We Processed The Remaining Cockerals

I don't imagine the nutritional value of either to be better or worse than the other. We don't eat the globs of fat (but I will consider rendering now that I have read about hencackle's pie crust). I found it interesting that for 19 weeks and as strong and active as the birds where that their insides where lined with beautiful yellow fat. Clean fat. The kind of fat that melts and makes a nice fond in the bottom of a roaster -unless you cut it all off and strip the skin.

The cornish roasters are bred for the large fast growing traits. There genetics have been bred for this to happen. That doesn't to the best of my husbands genetic engineering degree have anything to do with the nutritional value.

The commercial roaster have been not only bred (engineered) for the faster growth, plumper breasts, etc, and do often have a lining of fat in them but they have also been exposed to antibiotics and commerical feeds which I do believe alters the taste or the tenderness of the meat. The lack of sufficient exercise is what makes those birds more tender. Hence home grown birds, especially the styreotypical 'old rooster', being more active is what makes him a tough old bird and good for stewing.

Store chickens are also injected to make them more juicey/water filled/ tender. Read the fine print on some of the printed lables and you'll be suprised by what they inject them with but they are still able to lable them 'all natural' chicken.

I have never tried the jumbo cornish x rocks we are now raising so I will find it very interesting to
compare them to the run of the mill extra cockerals that we just processed.

I do know that the texture of a home grown bird is different from a commercial bird and the flavors differ. The home grown tastes so much better!

Gosh, does this answer your question?

I think I was rambling LOL
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MissPrissy, the pastry make with chicken fat will definitely taste different from one made with shortening. It might be that you will only want to use it for a savory, herb pastry for pot pie instead. I sure wish I had my great-grandmother's recipe to give you.
Stephanie
 
Hi all - I'm new to this site and new to raising chickens so I find this very interesting. We got our 16 birds for eggs but I keep teasing that one would be perfect for Christmas dinner.

I've never had "real" fresh chicken nor ever processed it. My BF loves them all (as I do) and can't even think about eating them. In my mind, chickens are fun and purposeful but they are also food and I'd have no problem with it.

Has anyone ever had to convince someone of this? Were you successful?
 
Yes I had to convince my DH and I have. Get a few cornish cross meat birds and raise them for the purpose. Tell him right from the get go that is what they are for. He will notice the dramatic growth rate and their ability to eat and poop. They also will begin having leg issues and you might have a few die from the fast growth bringing on heart failure. Ths will make it easier for him to part with the birds. Then don't involve him in the porcessing if he is not game, just get it done or do it yourself and don't make a big deal of this being home grown chicken, just cook it up. He will notice the better taste and it will get easy from there. You can also help him along by telling him of the better health and life they had or the better health and life your going to have not eating the hormone and antibiotic infested meats.

Just don't start with a layer hen that is near or dear to him, or has a name. And no naming the meat birds.
 
No naming them - good point! That's the first thing my kids did when we got them!

We keep the chicks at his house; maybe I should do the meat birds at mine. I'd love to give it a try. Can you point me to a good source of information as to how you process them? I've seen all kinds of gadgets in catalogs but I doubt those are necessary but I don't know.

Thank you for your help and sorry for all the questions. I'd like to learn as much as I can and this seems like a great place to do it!
 
Yes do the meat birds at your house then. They take little work and are done in 6 to 8 weeks so not a huge time commitment. You don't need any special equipment, a sharp knife will do if your just doing a few. Killing cones and such just make it a bit faster/easier for when your doing many. I have done batches of up to 100 birds by myself with nothing but a knife just by doing about 10 to 12 a day. That was all I could fit in my fridge so that is what I did each day, and then put the previous day's in the freezer, so they had a day of aging. It took me about 2 hours each day so not a great deal of the day either. For me that suits better than a whole marathon day of it. However now that I have been talked into raising them for family and friends I get help and go all day with a auto scalder/plucker, so we get 200 done a day and everyone has to pick theirs up and find their own fridge or freezer space!

Best to have help the first time if you can find someone that knows how or take them to someone who will let you help. Google found me many great resources too,
 
Prissy, Thanks for all the great processing threads and pics. We are also considering taking on some meat birds at our house next year. Neither of us enjoy processing. We've done it in the past and skinned the birds instead of plucking them. I like the skin personally. I hope I won't have a hard time when I choose to pluck.
 
i agree about birds with less excercise being a little more tender. i let mine run around. but the flavor is great. also, that it's best to never to name what you're going to eat. not sure that you should try to convince someone else of killing. that is an to each his own type of thing. also, nothing wrong with skipping the gizzards and such the first (or every time around). you really have to do what works best for you. wow. two hundred in one day. don't think i would be up to that. this is a really good thread.
 

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