Muddy’s Meaties 2021

[muddy75]

just finished processing and packaging first round of cornish cross (5) this summer along with the last 3 buns from March litter.
this is our third year with cornish cross. first year we traded out with a friend and just processed 6 that were 8-10 weeks. last year, i was able to get 6 at staggered times and processed them at 8 and 12 weeks. This year due to shortage or whatever, I had to order 20 directly from a hatchery. Sooooo, we decided to process in 3 batches at 6ish, 8, and 10-12 weeks.
I have been extremely happy with the cornish cross because while they are very messy.....they grow out quickly, and are docile and quiet.
The 5 we processed this round ranged from 3 to nearly 4lb carcass each. a little larger than cornish game size, but perfect whole fryer or rotisserie size!
The last 3 rabbits were approaching 4 months old so they were a good size as well.
I have 4 BB turkey poults this year and I also utilize my coturnix quail for meat throughout the year. I like quail as a meat source because they also have a fast grow-out......but even with only 3-4 minutes per bird processing time, they are very time consuming for the yield comparatively.
I will be updating as we continue processing this year and very interested to hear others’ stories and opinions!!

 

[Isadora]

What breed of rabbits do you raise for meat? I was looking into doing some in the future

 

[muddy75]

What breed of rabbits do you raise for meat? I was looking into doing some in the future

I have NZ white

 

[Isadora]

I'll have to come back to the thread and comment after we process our Cornish cross. So far, we've raised two batches of freedom rangers and have a third batch in the tractor. We have our first Cornish cross chicks coming in a couple of days. I'm excited to compare, how much they weigh, how good they taste, how fast they grow, etc.

 

[Geena]

There's no doubt that the cornishX are the most efficient meat birds, but IMO the rangers taste better. Their leg meat is darker and they just overall have more flavor than the cornishX.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Most of what hits my table is my dual purpose mutt project birds - young males from cullings for roasting/baking etc, and old (15 month) females in molt for stews and sausage. The project is very early, they aren't big birds, so there's an outsized amount of effort to it. I take about two birds, sometimes three a week, to stay even with my hatchings (and need to do more later this week).

My favorite meat bird??? Pekin Duck.

They don't get as heavy as they look, but they aren't slow to put on weight. Its fine meat on its own, it makes excellent burgers and sausage (treat like beef, not pork), and when free ranged it has excellent flavor (not just "tastes like dark meat chicken"). As an aside, they lay jumbo white eggs, very firm, intense yolks. Excellent for quiche, mayonaise, pain perdu (French toast), etc. Basically, if it involves a custard or an emulsion, hard to go wrong. Also, you don't lose the flavor of the bird under a citrusy sauce, unlike chicken.

Unfortunately, they only lay every other day at best, it takes them seven months to get started, they take weeks off at a time, they require an extra week to incubate, and my hatch rates have been "poor". Oh, and they are picky about when to butcher. But I will eventually grow my flock numbers of them.

 

[Isadora]

My favorite meat bird??? Pekin Duck.

They don't get as heavy as they look, but they aren't slow to put on weight. Its fine meat on its own, it makes excellent burgers and sausage (treat like beef, not pork), and when free ranged it has excellent flavor (not just "tastes like dark meat chicken"). As an aside, they lay jumbo white eggs, very firm, intense yolks. Excellent for quiche, mayonaise, pain perdu (French toast), etc. Basically, if it involves a custard or an emulsion, hard to go wrong. Also, you don't lose the flavor of the bird under a citrusy sauce, unlike chicken.

I just hatched a bunch of pekins who are destined to be meaties. Very excited about it

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I just hatched a bunch of pekins who are destined to be meaties. Very excited about it

I wish you every fortune in it, and hope you find it at least as rewarding as I. Fair warning, their skeletal structure is JUST different enough to really mess with you when breaking down a carcass. The breast meat is a flat plate, rather than a teardrop down the keel, and the thigh joint isn't quite "right". I use a chef's knife to do complete decapitation as processing, and its much harder on a duck to find the joint betwee vertebrae than on a chicken (and much more important, too).

 

[Isadora]

I wish you every fortune in it, and hope you find it at least as rewarding as I. Fair warning, their skeletal structure is JUST different enough to really mess with you when breaking down a carcass. The breast meat is a flat plate, rather than a teardrop down the keel, and the thigh joint isn't quite "right". I use a chef's knife to do complete decapitation as processing, and its much harder on a duck to find the joint betwee vertebrae than on a chicken (and much more important, too).

Thanks for mentioning this! I'll be sure to look up a video tutorial so I can see how to do it properly.

 

[vall]

I processed one rooster this year, so I finally get to appreciate how fast quail are. But I am still thinking to put a few CornishX in the garden once it's done for the summer. If I was feeding more than one person I'd be more interested in larger birds, I think. Quail are perfect for just me.