New to meat birds. Help?

[Peruvian]

From Welp Hatchery - http://www.welphatchery.com/cornish_rock_care.asp

 

[jaku]

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They don't need starter/grower/finisher. Just give them straight up broiler feed for their entire lives. It works great- their nutritional needs don't change much in 8 weeks. It also simplifies the whole process.

 

[Chicken411]

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I'm new at this too, but I think you are supposed to rest your birds for at least 24 hours in the fridge before eating. Maybe it doesn't matter depending on how you cook it?

 

[bigdaddyabc]

The cooling process is the same as for wild game. It is not designed for killing bacteria (only freezing below 0 degrees for an extended time will do that), it is designed to let the meat lose the "gamey" taste by bleeding out. Since my family eats almost exclusively meat that we provide and process ourselves, we are used to the "gamey" taste. Also, you are correct, in this case I intended to braise him in white wine with lots of garlic for a couple of hours at 350 degrees, so WAY no concerns about bacteria. And, just FYI, he was DELICIOUS. His buddy is in the fridge right now for tomorrow. Coincidentally, having two less Cornish X's is a REAL coop cleaner, those suckers poop ALOT!

Happy Wednesday!

rob

 

[becky3086]

Actually, I believe in the case of chickens, the cooling process is so that the meat will not be so tough when you eat it.

 

[bigdaddyabc]

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Yep, that too. But again, an 8 week old Cornish braised for a long cook time was tender and juicy without it. I don't ever ever ever fry, so I just don't run into the issue. Great point though!!

 

[yotetrapper]

Yeah mainemom, you probably wont want to keep them on medicated the whole time. Mine eat medicated chick starter the first couple weeks, then non-medicated meat bird food the rest of the time.

 

[mainemomof2]

They are 7 days old today. I used the link above as a guide and took their food away at 8pm last night. They woke me up freaking out chirping and yelling at 2 am non-stop. I gave in and gave them their food back.

Maybe I will wait a few more days??

 

[TimG]

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Some people never restrict and have great results -- I had just a dozen Cornish Cross last year, didn't ever restrict feed, and all survived to processing age. I haven't read up on it too much, but am very surprised that the hatchery link provided suggests restricting their diet so early (at 5 days). Of course, they will also survive just fine for 12 hours without food at this age, even if they are chirping up a storm. And, I think you'll hear lots of chirping if you start removing the feed, no matter what age you start at.

 

[jaku]

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True, cooling doesn't KILL bacteria, but freezing doesn't either- they both only slow the growth of it, which is the intent of rapid cooling, as meat kept between 40-150 degrees develop bacteria quickly.