Poll: What kind of Meat Birds do you raise?

[Isadora]

What kinds of birds are people working with?

We are raising our first batch of freedom rangers. Supposed to be slower growing than Cornish crosses, but supposedly less issues since they don't gain weight as quickly. I'm excited to see how they go. They're only a little over a week right now.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Working on a useful dual purpose for my region - as I'm sure many are - with no hope (or faint expectation) of getting anything like a Cornish Cross. Also ducks. Thankfully, my wife prefers dark meat and I make decent sausages from old dual purpose birds.

Its a learning curve. May get some more cross in future years, after I get a bigger freezer.

 

[Parront]

Working on a useful dual purpose for my region - as I'm sure many are - with no hope (or faint expectation) of getting anything like a Cornish Cross. Also ducks. Thankfully, my wife prefers dark meat and I make decent sausages from old dual purpose birds.

Its a learning curve. May get some more cross in future years, after I get a bigger freezer.

That is what I did the first time I raised the Cornish-X in the 80's -- bought the huge Sears Chest Freezer! No way they could fit in my old tiny freezer. Smaller birds that you eat as they grow has some advantages.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

They do. One made doro wat yesterday (with leftovers) and the other half was good two days before as I don't recall what. Tomorrow, his carcass' broth is the base of our pho.

But if you want to stuff a chicken breast with anything, bread it, and fry/bake it up as a meal, the DP birds provide barely anything to work with, you really need to serve two breast pieces per person.

and I'm looking for a stand up freezer - for fear if I don't, FIFO will go by the wayside.

 

[Parront]

They do. One made doro wat yesterday (with leftovers) and the other half was good two days before as I don't recall what. Tomorrow, his carcass' broth is the base of our pho.

But if you want to stuff a chicken breast with anything, bread it, and fry/bake it up as a meal, the DP birds provide barely anything to work with, you really need to serve two breast pieces per person.

and I'm looking for a stand up freezer - for fear if I don't, FIFO will go by the wayside.

I like the different colored label system. Chest freezer was very reliable, we had it ~20 years. You do have a little more maintenance -- defrosting -- and work rotating, but the chest freezer was the best one I have owned. If you defrost at daylight savings time, like when you change the smoke detector batteries, I think it is the best freezer. No detectable impact on our electricity bill! OK, this was in So. Cal. with a huge AC unit sucking power!