we just butchered our first 2 birds, man where they tough!

[cutlass1972]

The tasted WONDERFUL! Unlike store bought chicken they actually had some real flavor!
They where however EXTREMELY tough, and VERY little breast meat! They are 15 week old alstralorp roosters that only weighed in at 2.5lbs dressed. We free range all day so they run and flap around all day.

I suspect they where so tough because we do free range them, but I am not sure? 15 weeks they should still be ice and tender I would think?

I will add that this is the first non store bought chicken either of us has ever eaten, are we just used to having 8 week old roided out rock cornish industrial chickens that have never left their 1' x 1' cages?

 

[Bossroo]

1' x 1' cages ??? When a commercial broiler operation raises these birds by the thausands at a time, there is no way that they would be able to handle them in such confined conditions of 1' x 1' cages as the labor costs ( not to mention the cost of the cage itself)would be way too expensive to even consider such a venture. They are raised as loose birds in very large temperature, and light controlled barns . Each bird has .79 sq. ft. (optimal for weight gain) to 1 sq. ft of floor space where the feed and water traughs are no more then 10 feet away from each bird. As for steroids, well that scene is illegal and the USDA vets. would condemn the whole shipment which would take a BIG bite out of one's bottom line. The competition is just too fierce. You can buy friers at the local grocery stores from $0.79 to $0.99 a pound. Ain't going to happen. Over 40 years and raising a few million birds of selective breeding and research by University and Industry scientists makes it possible to enjoy a great dinner at very modest cost.

 

[TipsyDog]

Did you let the meat rest for 48 hours in the fridge? How long after butchering did you cook the meat?

 

[RWPower]

Bossroo, what are you, a tyson lobbyist?

 

[onthespot]

I did my first roo last week (unplanned. He got in a fight and was injured and I felt it was best to just process him onthespot.) I cooked him straightaway in a pot on the stove. Simmered him all night on the stove and the meat fell off the bones. It was still a bit tough but I diced it up and made tamales out of it and it was SPECTACULAR!!!

t makes me look at my other roosters in a whole different light now. WHOLE different light. Whenever I have cause to pick one up, I am sort of massging their thighs, hefting them a little in the air to guestimate/judge how many tamales I could make out of him if he gives me cause. Trouble is all the rest of my roosters are so well behaved except the one that has always been a pickle since six months old. Okay younger guy coming along. Look out! Gloves are off now!

 

[Punk-Rock_Chicken]

Quote:

Right?! What's with that?

 

[cassie]

Quote:
Bossroo is correct. While I have no direct knowlege of Tyson, I do know a little something about Foster Farms. I imagine that most of these broiler operations are run prettty much alike. Foster Farms has a lot of broiler operations near me. I happen to know a few people that work there, plus on nice days you can see right into the barns that are near the highway. You can actually see the chickens running around doing chicken things, and there is not a cage in sight. The incredible performance of these chickens is achieved by breeding, feeding, and management, not steroids. Or cages.

 

[TexasVet]

Back to rooster toughness.. the tenderest roos are the ones that haven't started crowing yet, or have just begun. Once they're mature, hormones make the meat dark, stringy, and gamey. So I've been butching mine between 4 and 5 months old. I sprinkle the cleaned bird with meat tenderizer, toss it into a ziplock bag, and let it chill in the fridge for a couple of days to "tenderize" the meat.

The last four roos were baked after I rubbed them with spices (pre-packaged chicken rub from the store), because no one but me likes boiled chicken meat. They tasted terrific! Bet they'd have been good with BBQ sauce too.

Oh, and because there isn't much breast meat on my roos, I cut the bird in half, right down the center. Makes you think you're getting a lot of meat, even if you aren't!

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com

 

[cutlass1972]

Um, yeah. I will admit that I have no knowledge of how industrial chickens are bread, raised, processed, etc.. None of this was the point of my post. I think MOST of us knew what I meant.

I baked my bird until a store bought chicken would have been done (170 degrees internal). we removed it and sampled it, it was terribly tough. I put it back in and baked for about another hour. It was STILL just a little tough, but the skin was all nice and crispy, the meat tasted SO good!

I agree with the fellow above that "industrial chickens" are an EXCELLENT value. They make a very nice meal, and are way cheaper than I would ever sell one. However they dont have 1/10 the flavor my bird had!

 

[Bossroo]

Quote:
Bossroo is correct. While I have no direct knowlege of Tyson, I do know a little something about Foster Farms. I imagine that most of these broiler operations are run prettty much alike. Foster Farms has a lot of broiler operations near me. I happen to know a few people that work there, plus on nice days you can see right into the barns that are near the highway. You can actually see the chickens running around doing chicken things, and there is not a cage in sight. The incredible performance of these chickens is achieved by breeding, feeding, and management, not steroids. Or cages.

NOPE !!! No connection to Tyson or any other commercial poultry producer. Just a poor peasant curently raising the fruits of over 40 years of their labors on my own ranch after spending many years raising dual purpose and egg laying breeds. I have however, attended and worked for many years at an institution of higher education , then at a private research laboratory, with chickens, sheep, cattle, horses, rabbits, rats, mice, pigeons, etc. I have also been inside several commercial poultry facilities (using strict quaranteen proceedures) as well as slaughterhouses and have observed first hand the production guidelines and operating proceedures. I hope that I gained a little bit of knowledge in all those years so that I can raise a few chickens in the most efficient way in the shortest time possible and for the least amount of money for the greatest amount of the tastiest meat for my family's table. So, I am telling what I have seen, experienced and learned first hand over the years.