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

[ronott1]

I hear crossing a Marans with a Dark Cornish is a good cross as well.

Yes! Whichever you can find. Dark Cornish will make more of a yellow skin.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Have you guys looked into finishing?

For the Bresse, at 4 months, I penned them and fed them milk soaked grains(Organic Kamut) in the morning and flock raiser in the evening for two weeks. They were nice and meaty fat at 18 weeks that way.

I know that if you finish cattle with grain the way it is typically done, the meat/fat will have a more negative effect on heart health than grass fed cattle. Grass fed cattle have a lot more heart-healthy fats than typical grain-finished cattle. The same thing holds true for farmed fish, which don't have nearly the amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids that wild-caught fish do, even salmon. I would think that would translate to chickens as well.

One of my reasons for wanting to raise chickens for meat as opposed to just culling the few cockerels I end up with from the straight-run chicks I buy is the more healthful quality to the meat.

I'm sure that if you raise the Cornish X birds so they move around and forage, they will also produce meat that is much more healthy for you than the mush you buy in a grocery store.

 

[Arielle]

Hi ROn!

I don't want a bird as fast growing as the cornishX, but it seems from all the in fo I have gathered that even the heritage birds have not been kept up for their meat qualities.

ie. Math Ace tried several lines of speckled sussex, and finally bought a very nice SQ line. Even those lacked the muscling that was expected. Letting her see if they develop anything of value before getting chicks/eggs from her.

Ron why maran x dorking? My marans are much smaller than my light sussex. THe cuckoo marans is a broad bird. My meatiest is a hatchery hybrid rooster ( a 3 breed cross)

I have been scouting out who has the better meat type birds, and it is few and far between. Even on the heritage thread much talk is about continueing to improve the birds. I am always concerned about meat qualities when SOP becomes the sole focus. Maybe I need to pose this Q to Walt as he handles so many birds.

 

[ronott1]

I know that if you finish cattle with grain the way it is typically done, the meat/fat will have a more negative effect on heart health than grass fed cattle. Grass fed cattle have a lot more heart-healthy fats than typical grain-finished cattle. The same thing holds true for farmed fish, which don't have nearly the amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids that wild-caught fish do, even salmon. I would think that would translate to chickens as well.

One of my reasons for wanting to raise chickens for meat as opposed to just culling the few cockerels I end up with from the straight-run chicks I buy is the more healthful quality to the meat.

I'm sure that if you raise the Cornish X birds so they move around and forage, they will also produce meat that is much more healthy for you than the mush you buy in a grocery store.

I think with the cattle it is the corn that causes the problem. I would use Organic wheat or Kamut. Milk soaked grains is the traditional way of finishing Bresse.

The grain finish might change the Omega three though.

 

[ronott1]

Hi ROn!

I don't want a bird as fast growing as the cornishX, but it seems from all the in fo I have gathered that even the heritage birds have not been kept up for their meat qualities.

ie. Math Ace tried several lines of speckled sussex, and finally bought a very nice SQ line. Even those lacked the muscling that was expected. Letting her see if they develop anything of value before getting chicks/eggs from her.

Ron why maran x dorking? My marans are much smaller than my light sussex. THe cuckoo marans is a broad bird. My meatiest is a hatchery hybrid rooster ( a 3 breed cross)

I have been scouting out who has the better meat type birds, and it is few and far between. Even on the heritage thread much talk is about continueing to improve the birds. I am always concerned about meat qualities when SOP becomes the sole focus. Maybe I need to pose this Q to Walt as he handles so many birds.

They never had the meat qualities we think they did.

I may have posted this here before, so sorry if I am reposting:

Rediscovering Traditional Meats from Historic Chicken Breeds
By Gina Bisco
The chicken meat most of us take for granted today is quite different from what our grandparents
experienced. Today commercial chicken meat production is very different from methods and ideas common
before the mid-20th century. Those of us who want to conserve old chicken breeds need to understand the
traditional chicken meat classes and their excellent cooking qualities.
There are 4 traditional chicken meat classes: broiler, fryer, roaster and fowl. The traditional broiler age
range was from 7 to 12 weeks, and carcass weight from 1 to 2 1/2 lbs. (Squab broilers would be youngest and
smallest of these, typically Leghorn cockerels about 3/4 to 1 pound dressed.) The next age and weight group
was called the fryer. Traditional fryer age range was from 14 to 20 weeks, and carcass weight from 2 1/2 to 4
lbs. Traditional roaster age range was from 5 to 12 months, and carcass weight from 4 to 8 pounds. Most
roasters were butchered between 6 and 9 months. Hens and roosters 12 months and older were called “fowl” or
“stewing fowl” signifying that slow moist cooking methods were required.
These traditional meat classifications, used until the 1940s, were based on the growth patterns and carcass
qualities of the pure breeds that were commonly used throughout the U.S. to produce eggs and meat. Traditional
chicken meats were classified by butchering age because of the special product qualities associated with each
age range. Even though modern product labels and modern cookbooks still use the terms broiler, fryer and
roaster, these traditional meat classes no longer apply to the modern “meat line” chickens because of their
extremely fast growth rate. The modern “meat line” chickens grow so fast that all sizes, even the largest size,
are butchered before they are old enough to be classified as traditional fryers....

 

[ronott1]

Hi ROn!

Ron why maran x dorking? My marans are much smaller than my light sussex. THe cuckoo marans is a broad bird. My meatiest is a hatchery hybrid rooster ( a 3 breed cross)

Marans taste good and Dorkings taste better!

The cross is amazing and fast growing--they beat the pre 1940s growth rate I posted above.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Marans taste good and Dorkings taste better!

The cross is amazing and fast growing--they beat the pre 1940s growth rate I posted above.

Ron,

So is 8# 3oz a decent live weight for a 25 week capon?

 

[ronott1]

Ron,

So is 8# 3oz a decent live weight for a 25 week capon?

Yes!

 

[BCMaraniac]

Yes!

Did you see the picture of my Marans/Lavender Orpington capon a few posts back?

 

[ronott1]

Did you see the picture of my Marans/Lavender Orpington capon a few posts back?

I did see them. They look very nice and I bet they will be very tasty.

When I worked in the meat Dept. for Safeway in the 80s we sold Capons a couple of times. I am very impressed that you capon your chicks.

I may do that sometime.