Monster Roo!

[Tracydr]

Just finished processing an overdone Cornish x. A few of these got away from me and I've made my New Year's resolution which is to finish processing this week. I have 7 left after today, I think they're 14 and 12 weeks of age or thereabouts. Then, I have 6 red broilers after that.
Anyway, after finishing the one with a bad leg, which is what got me started, i grabbed the biggest roo. I could barely carry him over to my processing area!
After getting him all ready for the fridge, I finally found my new handy-dandy fish scale, got the triple-a batteries stuck in and weighed him. All dressed and ready for brining, this mam,oth was 11.95 pounds!
No wonder he was skiing sideways down my slippery ramp when it rained last week! He must of weighed at least 15 pounds " on the hoof".

 

[Chick Charm]

"ON THE HOOF"

Hilarious! GREAT WEIGHT! Good for you and your family, for a couple of meals.

I've done the same. It's kinda like getting a turkey for the price of a chicken.

Best of wishes on your next monster.

 

[Mahonri]

Tracy, I didn't get an invite over to do taste testing!

 

[Tracydr]

Well, we havent tasted yet. I need to make about two weeks worth of leftover recipes!
A normal Cornish x lasts us about 7-8 meals when you count all the leftovers, maybe even more. I can't even imagine what I'm doing with this guy!
I almost think indeed to can the soup. We'll never eat it ll. maybe. Need to have an AZ chicken soup party?

 

[bigshawn]

WOW, I hope I'm as lucky.............

 

[EggsForIHOP]

Chicken-Zilla! It's like a small turkey - not too shabby

I think on this next batch I will let some grow out just a little bigger.... 3 - 4 lbs is just right "for the 2 of us" as it is only DH and I here...but it's nice to have some "monster" chickens for when we have company in the freezer... you have inspired me I think

Good job on your chicken-zilla! I'm dying to find out how the red broilers do...those are my "summer back up plan" for when the weather gets hotter, so be sure to keep us posted on them!

 

[wrestling_mom]

Quote:
How many people will one of those feed?

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
How many people will one of those feed?

Well, the big ones that I've been cooking haven't been quite this big and I've been getting about 8 meals for two people. One breast is easily enough for 2-3 people and one thigh for one person. The carcass makes 2-4 of pots of soup, enchiladas, etc if I'm not canning stock.
Last one I made enchiladas, Greek lemon soup, regular chicken noodle soup, two baked meals with leftovers, two large dog meals and froze a leg quarter. The soups and enchiladas were each 3-4 meals for two adults.
These big chickens, figure about the same as a smaller turkey. It's nothing like a 3.5 pund grocery store chicken where my husband and I eat half in one sitting and I use the other half for a small pit of soup.
I still haven't quite perfected the time and temperature for baking, though. It seems that if I get the thighs done, the inside of the breast isn't quite done. I think I need to drop the temp down to 300 from 325 for the last hour or so. The beer in the butt gadget helps but this chicken will be too large and I'll do him in a turkey roaster after brining.

 

[wrestling_mom]

I asked b/c we have 5 kids, 6 including gd

still at home, and wondered how many chickens to order from mcmurrays.

 

[Tracydr]

I wouldn't plan to get them this big. He's the biggest roo I've ever had and I took a chance letting them grow this long. One of the smallest Pullets slipped a tendon and broke her leg this weekend. She probably dressed out around 6-7 pounds. That's still large. I would normally process at 9-10 weeks, most will process at 7-8 weeks.
Has anyone else noticed that it seems the ones who do have leg issues seem to actually be smaller? This is the only one in this batch, which is actually pretty amazing, given I let them go so long and I have another batch two weeks younge (actually, I think this pullet is in the younger batch) .
Btw, this huge roo was started for 4 weeks with a completely homemade diet of sprouted whole grains, SBM, and a dash of kelp. The whole grains consisted of sprouted wheat and oats with cracked corn.
The first week of life, I used sprouted fenugreek and sprouted mung beans instead of SBM/oats. They also had fresh alfalfa hay all the way through.
They were meal fed for the last four weeks rather than free fed. I fed all they could eat only twice daily for just a few hours plus free choice alfalfa hay, some greens and kitchen scraps. Lately, I haven't had grass but did have pasture the first 6-7 weeks or so.