What Dual Purpose Chickens Are Good To Eat????

[PandaGirl]

Ok, so just one more question, I have 5 breeds
- Golden lace wyandottes
- Silver laces wyandottes
- Plymouth barred rock
- Whit rock
- Dominipue
Are any of these going to leave marks on the skin when I butcher!!!

 

[NatJ]

Ok, so just one more question, I have 5 breeds
- Golden lace wyandottes
- Silver laces wyandottes
- Plymouth barred rock
- Whit rock
- Dominipue
Are any of these going to leave marks on the skin when I butcher!!!

Yes, several of them will have dark pinfeathers or dark spots in the skin after you pluck the feathers. Barred Rock and Dominique certainly will, and I'm not sure about the laced Wyandottes.

White Rock is a great choice if you want pretty-looking skin after plucking.

Dark spots on the skin are safe to eat, but don't look as nice. If you skin the chickens instead, it won't matter.

 

[PandaGirl]

Ok, does anybody know about the wyandottes??

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Ok, does anybody know about the wyandottes??

I'Ve not slaughtered any of mine yet, sorry

 

[NatJ]

I did some poking around, trying to find pictures of Wyandotte carcasses.
This article has a few Silver Laced Wyandottes, plucked and butchered:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/comparison-of-breeds-and-ages-of-chickens-for-meat.63093/
I don't see any dark spots on them. (There are several breeds pictured, but some are Silver Laced Wyandottes.)

Then I found a picture in this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-breeders-thread.811228/page-93#post-12520303
That plucked chicken is a Barred Rock, and I don't see any dark spots on it.

So there must be some other factor, not just feather color. Maybe the colored bits only happen if they are butchered at certain ages?

A picture that does have dark bits showing is in this duck thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wth-is-this-tiny-feathers-on-butchered-muscovy.1402609/
That one's pretty obvious, but the original poster said it tasted fine.

It looks like I've been giving partly-wrong advice, thinking that feather color always caused colored bits in the skin, because clearly someone was able to pluck a Barred Rock and have it look nice and clean. Now I don't know what to think.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have had dark spots from plucking pin feathers on ducks that i processed at a bad time, from the blood supply going to those new growth. Didn't take a photo, not sure if its what you are describing or not.

Was still plenty tasty.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It looks like I've been giving partly-wrong advice, thinking that feather color always caused colored bits in the skin, because clearly someone was able to pluck a Barred Rock and have it look nice and clean. Now I don't know what to think.

I think this is a common problem on this forum. Somebody says this can, might, often, occasionally, could possibly happen and people automatically think it absolutely has to happen each and every time. "If" is another word that is often ignored.

If you pluck a chicken the pin feathers can be left, some often are. If they are white or buff they aren't that noticeable. If they are dark red or black they are very noticeable. That's why Cornish X are white, so the pin feathers don't show up as much.

When a new feather is starting to grow in, like when the chickens are molting (either adult molt or juvenile molt) you can get a bunch of spots where there is a liquid that looks like ink where the new feather is growing. Or small feathers themselves. Really ugly. Often we butcher dual purpose cockerels when they are going through a juvenile molt. Same thing with ducks. If the feathers are light this is not as noticeable as when they are dark. They are still there, just not as noticeable.

None of this hurts the taste of the meat, but it can make a big difference in a pretty carcass or an ugly one.

 

[RUNuts]

I think this is a common problem on this forum. Somebody says this can, might, often, occasionally, could possibly happen and people automatically think it absolutely has to happen each and every time. "If" is another word that is often ignored.

If you pluck a chicken the pin feathers can be left, some often are. If they are white or buff they aren't that noticeable. If they are dark red or black they are very noticeable. That's why Cornish X are white, so the pin feathers don't show up as much.

When a new feather is starting to grow in, like when the chickens are molting (either adult molt or juvenile molt) you can get a bunch of spots where there is a liquid that looks like ink where the new feather is growing. Or small feathers themselves. Really ugly. Often we butcher dual purpose cockerels when they are going through a juvenile molt. Same thing with ducks. If the feathers are light this is not as noticeable as when they are dark. They are still there, just not as noticeable.

None of this hurts the taste of the meat, but it can make a big difference in a pretty carcass or an ugly one.

Also note that it happens with commercially prepared chicken also. I've gotten feathers attached to wings that were battered and fried. Not pin feathers. Just plain old missed feathers. I know some people who would be bothered by that. Best not to look too close. That's why all the fancy restaurants are dimly lit. Things look better in the dark.

 

[PandaGirl]

Ok, does anybody know what the temperament of the roosters of those 5 breeds I put in the post above post is?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Ok, does anybody know what the temperament of the roosters of those 5 breeds I put in the post above post is?

Just like any other breed characteristic, it is an individual bird thing.
My only two very human aggressive roosters turned out being a white Plymouth Rock and a Partridge Plymouth rock but I consider that nothing more than anecdotal evidence. I wouldn't blame rocks for being human aggressive more than any other breed just because I happened to have a bunch of them and a couple became aggressive.
Regarding temperament of breeds of roosters, I wouldn't trust anyone's opinion based on someone who had one or two roosters. That tells me nothing about the breed in general.
The only thing I can offer from a data driven base is that out of the 600 or so roosters I've raised, over 500 of them were Black Penedesencas and never one of those BP was at the least human aggressive