skin color on Cornish x

[Mrs. K]

My first time with meat birds, and so far, good. Next week is the due date. I have noticed that they seem slow to feather in, but I think part of that is that they are growing so fast, they outgrow the feather productions.

So a lot of skin is still exposed, and rather pink. Are they sunburnt? Will this go away when I scald them? They do have shade available.

Mrs K

 

[Northern.Ontario]

I think pink skin is their normal skin colour. Mine are 2 weeks old and are growing faster and faster. Their downy feathers are spreading out and you can see the skin.

 

[RUNuts]

I had the same question. After butchering they were fine and delicious. I went 8.5 weeks and they were a lot bigger than I thought. We ate 2 for over a week after rotisserie. Good eats!

The large splotches of red skin appear to be normal. Funny how you notice those things in other's birds after raising your own. The birds had the normal skin color on the table.

 

[Mrs. K]

Thanks - we are at 8 weeks today.... hoping to do them Monday. They are getting thick and heavy. There are so many aspects to this hobby, this is a new one for me.

 

[Mrs. K]

How many did you process at one time, and how long did it take you? I have done a couple of birds before... little intimidated by the numbers. I ordered 12, got 15 and all have thrived.

 

[RUNuts]

Work at a comfortable pace. With mine, I decided to start with 2 and do a check. Everything going well, so did all 5. Working at a comfortable pace, we took a little over 2 hours. If you are hand plucking, 6 is about my daily limit by myself. The CX were a lot easier to pluck than the BR or ducks. Plan on taking it slow and pacing yourself.

hope that helps. If you have several helpers, 15 shouldn't be an issue. Best wishes!

 

[Mrs. K]

I have a plucker that mounts to a drill head, that I used for the last ones. Made quite a difference. Hope I have some friends that show up!

 

[JiminyChristmas]

I Processed 14 (12cx, a Barbazieux[sp?], and a NN) last Sunday. Hand plucked, went from tractor to cooler in 8 hours. I wasn' in any rush. After three days rest on ice, added another 4 hours to cut up and bag. That's about my personal limit but I could get an earlier start if I had more birds to do.
This spring I got 15 Rangers and 15 CX(lost a few first week). That works out well for me, as they will be several weeks between butchering the CX, then the Rangers.