Got my exercise... more roosters

[CrealCritter]

Wife came in and said why do you have roosters in with the layers? I answered there should only be one rooster in there. She said well a rooster jumped on a hen and the big rooster ran him off. I'm thinking to myself what?

So I got on my muck Boots and sure enough she was right. Not one rooster but five. I guess I wasn't watching close enough to the first brood of 15 that hatched last this winter.

My daughter in law and I chased and caught them and put them in the "boy yard" as my daughter in law calls it. It's the yard with the turkey tom and the other 4 roosters. Now I have 9 roosters for the pot they aren't fighting to bad right now - but it's also dark out there. It should be entertaining tomorrow and until I process them.this weekend.

 

[CrealCritter]

I have never noticed a dofference between the roo and hen cornish x. That's interesting. I have some white orpington hens and I'm curious how their offspring will be as table birds crossed with one of my 3 roos. Next year will be full of interesting experiments, lol.

I was kind of surprised also - but there was a stark difference in taste. I processed both roos and hens in-between weeks 9 & 10 and fed the the exact same feed 21% meatbird 12 on 12 off and ACV water at the rate of 1 cap full per gallon of water. I also fasted them for 24 hours prior to butchering but still had acv water. This cleans out there crop and also their intestines so no poop while processing.

Olive oil, salt, pepper, stuffed with stove top.

Covered with tin foil baked @ 400 degrees for 30 mins, then 350 degrees for 1 1/2 ~ 2 hours Pour off a little drippings to make milk flour gravy. Then bake uncovered @ 450 for 10 to 15 mins to brown the skin.

Plate

My wife and I can only eat 1/2 at a time.

We eat the left overs and what's left of the left overs goes into making chicken soup. So good...

 

[NH Homesteader]

We can start one... @baymule, @frustratedearthmother, @sumi, @Mini Horses and I have all raised pigs.

Sorry if I forgot someone. Pregnancy brain ya know!

 

[baymule]

@crealbilly we have raised feeder pigs twice. The first time we took them to a slaughter facility. The second time the slaughter date was 3 months off (basically you should book a date when you buy piglets and I waited a couple of months) and the pigs were eating 100 pounds of feed every 2 days! So we had a neighborhood slaughter party. We will do it again, our sausage and bacon was better than processed. Bear in mind that I have butchered feral hogs, deer and chickens, but never a pig I raised. I wanted recognizable cuts, I think we did pretty good. And the freakin' BACON!!! Best damned bacon EVER!

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/feeder-pigs.32154/

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/feeder-pigs-2017.35395/

 

[Mini Horses]

YEP!! I find 2 can normally work together in a pen, more than that? A fight!

 

[Hinotori]

Get a nice long handled trout net. Easy to catch birds without hurting them

 

[baymule]

I hatched some EE's looks like most are gonna be roos. That's ok, I can't hardly stand store bought chicken and these will make nice freezer meat.

 

[NH Homesteader]

@crealbilly I haven't tried orpingtons yet, but I have heard they are amazing actually. We know a guy who raises meat birds and he had one customer who paid him a fortune to raise buff orpingtons for him. Supposedly delicious. I am curious...

 

[baymule]

Last summer we butchered 32 Delaware roosters. I cut the breast meat off, vacuum sealed it and froze it. I cut the meat off the legs and thighs and canned it. I boiled the leg and thigh bones, the backs, and made broth, which I canned. I canned the bony back parts in quart jars with rice, squash and green beans for dog food. They LOVED it!


for a quick meal, I can open a pint of chicken meat, it's already cooked. I used the breast meat in stir fry or I breaded and fried them. Either way, the breast meat was good. Not a lot of breast meat on a Delaware, certainly not like the double D boobies on a store bought chicken, Cornish cross. Because it takes longer for a heritage breed to grow off versus a Cornish cross, the meat is "firmer" which is a marketing double speak for "tough and chewy". The flavor is very good. Cornish cross meat is soft and mushy, there isn't much flavor, but there is a LOT more meat.

I look at it as I have raised them, fed them, I know what they ate and how they were treated. Why wouldn't I eat them? Currently I have 2 pens of EE's that most look to be roosters. As soon as they reveal themselves to me, they are going to be slaughtered. Last Sunday afternoon, we butchered the mean EE rooster that hated me, and I hated him. He had testicles the size of golf balls! No wonder he was so mean, his gonads were 10 times the size of his birdy brain! He was a year and a half old, REAL tough to skin, and I soaked the carcass in salty ice water until bedtime, then I bagged it up and put it in the refrigerator. I let it rest for several days, then simmered it all day long. That mean old %*#$ rooster made some deep yellow rich broth, the dark meat was a dark chocolate color and very tasty. I packed it in the broth and put it in the freezer for now.

I am looking for "that" breed of chicken. Delaware ain't it. Next I will try Australorp and Speckled Sussex. I figure by raising my own, the roos go for meat, frozen or canned, the old hens go for meat, makes fine chicken and dumplings.

@crealbilly the roosters you have will taste good. They won't look or taste like store bought. The meat will be "firm" so sharpen up your appetite and maybe you won't notice so much. It might help to thaw the carcass in the refrigerator, let it "rest" several days, then soak the carcass in cold, slightly salty water in the refrigerator 24 hours, then prepare it for frying. Some people rest their chickens in the refrigerator 3-5 days before putting them in the freezer.

You will have to let us know how the Orps turn out.

 

[CrealCritter]

The growth rate of the heritage breeds makes them older than a tender fryer would normally be, IMO. But, chicken & dumplings are good or slow cook for chicken salad, pot pies, etc.
How you butcher, handle to age meat, all factor in. Baymule does more of this than I have in years. Maybe she'll chime in.

That's why you see people raising the meat bird types if they are looking to seriously fill the freezer, 6-12 week old birds.

I raised about 35 Jumbo Cornish Cross last year in two batches. 20 roos in the spring and 15 hens in late summer. The roos are awesome stuffed and baked in the oven. The hens are less tasty (very bland) but are good breaded and fried. I was going to raise more CCX this year but my Buff Orpengtons went broody, so I let them hatch out three broods instead. Now I got lots of of buff orpengtons.

Buff Orpengtons well orpengtons in general are supposed to be a good eating chicken. IDK... its my first time rasing them so I'm about to find out. I'll let you all know what I think.

Edit:
I stand corrected after looking back through my notes - I raised two batches of 15 last year for a total of 30.