The Old Folks Home

[Arielle]

@Ron-- how do you like your Bresse?? I'm looking for a good meat bird, but I have heard different line perform, well . . differently.

 

[ronott1]

@Ron-- how do you like your Bresse?? I'm looking for a good meat bird, but I have heard different line perform, well . . differently.

The ones I have are great!(and tasty) They lay a lot of eggs too. Mine are nice and friendly too.

They were shipped locally and were packed nicely. Mine are second generation Green Fire stock.

@chiqita has been shipping eggs.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Are these the meatiest birds you have?? Are these the whites, or the blacks?

 

[chickadoodles]

Chicka, we don't have cliffs in Alabama.

True

now I see why everyone say's you can't keep them in a fence though!

 

[chickadoodles]

The ones I have are great!(and tasty) They lay a lot of eggs too. Mine are nice and friendly too.

They were shipped locally and were packed nicely. Mine are second generation Green Fire stock.

@chiqita has been shipping eggs.

Ron, I guess I don't understand the concept of a meat bird. I keep looking for birds that will weigh between 7-12#'s when they are mature so I will have a good bit of meat on them bones. But then I see ya'll talking about birds that weigh 1-4#'s?
Is it because they are mature quicker?

 

[ronott1]

Ron, I guess I don't understand the concept of a meat bird. I keep looking for birds that will weigh between 7-12#'s when they are mature so I will have a good bit of meat on them bones. But then I see ya'll talking about birds that weigh 1-4#'s?
Is it because they are mature quicker?

There are Meat Dual Purpose, Egg laying Dual Purpose, egg layers and Meat. The Bresse are Meat Dual purpose. If you let the Bresse grow to maturity, they would get to 10 pounds or so. My cockerels are on an egg farm so I can't weigh them. The Ones I processed were 17 weeks old and weighed 6 pounds or so. They weighed 3.5#s dressed. If I let them go to 6 months, they would have been a closer to 6 pounds dressed. They would have been very tough though.

Meat birds are currently hybrid crosses. They have messed with our expectations about how big a chicken should be. I remember growing up buying chickens in the store--4# whole bodies were average. Now you cannot buy one that small in the store.

These are 17 week old Bressse:

 

[chickadoodles]

There are Meat Dual Purpose, Egg laying Dual Purpose, egg layers and Meat. The Bresse are Meat Dual purpose. If you let the Bresse grow to maturity, they would get to 10 pounds or so. My cockerels are on an egg farm so I can't weigh them. The Ones I processed were 17 weeks old and weighed 6 pounds or so. They weighed 3.5#s dressed. If I let them go to 6 months, they would have been a closer to 6 pounds dressed. They would have been very tough though.

So is that true for all birds, if you let the grow to 6 months they are going to be tough?

Meat birds are currently hybrid crosses. They have messed with our expectations about how big a chicken should be. I remember growing up buying chickens in the store--4# whole bodies were average. Now you cannot buy one that small in the store.

These are 17 week old Bressse:

The last two whole chickens I bought in the store were 5#'s I believe. So if we want tender meat we need to process them at abt. 17 weeks?

 

[ozexpat]

When I was a teenager I remember breaking the code to the chicken sizing in the supermarket. A number 14 chicken was 1.4kg.Yes, I know, I am a genius, but the take home is that a 14 bird was pretty big.

 

[chickadoodles]

When I was a teenager I remember breaking the code to the chicken sizing in the supermarket. A number 14 chicken was 1.4kg.Yes, I know, I am a genius, but the take home is that a 14 bird was pretty big.

 

[ronott1]

The last two whole chickens I bought in the store were 5#'s I believe. So if we want tender meat we need to process them at abt. 17 weeks?

I am running off to work but I have information from 100 years ago that will help us understand.

Generally yes, Cockerels over 16 weeks old will be tough and not fryers or broilers. Hens at 20 weeks.