Questions - Newbie Exploring Meat Options

[france]

I have spent some time reading past posts in the Meat Birds section and have some more basic questions. We are exploring meat birds right now as an option for us. We probably will not make it this fall but perhaps next summer. We have to build another coop & run. I have a call into a local processor who comes to your house. He is away for the week.

- How many birds should I start out with? This may depend on the processor.
-What breed (age?) will give me a more simple/plain tasting bird?
-Do I feed a regular medicated starter as my egg layers?
-If we wanted 2 turkeys can they live with the meat chickens at all?
-How long until turkeys can be processed?
-How is the meat after the processor done? In other words what will I have to do when he is done to get them into the freezer? I have read posts about soaking them and possibly putting them in the fridge. Those would be tough options for us if we process more then 5 birds. And if we go through this I want to make it worth our while and start with more then that. I have a vacuum sealer and a chest freezer.
-Any good questions for the processor when he calls back?

Thank you!

 

[cassie]

CornishX make the best meat birds hands down. Most of the hatcheries require a minimum order of 25. We feed ours turkey starter, grower, and finisher. We would feed broiler feed if we could get it. We raise ours 25 at a time in a 12 x 12 foot box stall bedded with shavings. It isn't all that difficult to process them yourself. I think most people process theirs all at once but we do ours a few at a time starting at about nine weeks and finishing up at 12 weeks of age. We have a propane burner/hot plate with a LARGE stockpot set up in the back yard. When we decide to process chickens we light the burner under the pot of water, put in the thermometer and then go catch a couple chickens. We kill them, bleed them and by then the water is hot enough to scald them. It helps to have some dish detergent in the water. We scald, and then put them on a table in the shade to pluck them. Then we take them into the house to clean them and put them in the fridge where they stay a day or so before we freeze/cook them. If we feel like it, we then go get a couple more. They dress out between 8 1/2 and 13 1/2 pounds at that age. Next year we will process some at a younger age/smaller size so we have some regular fryers as well as large roasters. It makes things easier if the chickens have no access to feed for at least 12 hours before processing, but since we don't always know ahead of time that we will be processing chickens that day we don't always do that. If you lack refrigerator space you can use ice to cool them down.

 

[france]

No processing for us. We have to have someone else do it.

 

[bja105]

Paying someone to process your birds seems silly to me. Its not difficult at all. It was fun for the whole family.

Yes, you can raise turkeys in the same pen as the chickens. Joel Salatin does it, my neighbor is doing it right now. I have never raised a turkey, and don't know how long they take.

Medicated feed is not needed. I used 20-26% starter.

Cornish Rock hybrids are the bird to buy.

I did not use brine, I left them on ice for a day, then wrapped and froze. Taste is perfect. We let ours get to big for our vacuum sealer.