MEAT BIRDS THREAD ~Plans, pics, pens, pluckers, processing! GRAPHIC!

[Bettacreek]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwjPWB1B7YE

I guess larger birds are slightly harder, because the wings stay attached. When I did quail, the breast dislocated from the wings, making it SUPER easy. Not that this is much harder, but still, it was one less step for quail, lol.

 

[the funny farm6]

Have you seen the price of chicken wings at the store? They are the most expencive part of a chicken! At least here they are anyway.

 

[Bettacreek]

You could still use the wings. This basically makes gutting MUCH easier. You could still part them out and keep everything. Just no skin without more work. Basically like skinning it, with the ease of gutting.

 

[Beekissed]

This morning I am processing 15 of my CX. This batch are so much different from the last I raised...from the very beginning they were smaller and they are still smaller than my last ones. They are still good sized birds with compact muscles but I doubt I'll get the meat yield from them that I did last time....I'm sure not all CX are created equal and with varying gene pools it would be hard to get the same results each time.

The dog is very upset and won't leave those who are about to die....he keeps skulking around like I'm going to beat him or something. I can only imagine what is going through his doggy mind, "She seems so nice for most of the time then she gets these episodes once a year when she gets bloody-minded. I could be next.....who knows with a psycho like this on the loose?"

Or.."She wants me to protect them and then she comes along and kills them???? What a waste of my time!"

 

[the funny farm6]

Poor dog- fix him some fried chicken, that will make him feel better!

 

[BarredBuff]

A common phrase comes to mind

 

[Beekissed]

And? Tell us, BB....

Well, got 12 CX processed and I am very disappointed in their carcasses. Haven't weighed them yet but I don't really need to....these things look just like a dual purpose when it's plucked...absolutely scrawny! Skinny and scrawny with small breasts, small thighs and legs....they are just small.

Here's the comparison on the two groups:

Previous CX~fed once a day instead of twice. Fed same ration but not fermented. Free ranged but not over 3 acres of premium forage...just grasses but no forest area. Aged to 10 wks instead of 8. Fully feathered, clean, tall and large breasted~one of these chickens could feed 8 people. Bought at TSC and were noticeably larger as chicks than this group and finished out as much larger birds. All healthy, all survived. Some had mild yellow cast to skin...I assume from corn in ration. Easy to kill in mere seconds. Some had a lot of fat around the organs and vent but organs were very healthy in appearance.

This group of CX~ Short, somewhat dirtier with less feathering, fed same ration as previous group but it was fermented feed, fed twice a day. More forage over a wider area. Bought at Central Hatchery and chicks looked the same size as any dual purpose breed(should have been my first clue). VERY yellow skin/legs, meat is very dark...more like a dual-purpose breed, VERY hard to kill...struggled for much longer than previous group. Very little fat around organs or in body cavity, which I expected due to all the free ranging these birds did...they were very active. All healthy organs and animals, no abnormalities noted.

Since they were fed the same type of rations and the second group were even fed more of it with the only difference being the fermentation, I can only conclude that, though being processed younger might make a small difference, it could just be the genetics used by the hatcheries.

Now...if I could only find who supplied TSC with those last CX I got........

 

[BarredBuff]

It could be the fermented grains....

 

[Beekissed]

According to the studies, the fermentation is supposed to increase the nutrition, not decrease it. Seeing as the whole body structure and muscle development was different, I'd bid on genetics being the root cause.

 

[the funny farm6]

Hmmm. I was thinking of putting an order for cornishX chicks with them.

But you would think genetics would play a large part.