Since there are so very many questions on here about raising dual purpose breeds or mixed chickens and so many different answers. I would love to see posts with pictures of your chickens, that are NOT broilers, before they are butchered and after. That way we could actually tell how well they turn out and if we would ever want to try that breed or mix as a meat bird.
I lost one early but the rest are fine. Looks like I have a black australorp pair but the two mystery ones I wouldn't give up for anything, they are so pretty and I love the crest on the darker one.
This is a great idea. I just slaughtered a really scrawny cockeral at about 18 weeks old and expected it to be tough meat because thats what everyone said he would be but he tasted very nice and was not at all tough (admittedly I did casserol him). I dont want to hijack this thread but was wondering if we could agree on some set questions for research and comparison between the BYC dual purpose flock members and then compile the results? Just an idea but was thinking...... Type of breed (RIR Orp etc etc) Cockerals - average weight at 10weeks and 16 weeks Pullets - average weight at 10weeks and 16 weeks What type of feed and roughly how much in weight given per week Pullets / Hens- average age at which egg laying commenced Pullets / Hens - Note of egg laying months and non laying months (time out for moult etc) First year and second year. These are just some ideas and I am sure better minds than mine on BYC can improve on these.
Of the two, I honestly thought the flavor was betting in the older, non-meat birds. We had a couple of chanteclers roos we butchered last summer for a BBQ. They were far tastier than the big Xs we cooked along side them. Sorry I dont have any pics but they looked about half the size of the younger xs as one would expect. I guess it comes back to the age old more meat vs more flavor.
I don't sit around photographing my dressed birds as they are all bagged and go straight to the farm market and into appreciative tummies.
Quote:Now it doesn't take very long to snap a picture I just thought this would be a good way to put some of the questions to rest. Sometimes it is easier to see with pictures than it is to just be told which one is best. It will be about a month or so before I have to do an extra brown rooster here and in a few months I will have extra cuckoo marans to do but I will make sure to take pictures then. However I do not keep track of my feed since I am feeding so many (so very many) chicks right now but it would be neat to hear from those who do. I mainly want to see what the birds look like butchered and dressed. One year I did a roo here that was exceptionally narrow. I could hardly get my hand in the cavity but from just looking at that roo, I would have never known he was that small. Anyway, that is the point I am trying to make, if we can see them before hand we would know..
You can see by my list of birds that a lot of my breeds are winter hardy dual purpose. I butcher all my extra cockerels and send them to freezer camp. Sorry no pics of them dressed out. I will say that even on a mature adult bird they still aren't as meaty as a cornish or meat specific breed. But while leaner they make dandy tasting meals. Typically I bake or stew as I normally don't butcher until they are a few months of age. The chanteclers in my opinion have been the tastiest of the lot. Haven't butchered any buckeyes yet but I've heard they are better than typical on flavor as well....more dark meat. The cochins seemed to carry more fat than the other breeds. Even a banty can make a tasty soup............ Julie
I understand that none of them will look like cornish or taste like them for that matter. In the past I have taken my butchered roosters and pressure cooked them off the bone and then canned them and used them in soup and casserole-like dishes. Next time you do one, take pictures . I would be interested to see how the buckeyes turn out. I would love to see a Dorking done too as I have heard a lot about them once being meat birds. Becky
Quote:Right now I have a total of 36 chickens, various ages. I had several clutches hatch over the summer, some a few days apart. I haven't butchered all of the roos from those hatches, the last one was very late in the year, and I'm not for sure who's a roo and who's not, on a couple of them. I don't have a scale that goes over 5 lbs. If I did, I don't think I'd have much luck getting a live weight on some of them. Some are nervous and flighty, one screams and acts like he's being dismembered alive anytime I get too close. I feed all of them free choice, and toss out a can of whole corn/black oil sunflower seeds as a treat every day. I can tel you how much feed a week I go through, but not how much any particular bird ate. Later, when I have movable pens built, and have specific breed mixes I'm trying out, I'll be keeping track of how much broiler feed for the meat chicks, etc. But right now, though I could make a guess about age of the bird, and guess-timate live weight, and show a pic of dressed carcasses, that's as close as I could get. I'm sure it's the same for a lot of people.
