MEAT BIRD'S " TELL US HOW YOU DO IT"

[Shellz]

Thanks a bunch ocap! I can get the Braggs, no problem. Can't wait to start this!

 

[ocap]

Thanks a bunch ocap! I can get the Braggs, no problem. Can't wait to start this!

I need to try and find glass or plastic feeders for the fermented feed, maybe goodwill or salvation army will have glass pie plates, all I have is metal. My chicks arrive May 21, coop is now empty.

 

[Shellz]

Nice to have everything ready! Just the feeder part eh? How about a dollar store?
Getting my next 'tasting panel' of chicks April 24. I will retain some for egg laying & breeding. Getting a new incubator to hatch more birds, as I think it will become necessary. We don't sell anything, its all for just family here.

 

[ocap]

"dollar store", good idea !!

 

[GotCoop]

Shellz, I'd be interested in your taste test results and which had the best conversion/meat production.

 

[Shellz]

Hi GotCoop! Yeah, this has been a new thing for us, so don't have any deep analysis of anything other than taste & tenderness. Our birds last year were straight run of :
SG Dorkings
Partridge Chanteclers
Dominiques
Barred Rock
Cuckoo Marans
Golden Laced Wyandottes
Speckled Sussex

These were all hatchery stock. I imagine better quality stock would have better outcomes. All were harvested at 19 weeks of age. All aged 3 days in fridge before being vacuum sealed & frozen. That being said, my favorite was the Golden Laced Wyandotte. Good sized birds with good flavour, and just a bit of bite to the dark meat. A pleasurable eating experience. The Barred Rock cockerel (hatchery error) was biggest bird, but tough in the dark meat. Dorkings were good size, but found meat dry and not as flavourful. We kept the Marans aside for breeding purposes. The rest of the birds were on the small side, but most flavourful & tenderest of those were the Chanteclers & Dominiques.

This year's panel will consist of :
White Chantecler
Dark Cornish
Black Australorp
Ameraucana (Easter Eggers I imagine)
Columbian Wyandotte
Buff Orpington
White Rock

I will be incorporating fermented feed with this batch of chicks. I may keep the Chanteclers aside as my future egg layers.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

We butchered 12 cx, the flavir was amazing, very little fat, but i do think we will stick to our heritage breeds though.

 

[Shellz]

What breeds do you have TNBEARCHICK?

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions
A friend of ours just built an amazing plucker that we can borrow when processing day comes. My current dilemma involves a scalding pot. What are your scalding setups, if you butcher your own birds? Another friend has a couple turkey fryers, but didn't know whether they would work or not?

So excited for these chicks to arrive I'm trying to change my setup a bit to keep my layers separated so I can monitor feed intake a bit more accurately. I'll also be fermenting their feed, as I already do for my layers and have loved the results!

 

[GotCoop]

NikkiMiChickie, A propane turkey fryer works well. My pot has a thermometer, I've found in my pot 145-150 degrees for 45 seconds works best (I'm sure it varies by set-up and requires some fine tuning for each). After the scald you'll need a 5 gallon bucket with cool water to dip the chicken to stop the scald. I actually have several 5 gallon buckets around, catching blood, guts, and another for a dunk after plucking and before gutting. I good sized table with a hose available is nice to have for processing the chicken. Before our FRs we practiced on a couple 16 week old RIR roosters. My wife did the processing while I worked the laptop with the youtube video on processing. She'd follow along and I'd rewind when she needed. We used the Hobby Farms video.

Oh, don't forget large coolers and ice...and also make a plan for "resting" for rigor mortis (consider frig space or coolers).