Pics of "Before/After" Dual Purpose meat birds?

[reereechickens]

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I'm getting my 2 Delaware roos processed on March 7th. I will post pics for y'all!

 

[stuckinthecity]

 

[jktrahan]

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Wow that is awsome. I am picking up a 10 month old orpington this afternoon to butcher this weekend. ChickyLaura, have you cooked any of them yet? I was going to slow roast the one I get until it is tender. Roast chicken is our favorite meal and we have it about once every other week. This will be our 1st non supermarket chicken meal, so I'm hoping that slow roasting is ok. I'm hoping to use this as some leverage with the wife to order some k22's or some cornish x.

 

[marquisella]

A few weeks ago, I processed for the 1st time. I had 2 6 mo. Ameraucana cockerels, and a 1.5 year old Marans roo that seemed like he weighed 10 lbs when I picked him up.

After processing,, the Ameraucanas had more meat. The Marans boy was all feathers! It was quite a surprise when we plucked him, he was not big at all.

 

[ChickyLaura]

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Wow that is awsome. I am picking up a 10 month old orpington this afternoon to butcher this weekend. ChickyLaura, have you cooked any of them yet? I was going to slow roast the one I get until it is tender. Roast chicken is our favorite meal and we have it about once every other week. This will be our 1st non supermarket chicken meal, so I'm hoping that slow roasting is ok. I'm hoping to use this as some leverage with the wife to order some k22's or some cornish x.

Yes! We cooked one up last night! He definitely tasted different than store chicken. It almost reminded me of turkey - a lot of dark meat. We slow roasted him at 300 degrees at 30 minutes per pound. We put him on a bed of red potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions. I put a little olive oil over the bird, and roasted him breast side down. I also used one of those cooking bags. It turned out great! And that bird was a year old! The breast meat was actually really juicy! Then after supper I separated most of the remaining meat from the bird and threw the bones in the crock pot and let it simmer overnight for some really dark broth! The leftover meat DH chopped up in the food processor and made chicken croquettes/crockettes (sp?) for supper tonight. We really got our $5 out of him! We made supper for 2 nights for 5 people out of one bird. Unbelievable. My DH is now a convert for "homemade chicken". It's a good thing, too. I just got our first batch of meat chicks in the mail yesterday! LOL!

 

[BetterHensandGardens]

We just processed 11 excess Buckeyes roosters, and they weighed in at between 4 and 5 lbs. - sorry no pictures.

I see some commenting that the birds are tough, etc.; but they need to be cooked in the right way. Here's information on cooking the birds and it depends on their age and weight: http://www.betterhensandgardens.com/2011/02/27/heritage-birds-for-real-chicken-flavor/

If the homegrown birds are cooked in the right way for their age, the flavor just cannot be beat.

 

[GarlicEater]

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We ate a 1-year old (approximately) rooster, put in crockpot overnight, then baked with potatoes, onions, carrots, some cooking wine, etc. Tough but so delicious, the extra chewing was a pleasure! The heart and liver got fried right away and they were delicious too.

 

[stuckinthecity]

I cannot wait to harvest my own meat right outside the door. No more going to the grocery and coming home with a big, fat, mushy bird!

 

[HickoryGuy]

No pics, but I skinned a 1-year old Light Sussex rooster on Saturday, let him age for 4 days in the fridge(marinated the last day in Italian dressing). Cooked him on low in crockpot with white wine, olive oil, onions, carrots, celery & spices for 10 hours on low yesterday. Absolutely perfect. Huge thighs & legs which pulled apart like pulled pork, and the breast meat was tender & juicy.

 

[jktrahan]

I just processed 2 roo's this morning. 1 was a buff orpington and the other was an orp cross. Both around 10 months old and approximately 4.5 lbs before and 3 lbs after. I have pictures here:

Harmony Hobby Farms 1st Butcher

These were the first I have processed and did not scald them before plucking. It only took me 10 minutes per bird to pluck them. 1 went straight to the freezer and the other is resting in the ice box and I will roast him tomorrow for our first try at home grown chicken.