X2. I skin ours. My HRIR will be our dual purpose. Meat and eggs. I am not interested in raising Cornish x for the table. I also like the better flavor in the dual purpose bird. I'll be processing three next week. I like my dinner chicken and turkey fresh not frozen when possible.
I do mine one or two at a time too, I don't have a lot of storage and I do all the killing and processing myself so it's just easier for me. We have DP so I don't have to do batches. My end product may be a bit smaller, but there are only 2 of us. I like how easy skinning is, no big production of boiling water. I shoot w/ a pellet gun to the head in a killing cone in my garage then take the bucket the blood drained in to the kitchen sink w/ me and the bird and a knife and 5-10 minutes later I have a bird clean and sitting in the fridge. I take the chicken off the roost when I close them up at night, so they lived their last day as little free roaming chickens and from roost to fridge is 1/2 hour tops.
Quote: I can see the advantages of doing it this way Kassandra.
Especially if you hatch year round.
We tend to do one large processing day in the fall - mostly because they are all ready at about the same time from the spring hatchings. I'd really rather do one at a time, except when I want one I may not necessarily have one ready... not to mention having the skin is a habit. Plucking is a pain, but I suspect many people in a true self-sufficiency situation will not get enough fat in their diet. Utilizing all the animal is important to us... skin included.
I'm with Mumsy... we are kind of "over" the Cornish X thing. They simply are not self sustaining. I am loving my RIR for dual purpose... so anxious to try the first one this fall.
I agree with. Your thoughts. Sounds like moult to me.
That is cool but I would hurt myself getting the eggs.
Unless you shut that wall up at night they would be easy prey to owls, so not only getting the eggs but shutting it up everynight would land me an ambulance trip to the ER I'm sure.
