Who ate their own birds for Christmas/the Holidays?

[magentamomma]

I processed my own chicken for Christmas dinner. It was a Cornishx that weighed about 15 lbs. It was at least 9 months old, she was adopted after the county fair at the end of August. I soaked her in ice water for about 36 hours after butchering her, and let me tell you it was the best chicken I have ever eaten. The breast melted in my mouth, and she made a wonderful gravy. i have harvested my own meat birds before, but as I am self taughht I didn't know I was supposed soak the, so they always turned out tough. Anyway, I am so proud of my Christmas dinner. Devilled eggs from my hens, a chicken i butchered, pecans i picked, applesauce i picked and canned. I wanted to hear about ya'lls homecooked and harvested meal, cause none of my peepds IRL care.

 

[paddock36]

We butchered two turkeys. We raised them from poults that we purchased from McMurray hatchery. The kids thought it was great. We named them November and December so it was clear when their time was up.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

We had turkey no chicken.... but have some chicken thawing out to eat tomorrow. Yum!!!

 

[FarmerChick]

I process my chickens but they are still in the freezer.

So tired of eating chicken...LOL-LOL


none for the holidays this time.

 

[Buster52]

Most of our company is coming today, so we are having Christmas dinner in a couple of hours. We will be having our free range Narraganset tom, butchered on Tuesday.

This will be my first heritage breed turkey probably in my life.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Not I, but I sure will be next year! I am raising my own turkey's for the holidays next year.

 

[magentamomma]

I wanted to raise Pilgrim Geese this year but the hubby said no, so I have a few months to try to work on him for either geese or turkeys. I will be working my magic
Does any one else feel as much pride as I do?

 

[ultasol]

As far as convincing your hubby on geese- if you have grass or pasture they are VERY efficient at turning that into meat with minimal input. Far fewer problems with predators than ducks or chickens. Geese are my super-easy bird. They are disease resistant and do well on pasture. I only grain during the winter and breeding season. After my garden is done I turn them loose there to pick up the leftovers.

Very practical. They almost raise themselves. If you're not worried about high production, most production breeds and medium/small breeds will raise their own young/hatch eggs themselves.

I had a goose for x-mas- a buff american gander hatched in late June.

 

[magentamomma]

Quote:
What kind of shelter do they need, and will they come home at night? How far do they roam, and do they get on well with chickens?

 

[dichotomymom]

We didn't have any of our chickens (not a special treat anymore, just regular fare) but we did have duck! I hadn't raised them for meat; they were supposed to be pets but they ended up being very unfriendly to both us and some of our girls so we processed them at the same time. I served some with orange sauce and it was a hit!