Meat birds

[CrealCritter]

Peeling feet... After plucking, cut off feet, dip in hot water for just a few seconds (I use tongs), then toss in ice water. Once they cool off the skin peels off easily.

I never "aged" mine CCX they go right from the butcher table, into ice water buket, then in to vacuum seal bags and into the freezer. We never had a tough or mushy bird. They all seemed to be just right for us. BO's need to be aged to become tender or else the meat is too tough for us. RIR is tough no matter what I did so they are only good for soup or pressure cooking (at least that's my experience).

FYI... Last year I special ordered jumbo Cornish cross roos from Rual King for .99 each. They had straight runs in the store for $1.99. so special ordering saved me $1.00 a bird. The Rual King king manager Jennifer really likes me, so I don't know if that was a factor or not.

I also only raised CCX penned because our property backs up to the Shawnee national Forest I have to keep my birds penned and with electric fence wire run around the outside. If I didn't have them penned I would just be feeding shawnee national forest wildlife.

 

[baymule]

We walked into TSC today and the manager was having a CCX meltdown. She told us to take as many as we wanted, they were FREE! She said she had another shipment coming and they had to GO. So we took 20......got 30 more shipping tomorrow (Wednesday), should be here Thursday. I am officially an idiot.

I gotta kick this pig pen/Hawg Hut building in the butt.....and get busy on chicken tractors.

 

[baymule]

And chicken feet do make awesome broth. I scald, cool, and I cut the toenails off. Don't want anything that might be lurking under the toenails and I am NOT scrubbing them! I can broth and share with our DD and family. But not the feet broth, that stays home. It congeals when put in the refrigerator, full of nutrients my joints and bones need!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Go you! Welcome to meat birds. They're disgusting. Lol

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We walked into TSC today and the manager was having a CCX meltdown. She told us to take as many as we wanted, they were FREE! She said she had another shipment coming and they had to GO. So we took 20......got 30 more shipping tomorrow (Wednesday), should be here Thursday. I am officially an idiot.

I gotta kick this pig pen/Hawg Hut building in the butt.....and get busy on chicken tractors.

Dang it! I walked into MY TSC (I'm sure this store is rated the worst in the state - it's AWFUL) this afternoon too. When I first walked in I asked one of the cashiers to send someone back to get chickens. I go back and I waited, and I waited, and I waited and she never called anybody and anybody never bothered to come and ask me if I needed any help. So, I walk to the doors that go to the back and opened one and yelled back to some guy if he could find someone to help me. He never even turned around to acknowledge that I'd spoken to him.

At that time I noticed another guy back in the corner, that I thought was a customer, give me a nasty look. Turns out he's the manager and makes me feel like a heel for wanting some stinkin' chickens! AND, another guy, obviously a chicken virgin wants to buy Cornish chickens for egg layers. I politely told him (cuz the manager wasn't gonna!) that Cornish are meat birds and they likely wouldn't live long enough to ever lay an egg! Manager gives me another dirty look. Geeze louise! The other customer asks what I recommend and I notice they have some Barred Rocks and some Barnevelders so I recommend the Barred Rocks as the better layers of their most awesome selection of layers. At the same time I told him the Barnvelders lay really pretty dark brown eggs. The guys thanked me, and told me if I hadn't spoken up they'da gotten screwed, lol. Then they decide to go to the other (independently owned) feed store in town and buy some layers there. That got me a REALLY dirty look from the manager. I couldn't help myself...I had to tell him that's why people don't like his store. I did it diplomatically...got me the dirtiest look EVER....and I didn't get no FREE CHICKENS.

But, I did buy a dozen of them nasty critters.

CONGRATS BAY!

 

[CrealCritter]

Dang it! I walked into MY TSC (I'm sure this store is rated the worst in the state - it's AWFUL) this afternoon too. When I first walked in I asked one of the cashiers to send someone back to get chickens. I go back and I waited, and I waited, and I waited and she never called anybody and anybody never bothered to come and ask me if I needed any help. So, I walk to the doors that go to the back and opened one and yelled back to some guy if he could find someone to help me. He never even turned around to acknowledge that I'd spoken to him.

At that time I noticed another guy back in the corner, that I thought was a customer, give me a nasty look. Turns out he's the manager and makes me feel like a heel for wanting some stinkin' chickens! AND, another guy, obviously a chicken virgin wants to buy Cornish chickens for egg layers. I politely told him (cuz the manager wasn't gonna!) that Cornish are meat birds and they likely wouldn't live long enough to ever lay an egg! Manager gives me another dirty look. Geeze louise! The other customer asks what I recommend and I notice they have some Barred Rocks and some Barnevelders so I recommend the Barred Rocks as the better layers of their most awesome selection of layers. At the same time I told him the Barnvelders lay really pretty dark brown eggs. The guys thanked me, and told me if I hadn't spoken up they'da gotten screwed, lol. Then they decide to go to the other (independently owned) feed store in town and buy some layers there. That got me a REALLY dirty look from the manager. I couldn't help myself...I had to tell him that's why people don't like his store. I did it diplomatically...got me the dirtiest look EVER....and I didn't get no FREE CHICKENS.

But, I did buy a dozen of them nasty critters.

CONGRATS BAY!

Never liked Tractor Supply so I never go there. Rural King ain't much better honestly, if it weren't for manager liking me and trying to get me over to her house for dinner and baking me cookies - I probably wouldn't go there either.

 

[CrealCritter]

We walked into TSC today and the manager was having a CCX meltdown. She told us to take as many as we wanted, they were FREE! She said she had another shipment coming and they had to GO. So we took 20......got 30 more shipping tomorrow (Wednesday), should be here Thursday. I am officially an idiot.

I gotta kick this pig pen/Hawg Hut building in the butt.....and get busy on chicken tractors.

:Lol FREE is FREE - hope you got them stinkers outside though.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

These folks act like they're doing you a favor to take your money.

 

[NH Homesteader]

That story was kind of awesome, lol. Not how you get free chickens though! I have 2 TSCs near me, neither Is great but I do really like the manager at one she seems to know her employees suck!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Not how you get free chickens though!

True dat!