Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[LindaB220]

OH I wasn't castrating them I was processing them. My FIL wanted one of my NN roos, so his to big boys had to go, and he was to soft hearted to do the deed so I did it today.

I had no idea that NN were so easy to process. Hmmmmmm

 

[BCMaraniac]

Totally agree on every point, the entrails had to be cut out, first time I've ever not just put my hand in and pulled out easily. I've been looking up recipes for coc'que'vin (sp \) hoping that will make the edible. I do not know how old his boys were, figuring they were around 1 year at least.

Here Kassaundra is an authentic recipe for Coq au Vin:

http://www.cuisine-france.com/recipes/coq_vin.htm

It's a two day process but it sounds wonderful! You will have to try it and let us know.

 

[cleansquared]

There is no set size needed for the processing.  Usually, if I have a choice, I base it on what I want to use the bird for.  Younger birds need less specialized cooking but are smaller. The smaller frame with decent meat can make an awesome little 3 or 4 pound whole roaster though. If I want larger servings I wait till they are in the 8 or 9 lb live weight before processing.  I typically figure about 25 to 30% loss in live weight vs carcass weight when dealing with meat birds... more to the 30-35% range when dealing with dual purpose birds since they tend to be a bit longer legged and thinner through the breast.
So I'd say go ahead and process whenever you are ready and you should have a very nice tender bird to enjoy after a few days rest. If you want to add some weight to him quicker you could probably increase his feed a bit or adjust to do like they do when folks finish the fancy broilers. ( I believe they use some type of milk additive in the diet, but since I never raised the Brese I only did a cursory read on their care)

they use local cream mixed into local whole grains and the birds are kept in dark no sunlight crates for 4-6weeks before that they soley free range and are given only very little food but are given ample pasture to free range on

 

[Beekissed]

http://www.pouletbresse.com/ang.pdf

What amazes me is that folks are spending scads of money here in the states to get this breed, thinking it will automatically taste like these birds grown in France and they are missing the whole point...it's not the bird, it's the methods.

I'm willing to bet if you raised just about any dual purpose/meat chicken in the manner they are doing over there it would taste just like the Bresse from that region. No mystery...good pasture, penned and finished on milk and grains(personally, I'd finish on fermented grains and buttermilk instead), butchered before they got old enough to be tough...yep, that would be a tasty bird. But I don't think the breed of the chicken would have anything to do with it...any good dual purpose bird would do.

 

[Beekissed]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ource=subscription_immediate&utm_medium=email

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-eviscerating-cutting-up-your-chicken-graphic

I like this guy's vid the best.

PART 2....THE WIFE...

 

[bachbach1]

Check this out debone an entire chicken.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: LOL,, I was referring to castrating to make an older bird easier to dress. lol ANd last night I was too tired to catch your meaning--

http://www.pouletbresse.com/ang.pdf

What amazes me is that folks are spending scads of money here in the states to get this breed, thinking it will automatically taste like these birds grown in France and they are missing the whole point...it's not the bird, it's the methods.

I'm willing to bet if you raised just about any dual purpose/meat chicken in the manner they are doing over there it would taste just like the Bresse from that region. No mystery...good pasture, penned and finished on milk and grains(personally, I'd finish on fermented grains and buttermilk instead), butchered before they got old enough to be tough...yep, that would be a tasty bird. But I don't think the breed of the chicken would have anything to do with it...any good dual purpose bird would do.

ONe of the reasons Bee I am interested in this breed is that it is still a meat breed. I have been looking for a heritage breed with good meat qualities, and well, even the SOP birds are lacking. ( bred to meet the SOP first and utility traits second) Have found a few possible leads-- wiating for eggs or chicks to see if they are meaties for real.

ANd I do totally agree about the flavor of the meat reflecting the feed---- only because I am very frugal, or think I am, lol, that I feed what is easy to come-by. No extra milk products available because the dairies are all gone now and those pastures have sprouted houses, that I won't be able to use milk or buttermilk. BUt it sure gets me thinking . . . dairy goats. In the end I wouldn't give the high quality milk or milk products to the chickens, they would need to get the seconds.

I'm getting a better picture of why the old farms actually had a variety of animals and a variety of crops --- and not the monoculture of todays commercial production-- better use of"waste" and with chickens around, I hardly have any waste at all. THough I'm sure the carcass doesn't taste like the milk and fermented grains the breese get, the flavor sure is better than the commercially produced poultry.

Sorry-- didn't mean to write a book.

 

[ronott1]

LOL,, I was referring to castrating to make an older bird easier to dress. lol ANd last night I was too tired to catch your meaning--

ONe of the reasons Bee I am interested in this breed is that it is still a meat breed. I have been looking for a heritage breed with good meat qualities, and well, even the SOP birds are lacking. ( bred to meet the SOP first and utility traits second) Have found a few possible leads-- wiating for eggs or chicks to see if they are meaties for real.

ANd I do totally agree about the flavor of the meat reflecting the feed---- only because I am very frugal, or think I am, lol, that I feed what is easy to come-by. No extra milk products available because the dairies are all gone now and those pastures have sprouted houses, that I won't be able to use milk or buttermilk. BUt it sure gets me thinking . . . dairy goats. In the end I wouldn't give the high quality milk or milk products to the chickens, they would need to get the seconds.

I'm getting a better picture of why the old farms actually had a variety of animals and a variety of crops --- and not the monoculture of todays commercial production-- better use of"waste" and with chickens around, I hardly have any waste at all. THough I'm sure the carcass doesn't taste like the milk and fermented grains the breese get, the flavor sure is better than the commercially produced poultry.

Sorry-- didn't mean to write a book.

White Bresse cost me $50.00 with shipping for 14 eggs--hatched 11. I still have 4 hens and two Roosters.They are not like Biefelders or Ayam Cemani. The eggs hatch very well and they are tough little boogers.

In the chicken world, they are too successful to be very expensive for long.

 

[Arielle]

That is what I am banking on ROn!!


The single comb will be a bugger-- but with this brutal winter I have looked to see who lost combs and who did not . . . . my thought is housing needs to be totally without drafts , and lots of birds together that can snuggle side by side. Also thicker tips are less effected than thin. Tall tips more effected than short.

 

[BCMaraniac]

LOL,, I was referring to castrating to make an older bird easier to dress. lol ANd last night I was too tired to catch your meaning--

ONe of the reasons Bee I am interested in this breed is that it is still a meat breed. I have been looking for a heritage breed with good meat qualities, and well, even the SOP birds are lacking. ( bred to meet the SOP first and utility traits second) Have found a few possible leads-- wiating for eggs or chicks to see if they are meaties for real.

ANd I do totally agree about the flavor of the meat reflecting the feed---- only because I am very frugal, or think I am, lol, that I feed what is easy to come-by. No extra milk products available because the dairies are all gone now and those pastures have sprouted houses, that I won't be able to use milk or buttermilk. BUt it sure gets me thinking . . . dairy goats. In the end I wouldn't give the high quality milk or milk products to the chickens, they would need to get the seconds.

I'm getting a better picture of why the old farms actually had a variety of animals and a variety of crops --- and not the monoculture of todays commercial production-- better use of"waste" and with chickens around, I hardly have any waste at all. THough I'm sure the carcass doesn't taste like the milk and fermented grains the breese get, the flavor sure is better than the commercially produced poultry.

Sorry-- didn't mean to write a book.

Arielle,

When you caponize and tear the membranes around the organs, there is scar tissue that develops, which can make eviscerating a bit more challenging than a CX, but nothing like what Kassaundra and jajeanpierre were describing, at least that has been my experience. I do however have some older full capons..approx 10 months old... that I will be processing soon, so I will have a better idea about how difficult evisceration is in the older capon. I will let you know. These birds were caponized at 6-8 weeks of age.