Muddy’s Meaties 2021

[muddy75]

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.

Yeah I tried to raise pekin for meat and I ended up with 1 lone hen that was supposed to be Christmas dinner! She started laying the week before we had planned to butcher and has given us 5-6 eggs per week ever since! Mr muddy absolutely loves her eggs so she’s become a semi-permanent resident

 

[iwltfum]

I like rangers personally as far as broilers go. I seem to have good luck with them and can get them to 4-5# in 8 weeks on pasture. They have lots more fat under the skin and in the cavity as compared to the cornish x I've raised. I raise bbw turkeys too, but that's just what I'm used to. I'm sure heritage would taste better. Never done quail but I'm also experimenting with ducks this year. We have 20 muscovies ready to butcher this week with our latest batch of 65 rangers. Gunna be a big day!

 

[Parront]

I have raised Cornish-X for meat, and now I have ducks for meat. The Cornish-X are better meat birds, for my use. Husband loves the ducks too much! He will not eat any more ducks. They are like dogs to him.
The birds I raise and kill with out his assistance, he will eat.
A short lived meat bird is best!

 

[muddy75]

I have raised Cornish-X for meat, and now I have ducks for meat. The Cornish-X are better meat birds, for my use. Husband loves the ducks too much! He will not eat any more ducks. They are like dogs to him.
The birds I raise and kill with out his assistance, he will eat.
A short lived meat bird is best!

i agree! by 6 months grow-out, too much attachment!

 

[muddy75]

I forgot to post here, but last Friday I dispatched and processed 10 quail all by myself!!!!! This was my first time flying solo

 

[muddy75]

Today we are processing the last 12 Cornish X. Due to life, they all got delayed to nearly 12 weeks

 

[muddy75]

We set up our processing stations a little different this time because it’s nearly 100* today

 

[Parront]

We set up our processing stations a little different this time because it’s nearly 100* today

Is the kiddy pool your ice bath? I like it!

 

[Isadora]

Whoa, 12 weeks old? I want to know how much the biggest one weighs!

 

[roosterhavoc]

We set up our processing stations a little different this time because it’s nearly 100* today

Gotta be careful those kiddie pools are a drowning hazard. If you provided a ladder they could have gotten out and not drowned. Hindsight is always 20/20 though. Maybe next time.