Thinking about ordering some meat birds

[Kristin Brown]

I agree with what you mentioned about ordering meat birds that are difficult to tell apart. It definitely seems this way would be easier. Like most of you, I am considering doing an order of day old meat birds - such as chicken or turkey. I think this would please my boyfriend also who is a 23 year old outdoors man and hunter. He would be thrilled to teach me how to butcher anything!

Since I first got into the hobby of keeping chickens almost 3 years ago, we have butchered a total of 1 to eat! It was a free rooster we were given that turned out to be aggressive. I didn't watch any of the butchering. We roasted it for dinner but it ended up being very elastic dark meat. The only good part was the breast. I was told by my grandmother that we didn't let the blood drain out well enough nor let it rest before cooking. She also enlightened my man that older roosters will typically not taste well!

P.S. "Hummingbird Hollow" - how were you able to evacuate all those chickens?! I praise you! That would be such an insane situation. I live in Arvada, Colorado and was horrified by what I had heard on the news about the Waldo Canyon Fire. However, the wildfires this year made me think about how I would handle evacuating from our property, especially with a horse. The chickens I would definitely try to take with me if there was time - they have a lot of value to me both sentimentally and monetary!

 

[gg706]

Thank You all for such great information! I appreciate your words of wisdom...it motivates me to try it myself!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I agree with what you mentioned about ordering meat birds that are difficult to tell apart. It definitely seems this way would be easier. Like most of you, I am considering doing an order of day old meat birds - such as chicken or turkey. I think this would please my boyfriend also who is a 23 year old outdoors man and hunter. He would be thrilled to teach me how to butcher anything!

Since I first got into the hobby of keeping chickens almost 3 years ago, we have butchered a total of 1 to eat! It was a free rooster we were given that turned out to be aggressive. I didn't watch any of the butchering. We roasted it for dinner but it ended up being very elastic dark meat. The only good part was the breast. I was told by my grandmother that we didn't let the blood drain out well enough nor let it rest before cooking. She also enlightened my man that older roosters will typically not taste well!

P.S. "Hummingbird Hollow" - how were you able to evacuate all those chickens?! I praise you! That would be such an insane situation. I live in Arvada, Colorado and was horrified by what I had heard on the news about the Waldo Canyon Fire. However, the wildfires this year made me think about how I would handle evacuating from our property, especially with a horse. The chickens I would definitely try to take with me if there was time - they have a lot of value to me both sentimentally and monetary!

Kristin,

Amazingly enough, I had just finished converting a 16 year old mini-van into a mobile chicken coop with a portable run attached behind to move my 35 young Freedom Rangers to fresh pasture every few days. When we got the evacuation order, we were able to load the 35 young chickens into the back of the mobile coop and disconnect it from the tractor. We placed the 8 layers in a large dog crate in the back of our other mini van. It wasn't as easy as that, because the mobile coop was not really highway ready, with no air-conditioning, windows that didn't roll down, and hadn't moved more than a few yards in several years. It also isn't easy to find a place to house 43 chickens. If you want the whole story, I was posting about the building of the contraption on this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/675624/mini-van-coop-fire-evacuation-mobile-predator-break-in

before the fire started and continued to post about our adventures as the drama unfolded. It was quite the experience.

By the way, a few weeks ago I butchered the last remaining rooster that I had kept from the batch of 35 Freedom Rangers. Long story short, I had hoped to keep a few of the pullets and a cockrel and see if I could hatch out some new meat birds next spring. However, the rooster turned out to be a brute to the hens and I decided I had to have him go. Yes, you need to let any chicken you butcher rest for several days before cooking it or it is tough. With this 7 month rooster I decided to make Coc au Vin, which is a classic French dish that translates to "Cock (Rooster) in Wine". If you have another mature rooster on your hands, search the internet for a recipie. Look for one that has not been adapted to accomodate a mushy, store-bought chicken but made for a real rooster. You basically cook it in wine and broth for something like three hours, but it is delicious!

 

[Kristin Brown]

Great thread on the construction of the mini van coop. I can't help but think it wasn't a coincidence that you found inspiration to convert a vehicle into a mobile coop. I believe sometimes we humans feel propelled to do things that we have no idea why we are doing it but know it will serve a purpose.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Great thread on the construction of the mini van coop. I can't help but think it wasn't a coincidence that you found inspiration to convert a vehicle into a mobile coop. I believe sometimes we humans feel propelled to do things that we have no idea why we are doing it but know it will serve a purpose.

As I said months ago, I can't claim to state I received a "Noah, build an ark!" kind of instruction, but it does seem a fortunate turn of events that I had it finished just in time to use it to rush 35 chickens out of the path of the most destructive fire in Colorado history! The other interesting thing is the morning of the fire, I was supposed to go with my husband and two sons to see the Avengers. However, I just got this really strong feeling that I needed to stay home. I was aware of the fire hours before my family came home from the movies, and I was not only able to call them and tell them to come directly home (they were planning on going out to lunch) but had already started packing and making preliminary evacuation plans "just in case" hours before I would have been able to otherwise.

 

[Kristin Brown]

That is very fortunate indeed! It is great to hear a positive story involving the Waldo Canyon wildfire. It was truly devastating for so many but at the end of the day, we must count our lucky stars for what we do have and not dwell on more material things! The lives of humans and their beloved pets are so cherished. Anyhow, on a lighter note - I LOVED what you named your chickens, "Smoke" and "Toast"! I am all about naming my pets anything unique, humorous or redneck! Two of my 11 chickens have been blessed with names. There is a Minorca hen named "Pensacola" and a Red Pyle Old English Game bantam rooster named "Whoop-***". Besides that, we have our dog "Magnum", and cats "Sassafras", "Rocky", and "Talladega".

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

We also kept one of the Freedom Ranger roosters, which I named Waldo. The fire was of course the main reason there, but he was also this big, handsome red and white barred fellow, so I thought it fitted the "Where's Waldo" reference as well. Unfortunately (for Waldo anyway) he grew into a brute and a bully and was terrorizing and even injuring my hens with his advances and he ended up in contributing to a delicious Coc au Vin. While he was far from the first chicken I have butchered, he was the first one who I had intended on keeping, who had been named and admired as an individual.

 

[Kristin Brown]

That's another great name for the scenario! Glad "Waldo" was able to serve a purpose for your family. How old was he when you butchered him?

 

[TamTurkey]

I cheat. I take live chickens to the processors they come out looking like store bought (but bigger) and I pay the guy $2-$3 a bird. I just don't have the time, patience, stomach or heart. I applaud those of you who do!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

That's another great name for the scenario! Glad "Waldo" was able to serve a purpose for your family. How old was he when you butchered him?

Waldo was about 7 months when I butchered him. After processing, he weighed just a hair under 8 lb. He was a very big boy, which was probably why the hens didn't want to have much anything to do with him. I had planned on trying to hatch some 2nd generation Freedom Rangers this coming spring, but I didn't want my hens so stressed out. One was even wounded from his claws and I couldn't put up with that.