Louisiana temps.

Just make sure they have something to go in and get out of the rain. Mine don't like getting wet. It's good to process under the age of 1 but you can process a little bit beyond the age of 1. I processed one that was 1 1/2 years old and he was a big old boy and the meat was not tough.

Lamb vs. mutton
Lamb is the meat from a sheep that is less than one year of age. Mutton is the meat from a sheep that is older than one year. Yearling mutton is intermediate between lamb and mutton and comes from a yearling, a sheep between 1 and 2 years of age. Mutton has a stronger flavor than lamb and is usually less preferred by consumers.

Age, weight, and sex

The age and weight at which lambs are slaughtered varies. Market weights varies from a 30-lb. hot house lamb to a 160-lb. extra-heavy commodity lamb. While the average weight of a slaughter lamb in the U.S. is about 135 pounds, the ethnic markets tend to prefer lighter weight lambs.

Lambs are marketed between the ages of 2 and 14 months. Two-month old lambs are sold as hot house lambs, whereas some feed lot lambs still have their milk teeth and spool joints at 14 to 15 months of age. A hot house lamb is a milk-fed lamb that is usually born out-of-season (fall or early winter) and raised indoors. Hot house lambs are a delicacy favored by Orthodox Christians, especially at the Easter and Christmas holidays.

There many ways to cut up a lamb carcass and customers will vary in their preferences. The five primal cuts of a lamb carcass are the leg, loin, rack, shoulders, and foreshank and breast. Different retails cuts may be obtained from the primal cuts. Sometimes, whole lambs are purchased for roasting. Sometimes, the entire lamb is cut into chunks.

Consumers generally show no significant preference for meat from wether, ewe, or ram lambs. Ram lambs are leaner and gain faster than ewe and wether lambs, but some (commodity) markets will discount intact ram lambs.

After the lamb is slaughtered, it is cut into halves for easy handling.
With an average market (live or on hoof) weight of 115 lbs and the average yield of 55%, the typical lamb will produce a 60 lb. (dressed weight) carcass, 25% to 30% of this is lost to processing. Therefore, the lamb will yield about 45 lbs. of take-home meat, but can be slightly more or less.

Lamb is great meat and a cheap way to stock your freezer.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Thanks. It's suppose to be made from the 55 gallon drums like this............... (internet pic) And will be in the wooden holder with wheels so that I can move it wherever I want. (internet pic) I know that all of the broilers won't make it to processing day, so as they drop, I will drop them in the plucker and then drop them in the freezer.

That looks wonderful..........after all the birds we have plucked by hand. I hope you post pics of yours once its made.

Oh yes. You know that I will.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Does anyone eat Jasmine Rice?

 

[bugglesmommy]

Does anyone eat Jasmine Rice?

I've never heard of it.