North Carolina

[dutchbunny83]

Yes I wish we had more land. One day....

RF I don't do a heavy salt brine, but I was told on a meat bird thread if I wasn't going to rest the roo's for 3-5 days I should do a brine on them so they aren't tough?

I'm using my sweet tea brine I use on my fried chicken to keep it extra juicy while it's cooking. The flavors sound strong, but they're really not, you only taste the chicken. Tannins in tea are a natural tenderizer, so I thought it would help if not resting. We will see.

You take some fresh brewed tea, a little water, little salt, little sugar, some whole black peppercorns, and some garlic cloves. Let the chicken sit in that up to overnight. I always do a cornmeal & flour coat on my fried chicken. Turns out really good. Mmmmmn now I'm hungry haha. My husband skinned these 2 roos instead of plucking by himself to get it done quicker, so no fried chicken this time.

 

[ramirezframing]

Yes I wish we had more land. One day....

RF I don't do a heavy salt brine, but I was told on a meat bird thread if I wasn't going to rest the roo's for 3-5 days I should do a brine on them so they aren't tough?

I'm using my sweet tea brine I use on my fried chicken to keep it extra juicy while it's cooking. The flavors sound strong, but they're really not, you only taste the chicken. Tannins in tea are a natural tenderizer, so I thought it would help if not resting. We will see.

You take some fresh brewed tea, a little water, little salt, little sugar, some whole black peppercorns, and some garlic cloves. Let the chicken sit in that up to overnight. I always do a cornmeal & flour coat on my fried chicken. Turns out really good. Mmmmmn now I'm hungry haha. My husband skinned these 2 roos instead of plucking by himself to get it done quicker, so no fried chicken this time.

I didn't ask about the brine. But when I have done any of my meaties, they got ate that day and we didn't soak or brine them. When my older meaties passed from heart failure at 1 1/2 years old, we processed them, than slow cooked them and ate them that night . The meat was fall off the meat tender and tasted great. Same with Two Ton Sally who passed at 3 years old.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Oh, I'm sorry it was Coop Scoop!
Good to know I can just eat them that day if they're young, I thought I had to soak them.
I was worried about the chicken getting too mushy in a slow cooker. Did you put liquid in with it or just the chicken?
By the way, I LOVE the name Two Ton Sally, made me smile

 

[Lizabelsherrill]

Guys I think I am raising meat birds all wrong.

I started for several reasons-- I wanted to know where my food came from, know what they eat, and ensure they have a great life and a humane processing, which I was able to accomplish.

The next important thing was creating organic GMO free food for my children, which I wasn't able to do. They ended up being on regular feed which is full of soy and corn. It's not washed in bleach & filth in a processing plant, but they still had monsanto based food which inevitably some will be residual in their meat so I feel like that was a fail.

Finally is the cost. We aren't "poor", but we definitely aren't rich. I'm a stay at home mom and my husband is in the Army. We essentially live from paycheck to paycheck, and while we do have nice things, all the money goes right out to bills. I try to be very budget conscious when grocery shopping and was hoping the cost to raising my own would be similar to store bought. Unfortunately at $2.50 per chick, about $20 a week for food, by the recommended processing age of 10 weeks I will have spent $230 on 12 chickens that's dressed weight is between 3-4lbs. That's almost $20 a chicken, when at the commissary I can get chicken (though not as good) for $4. I want the best for my family and the chickens, but I can't afford to spend 5 times as much every time we eat chicken.

Any suggestions on getting the cost much much lower?

I just feel so defeated from this and we've only processed 2. In the end I couldn't even help, I just got so upset. I don't know....

Dutch,

I know you have started looking into fermenting your feed...which I have heard drastically cuts feed costs. You could also grow fodder if your chickens can't free range and that would give them greens to help supplement their diet. Are you getting your feed at TSC or a feed mill? I know there are a couple in your area. I read somewhere local mills are cheaper and have better quality feed.

I can't imagine processing chickens...yet. I applaud anyone who does. It is an awesome responsibility to raise meat birds. Don't be discouraged.

 

[williab]

Okay thanks.
I have never actually eaten a farm fresh chicken. Ever.
I have two young roosters brining in the fridge so after the initial shock of the processing, I am really excited to see what it tastes like.

And I HATED eggs my whole life until we had chickens. Now they're one of my favorite foods. The flavor doesn't begin to compare, so I'm hoping the FR's are the same way!

dutchbunny...we just ate our first home grown chicken not long ago. It was an older roo so we stewed it to make Brunswick stew. We needed 2 chickens so one came from the grocery...nice opportunity for a taste test

well there was no comparison. Home grown flavor FAR out passed the grocery store variety!!!

 

[dutchbunny83]

Thanks guys!

Liz-- Right now I am back to getting it at TSC. For a short while I was making my own from a local feed store, but they don't carry anything I need anymore besides sunflower seeds. I did ferment, so I'm only a day into feeding it to the meat birds. They like it, but are still going through it as fast as the pellets. Is it supposed to have a sour type smell as it starts to ferment? They're going crazy for it. I'm not familiar with sodder, where do I get it/how do I grow it.
I buy greens at the store (like kale or collards) and chop them up and throw them in the run, but I would prefer to grow my own.

Thanks!

 

[skitzkle]

Thanks guys!

Liz-- Right now I am back to getting it at TSC. For a short while I was making my own from a local feed store, but they don't carry anything I need anymore besides sunflower seeds. I did ferment, so I'm only a day into feeding it to the meat birds. They like it, but are still going through it as fast as the pellets. Is it supposed to have a sour type smell as it starts to ferment? They're going crazy for it. I'm not familiar with sodder, where do I get it/how do I grow it.
I buy greens at the store (like kale or collards) and chop them up and throw them in the run, but I would prefer to grow my own.

Thanks!

Fermenting will take a week or so to lower the amount of feed that they are eating. The fermented feed for meat birds thread has a lot of info on this also. It decreased how much my layers were eating by at least 2/3. Fodder is just grain grown without dirt and fed to chickens or you could do foraging frames. You build a frame out of 2 x 4's line the top with chicken wire and grown the grain underneath so the chickens can only eat the greens growing through the top and not pull up the roots. I have not done the frames yet but am planning to. I tried fodder and decided to wait till I could buy some wheat and the temps got a little cooler so it wouldn't mold as easily.

 

[wildriverswolf90]

Home and rested, and birds are settling in. Had an incredible day at Chicken stock. Came home with nearly everything on my list. Saw some pretty birds and hung with great friends, and made some new ones. My mother did fairly well with artwork. And I did okay with birds sales, not nearly as good as I hoped. But I was just glad I got to go .


Here are photos of some of my lovelies that I got:
Chicken Pot Pie, my lovely Blue Laced Red wyandotte. She has a crooked beak, but is beautiful just the way she is

My sweet adorable white silkie girl. years I have wanted one since I got started with chickens. and love this girl so much. She has been named angle e

My lovely Gold laced cochins from NCgrammie. I love these guys.

And my lovely splash OEGBs . These guys are so sweet and tiny!!!!!

Also came home with some lovely cochins from West Knol Farm, they wouldn't settle long enough to get a picture, but they are beautiful!

Also made off with some gorgeous colored EEs.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

One of the reasons we raise our own meat is avoid brined meats. I neither brine nor age. And my meat is never tough, regardless of species.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Okay thanks, good to know.
Do you guys rest your meat before the freezer or just process & package?
We have to do the other 10 in a couple weeks, not looking forward to i