Thanksgiving Turkey Processing

[milleryardchx]

I see you've got some Delawares destined for the freezer! We just did some and we fried one up last night. THE BEST CHICKEN I'VE EVER HAD!!! SO much flavor, I just can't believe it! They seem slim in the breast compared to Cornish Xs, but that breast meat is moist and flavorful! For fryers, I process mine at about 14 to 15 weeks, so that they are still quite tender. They average about 3 very tastey pounds for the boys.

If you're doing 5 turks in a day, you're going to be tired! The most I've done is 3, but then, I'm a wimp!

Have fun!

~S

P.S. Everyone has a different opinion on chickens. Some really like Cornish Xs because they get a 5 pound bird in 7 or 8 weeks with a monstrous breast. Some like dual purpose birds that grow slower and develop more flavor, but require more feed and are smaller. I base my preference on memories (from the stone age) of fried chicken that my Gran used to make me. She got the small, 2 1/2 to 3 pound, narrow breasted birds of intense flavor that the industry sold before they developed the Cornish X, probably a Delaware or Delaware cross. Eating these takes me back to my Grans kitchen!

Hi, Im doing 18 cornishx right now and then I will do 10 or 12 of my delaware roos. Im keeping my two biggest roos to cross with my White rock pullets for my own meat and egg birds There is a few heritage meat farmers with in 50 miles of me and they all raise Delaware for meat birds. I will build a hoop tractor in the spring for my own white holland turkeys

 

[ScottnLydia]

Hi, Im doing 18 cornishx right now and then I will do 10 or 12 of my delaware roos. Im keeping my two biggest roos to cross with my White rock pullets for my own meat and egg birds There is a few heritage meat farmers with in 50 miles of me and they all raise Delaware for meat birds. I will build a hoop tractor in the spring for my own white holland turkeys

I'll be really interested in your opinion about the difference in quality between the Dellis and the Cornish X. I know that I'm from an older generation that grew up with a different chicken than many people on here did.

~S

 

[ray2310]

We just processed our BR Tom and hen on Sunday. The Tom dressed at 14# and the hen 8#.

 

[chicken pickin]

We just processed our BR Tom and hen on Sunday. The Tom dressed at 14# and the hen 8#.

How old were they?

 

[beanmcnulty]

My BRs were same weights as ray2310, 14 and 8, tom/hen. Most were 28 weeks, a few 26 weeks old.

 

[debir1966]

I get lost on some of the abreviations a little LOL, what is BR? I am guessing "bronze"? Sunday is the day for us - if I can't get exact weights, I will at least get pics! I think we have decided to do all 5 instead of keeping the smallest hen because I don't want to have to worry about her getting unhealthy as she grows.

 

[chicken pickin]

I get lost on some of the abreviations a little LOL, what is BR? I am guessing "bronze"? Sunday is the day for us - if I can't get exact weights, I will at least get pics! I think we have decided to do all 5 instead of keeping the smallest hen because I don't want to have to worry about her getting unhealthy as she grows.

BR = Bourbon Red

 

[ScottnLydia]

I get lost on some of the abreviations a little LOL, what is BR? I am guessing "bronze"? Sunday is the day for us - if I can't get exact weights, I will at least get pics! I think we have decided to do all 5 instead of keeping the smallest hen because I don't want to have to worry about her getting unhealthy as she grows.

I totally agree. Even if you know every single breed of poultry there is, you can still get confused! I usually try to write out the name of the breed out of courtesy to those that aren't reading my mind.

When I was in emergency services I fought for, and won "plain speach" in our system instead of the common '10 codes'. Everyone seemed to have a different meaning for each one, causing confusion and miscommunications. You just don't need that in an emergency! Even "10-4", which is supposed to mean "message recieved", was being used for everything from "O.K.". "positive" (like a positive result), "I've found it/them/some", "I was successful", etc.,etc.,etc. When somebody from a different system came in that had different meanings assigned to each code, watch out!

So whether the BR in question is a Bourbon Red, or a Barred Rock, or Brown Redcap, I will try to write it out to try to eliminate confusion. I wish others would too.

~S

 

[mstricer]

We are taking our heritage white in on Tuesday, to be processed, they are nice and personal, don't like the car chasing thing though. Our place does it for 7$
We will be taking him and a ham from our pigs to my mothers house. Was unable to tell my sister we were bringing the turkey, for she won't eat it. Do you think less then 24 hours is enough time for it to set?

 

[ScottnLydia]

We are taking our heritage white in on Tuesday, to be processed, they are nice and personal, don't like the car chasing thing though. Our place does it for 7$
We will be taking him and a ham from our pigs to my mothers house. Was unable to tell my sister we were bringing the turkey, for she won't eat it. Do you think less then 24 hours is enough time for it to set?

Longer is better, for sure. I rest mine in the fridge for 4 or 5 days, but if you can't, you can't!

Wait, if they do it on Tuesday, and Thanksgiving is on Thursday, ain't that 2 days?