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

[Free Feather]

Free feather,
do you keep chickens for meat? If so, what kind? I've heard that Cornish X's are some of the best meaties, but what about others? Do you happen to know any interesting breeds that dress well?

I have Cornish x, but they are pets. I do not eat my chickens, but if I did, I would pick a heavier game breed because I feel like they would have a much better quality of life than my Cornish x ever will. Oriental breeds are "meatier" for a game type, and they can forage well, raise chicks, are more predator resistant, and more all-around natural than most other dumpy domestic chickens. I would feel terrible eating Cornish x because they are so helpless, unhealthy, and unnatural, even when you feed them literally nothing and free range them all day like I do. They are like waddling, panting, live ten-pound chicken nuggets. Knowing the chicken was close to a natural chicken would be worth the longer "grow out" time for me. I think the flesh would be much, much healthier anyways since the bird ate foraged food instead of pounds of grain, was more mature, and had lots more exercise compared to an eight week old Cornish x or even a bumbling Buff Orpington. If one of my chickens dies or seriously has to be put down, I butcher it out, but I feed it to my dog. I do not buy her commercial dog food. She gets meaty bones, organs, and meat that local people give me because it is freezer burnt or otherwise unwanted, but nothing spoiled. I am an ovo-vegetarian because I do not agree with farming domestic animals or hunting ones that live in a trashed environment, but I will euthanize animals that are suffering. I am not disgusted by death and consuming other beings, because life, unless it can photosynthesize, feeds off death, I just do not agree with owning other beings and manipulating them to serve people.
It would be much easier to pick a hybrid broiler or a "dual purpose" breed, I just would prefer to eat a chicken that has not been manipulated as much to produce meat because I think the more you focus on production, the less natural, or even happy, the bird is in life. It seems disturbing to me to purposefully breed an animal to be overweight or have features like a basketball in life so they are better to eat when they are dead...
This is probably not the answer you wanted or expected, but this is just one different way to look at it. I have been trying to desensitize myself to dead creatures and animals killing other animals lately, because you never know what situations you might have to deal with later in life, or what you may have to do to survive. But I honestly can not ever see myself farming animals. I am just trying to look at it from all angles, maybe be more accepting.

 

[cassie]

Free feather,
do you keep chickens for meat? If so, what kind? I've heard that Cornish X's are some of the best meaties, but what about others? Do you happen to know any interesting breeds that dress well?

Cornish X are the best meat chickens by far. You get more meat per pound of feed with the Cornish X than with any other chicken. They do have their quirks and if you are not willing to deal with the quirks Cornish X are not the chickens for you. Some people say they prefer to raise chickens that have a better quality of life. My Cornish X were the most contented chickens I have ever seen. They are coop potatoes though. As long as they have plenty of feed, water, and a dry comfortable place to plop themselves and rest they are happy. They remind me of my brother-in-law. He is a couch potato. As long as he can reach the remote and a beer while he is sitting on the sofa watching TV, he's happy. Same thing.

When I was in California I used to have what for me was an ideal set up for raising my meat chickens. It required minimum time and labor on my part. I had a 12 X 12 box stall in the barn that was well ventilated without being drafty. I bedded it with shavings and added more shavings as necessary to keep the pen dry. I did not clean the pen until the meaties were gone. I hung the feeders and waterers by chains from the rafters and adjusted the height as they grew so they had to stand and reach a bit and couldn't just plop to eat and drink. I also had the feeders on one side of the pen and the waterers on the other so they had to walk a little to get from one to the other. I fed them broiler feed when I could get it and turkey feed when I couldn't. I put Broiler Booster, available from Murray McMurray, in the water from start to finish. It seemed to help with the feet and leg problems that are common with these chickens. When it was time to process them, I did not even try to do them all at once. I would process two or three per day and even at that rate I would get through the whole batch of twenty five in a little over a week.

I did not attempt to raise these chickens during the hot summer months. I would get them in early spring so they would be processed before it got hot and I would get another batch in early fall after most of the heat was past. I found that raising the Cornish X was an enjoyable and productive short term project. I will raise some again once I get a suitable place set up for them.

 

[Free Feather]

Cornish X are the best meat chickens by far. You get more meat per pound of feed with the Cornish X than with any other chicken. They do have their quirks and if you are not willing to deal with the quirks Cornish X are not the chickens for you. Some people say they prefer to raise chickens that have a better quality of life. My Cornish X were the most contented chickens I have ever seen. They are coop potatoes though. As long as they have plenty of feed, water, and a dry comfortable place to plop themselves and rest they are happy. They remind me of my brother-in-law. He is a couch potato. As long as he can reach the remote and a beer while he is sitting on the sofa watching TV, he's happy. Same thing.

When I was in California I used to have what for me was an ideal set up for raising my meat chickens. It required minimum time and labor on my part. I had a 12 X 12 box stall in the barn that was well ventilated without being drafty. I bedded it with shavings and added more shavings as necessary to keep the pen dry. I did not clean the pen until the meaties were gone. I hung the feeders and waterers by chains from the rafters and adjusted the height as they grew so they had to stand and reach a bit and couldn't just plop to eat and drink. I also had the feeders on one side of the pen and the waterers on the other so they had to walk a little to get from one to the other. I fed them broiler feed when I could get it and turkey feed when I couldn't. I put Broiler Booster, available from Murray McMurray, in the water from start to finish. It seemed to help with the feet and leg problems that are common with these chickens. When it was time to process them, I did not even try to do them all at once. I would process two or three per day and even at that rate I would get through the whole batch of twenty five in a little over a week.

I did not attempt to raise these chickens during the hot summer months. I would get them in early spring so they would be processed before it got hot and I would get another batch in early fall after most of the heat was past. I found that raising the Cornish X was an enjoyable and productive short term project. I will raise some again once I get a suitable place set up for them.

Cassie is definitely right about Cornish x having the best feed to meat conversion, and about them having their own "quirks". Good if you are only interested in getting meat regardless of the animals' welfare, just not for me. I would want a bird that I could let loose and know it would be all fine and Jim dandy on its own, but that bird would definitely not be the one you would pick if you were only concerned about the carcass size in a short amount of time. If you want an in between bird, good quality Dark Cornish, Dominiques, Chanteclers, Dorkings, Wyandottes, and Salmon Faverolles would work, but they still would not be as economical as a Cornish x, or as sustainable as a Cubalaya, who would still be a bit meaty.
I have had pet Cornish x since I was 12. They can live a lot longer and be healthier if you free range them all day and not feed them, or feed them a bit in the evening, but they still will never be like a "normal" chicken. Not at all. One thing that is really true about them is that they expect an immediate gain in everything they do more than other chickens. Like, they want food that comes easy, (almost always pick a food trough over foraging) they do not like to walk far, they put forth the bare minimum of effort to get what they want. That does not bother most people. Raising them with "normal" chickens really helps if you can keep them out of their feed.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Well, if I kept Cornish Xs as meaties, they wouldn't really live long enough to become obese and lose their quality of life. They would be butchered relatively young. I commend you for being vegetarian Free Feather, but couldn't do it myself. I am too human, I suppose. Anyway, I hope to get my meaties soon, I know someone who says to mix deer fat with the chicken meat to make it more flavorful, which would be great especially when deer season comes around. I would also take deer hit on the road, as long as they seem otherwise healthy and free of disease, so lots of deer fat. How do most of you butcher? I've heard of people simply cracking the chicken's head against a rock or table edge, but I'd be worried to miss my mark and end up with an injured chicken. I could use a killing cone or shoot them, perhaps even cut their throats. But shooting so many small birds may take too long as I'd plan to raise relatively large batches. Does anyone have any techniques? If not, I don't mind swinging them over my head a couple of times like the farming days, but there seem to be more humane ways.

 

[Free Feather]

Well, if I kept Cornish Xs as meaties, they wouldn't really live long enough to become obese and lose their quality of life. They would be butchered relatively young. I commend you for being vegetarian Free Feather, but couldn't do it myself. I am too human, I suppose. Anyway, I hope to get my meaties soon, I know someone who says to mix deer fat with the chicken meat to make it more flavorful, which would be great especially when deer season comes around. I would also take deer hit on the road, as long as they seem otherwise healthy and free of disease, so lots of deer fat. How do most of you butcher? I've heard of people simply cracking the chicken's head against a rock or table edge, but I'd be worried to miss my mark and end up with an injured chicken. I could use a killing cone or shoot them, perhaps even cut their throats. But shooting so many small birds may take too long as I'd plan to raise relatively large batches. Does anyone have any techniques? If not, I don't mind swinging them over my head a couple of times like the farming days, but there seem to be more humane ways.

I used the broomstick method, but if you can snap a chicken's neck with your bare hands (practice on a dead one), then that is definitely the way to go. You can cuddle them, it is not as messy and scary for the chicken, and it is seriously INSTANT, unlike a knife cut. You can snap their neck while they are in your lap without them having any idea it is coming, unlike jamming them in a cone and coming at them with a knife, or laying them across a stump with a hatchet coming down. Too easy to miss or not take the head off with the first hit using a hatchet unless you really know what you are doing. Just my experience...

 

[donrae]

I butcher using a cone and a sharp knife. As a healthcare professional, I've unfortunately been bedside with folks(humans) who were literally bleeding to death, and it was a pretty peaceful way to go. They'd be talking and get drowsy and lightheaded, then pass out and it was all over. I can't imagine it's that much different for a chicken.

but honestly, folks get way too bogged down in the "best" way to dispatch a bird, IMO. Frankly, you're killing it. It doesn't want to die. Yes, there are more disturbing ways to kill a bird, but I think throat cutting, decapitation and cervical dislocation are all pretty much the same to the bird. They're all quick and relatively painless, if done correctly. So, the "correct" way is the way you're most comfortable with and can perform the best.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

I think the hatchet may be the best way to go after some reading. I don't think it's really that easy to mess up, and if you do, you can just take another swing. In the meantime, I need to get me some deer! Does anyone use the hatchet successfully?

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I think the hatchet may be the best way to go after some reading. I don't think it's really that easy to mess up, and if you do, you can just take another swing. In the meantime, I need to get me some deer! Does anyone use the hatchet successfully?

We use the hatchet all the time. Occasionally, the head doesn't come completely off on the first swing but it's usually just a stand of skin or something that's still holding it together. It's always done on the first swing

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

We use the hatchet all the time. Occasionally, the head doesn't come completely off on the first song but it's usually just a stand of skin or something that's still holding it together. It's always done on the first swing

Would the key word in this response be "we"? I can't imagine being able to manage that solo without risking either missing or taking off a thumb.

I think that whether it be hatchet, cone, or broomstick, the key to a humane dispatch would be how comfortable and experienced one is with that method to do it correctly. I've heard horror stories of each of these methods when inadvertently done incorrectly...

- Ant Farm

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Would the key word in this response be "we"? I can't imagine being able to manage that solo without risking either missing or taking off a thumb.

I think that whether it be hatchet, cone, or broomstick, the key to a humane dispatch would be how comfortable and experienced one is with that method to do it correctly. I've heard horror stories of each of these methods when inadvertently done incorrectly... 

- Ant Farm 

Good point. Alone, the hatchet would be tough. I hold the feet while hubby wields the hatchet. I've done both the broomstick and the bleeding out methods in my own. Both were smooth, quick, and easy just tough emotionally (for me anyways) like you said, comfort level in the chosen method has a lot to do with things.