Suzanne, not sure if you are doing the processing or not. Make sure you remove their feed in the afternoon, the day before. Makes it so much nicer for the person dealing with the entrails (guts) Don’t want to offend anyone. When we butcher they call me the head gutter, LOL. Do make sure they have water. Wish we were closer would be glad to help out. Not exactly a retreat class, but it is nice to know how to be able to do this. Part of being self-sufficient.
<— Chicken Plucker from WAY back…this is a dirty job. Kinda stinky too… :bugeyed: saved the "innards" for fish bait, now that was nasty. Out-sourcing this job is a great idea.
I do this as part of my income. It is a dirty job and I usually am the one with the knife, so no gizzards get in the giblets. Pulling the craw and the oil gland are enough.
Window On The Prairie, I’ve never heard of that. I believe that both sexes are raised for meat, and I’ve seen some very fat roosters (my own) which made delicous chicken noodle soup! :french:
We are thinking of doing meat birds next year. My vote is for straight run roos like you are doing. Others want to do cornish cross hens because they are more like the plump grocery store chickens. If I wanted a grocery store chicken, I would buy one there already packaged ;).
I did a batch of Cornish Cross last year. We processed 15 birds (the ones I had ordered for this purpose and a few extra roos I had hatched out). We all got really good at our lil system by the time we were done. I became “Head Gutter”, and got really quick and efficient at the whole process.
It is nice to know how to do this yourself. I have since done 3 turkeys (nothing beats a home grown turk!) and few more roos.
I’d love to do another batch of meat birds. I called the last ones piggies with feathers. I hate buying store birds! $15 for an “organic” whole roaster!!
I know they’re roos. I know what “roos” means. I see that they are roos in the picture. Yet when I think of butchering them, I immediately think “Be sure to take the little eggs out!” Because I can remember piles of them on the sink when my grandma and great-grandma would butcher their chickens. And that makes me laugh a little. Much as I loved my grandma’s fried chicken, I wouldn’t eat it on butchering days. It was just too soon. :hungry:
We raised 50 this year. Half for us and half for our daughter. To each their own. Beef has been bred to provide better beef. The same with chickens. Cornish Cross was bred for the same thing.
We raise Cornish Cross. They have been around for over 25 years. We have never had any health problems. Out of 50 we lost one chick. We use organic feed and thery are range free. I don’t like store bought chickens because they are usually raised under bad conditions. Also when raising them we have both hens and roos. The roos always heavier when dressed out.
I’ve never raised meat birds before, but I’m getting ready to do this to three “mutt” roosters. Chicken n dumplins ……mmmmmm mmmmm good. I don’t know whether to pluck or skin. Any ideas/comments about either? :hungry:
Suzanne, I am really under the weather today, Chicken soup sounds great!!! Send those Roo’s my way!! Wondering if they are planning an escape! :chicken:
Bev – I apoligize. I did not mean to sound judgemental. The cornish cross do not do well here. The push to get market size birds in just six weeks is too stressing. I would rather take a bit longer and have a happier bird, but the cx’s struggle if you try to keep them around longer. Hot and humid or cold and wet, that is our weather LOL.
DancesInGarden, you don’t have to apologize. I didn’t mean to come back and sound that you were. Can understand, we live at the very north end of CA., over 3000′ and deal with many things that cause problems with our garden and livestock. No offense taken. Also I do know that some people have had problems with the Cornish Cross. Heat is really hard on them. We do usually raise ours 8 to 10 weeks. What is so great is that everyone on CITR takes the time to share there thoughts and ideas,etc. I love it!
Bev in CA says:
Suzanne, not sure if you are doing the processing or not. Make sure you remove their feed in the afternoon, the day before. Makes it so much nicer for the person dealing with the entrails (guts) Don’t want to offend anyone. When we butcher they call me the head gutter, LOL. Do make sure they have water. Wish we were closer would be glad to help out. Not exactly a retreat class, but it is nice to know how to be able to do this. Part of being self-sufficient.
On October 18, 2011 at 7:27 pm
Bev in CA says:
Wow, maybe they are hungry because the time is really near. If you already are doing this just ignore my ramblings in my last post.
On October 18, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Madeline says:
How many chickens do you process and freeze each year?? You do it YOURSELF??????
On October 18, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
Madeline, I’ve never kept meat chickens before. I won’t be doing the deed.
On October 18, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Miss HomeEcs Daughter says:
<— Chicken Plucker from WAY back…this is a dirty job. Kinda stinky too… :bugeyed: saved the "innards" for fish bait, now that was nasty. Out-sourcing this job is a great idea.
On October 18, 2011 at 9:36 pm
holstein woman says:
I do this as part of my income. It is a dirty job and I usually am the one with the knife, so no gizzards get in the giblets. Pulling the craw and the oil gland are enough.
On October 18, 2011 at 11:28 pm
holstein woman says:
Sorry, you don’t pull the oil gland, you cut it out.
On October 18, 2011 at 11:29 pm
Hlhohnholz says:
Hungry roos? Hungry ME! They look delicious! 😀
On October 19, 2011 at 12:37 am
Window On The Prairie says:
I’m confused. I thought only hens were grown to butcher, not roo as they don’t have as much meat on them.
On October 19, 2011 at 9:15 am
chickenherd says:
Window On The Prairie, I’ve never heard of that. I believe that both sexes are raised for meat, and I’ve seen some very fat roosters (my own) which made delicous chicken noodle soup! :french:
On October 19, 2011 at 10:02 am
cabynfevr says:
AHHHHHH!! Run, run while you can little buddies! :hissyfit:
On October 19, 2011 at 10:22 am
DancesInGarden says:
We are thinking of doing meat birds next year. My vote is for straight run roos like you are doing. Others want to do cornish cross hens because they are more like the plump grocery store chickens. If I wanted a grocery store chicken, I would buy one there already packaged ;).
On October 19, 2011 at 10:43 am
AliciaN says:
I did a batch of Cornish Cross last year. We processed 15 birds (the ones I had ordered for this purpose and a few extra roos I had hatched out). We all got really good at our lil system by the time we were done. I became “Head Gutter”, and got really quick and efficient at the whole process.
It is nice to know how to do this yourself. I have since done 3 turkeys (nothing beats a home grown turk!) and few more roos.
I’d love to do another batch of meat birds. I called the last ones piggies with feathers. I hate buying store birds! $15 for an “organic” whole roaster!!
On October 19, 2011 at 11:04 am
Anita says:
I know they’re roos. I know what “roos” means. I see that they are roos in the picture. Yet when I think of butchering them, I immediately think “Be sure to take the little eggs out!” Because I can remember piles of them on the sink when my grandma and great-grandma would butcher their chickens. And that makes me laugh a little. Much as I loved my grandma’s fried chicken, I wouldn’t eat it on butchering days. It was just too soon. :hungry:
On October 19, 2011 at 11:14 am
Bev in CA says:
We raised 50 this year. Half for us and half for our daughter. To each their own. Beef has been bred to provide better beef. The same with chickens. Cornish Cross was bred for the same thing.
We raise Cornish Cross. They have been around for over 25 years. We have never had any health problems. Out of 50 we lost one chick. We use organic feed and thery are range free. I don’t like store bought chickens because they are usually raised under bad conditions. Also when raising them we have both hens and roos. The roos always heavier when dressed out.
On October 19, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Almost Heaven, WV says:
I’ve never raised meat birds before, but I’m getting ready to do this to three “mutt” roosters. Chicken n dumplins ……mmmmmm mmmmm good. I don’t know whether to pluck or skin. Any ideas/comments about either? :hungry:
On October 19, 2011 at 3:15 pm
lizzie says:
Suzanne, I am really under the weather today, Chicken soup sounds great!!! Send those Roo’s my way!! Wondering if they are planning an escape! :chicken:
On October 19, 2011 at 3:19 pm
DancesInGarden says:
Bev – I apoligize. I did not mean to sound judgemental. The cornish cross do not do well here. The push to get market size birds in just six weeks is too stressing. I would rather take a bit longer and have a happier bird, but the cx’s struggle if you try to keep them around longer. Hot and humid or cold and wet, that is our weather LOL.
On October 19, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Bev in CA says:
DancesInGarden, you don’t have to apologize. I didn’t mean to come back and sound that you were. Can understand, we live at the very north end of CA., over 3000′ and deal with many things that cause problems with our garden and livestock. No offense taken. Also I do know that some people have had problems with the Cornish Cross. Heat is really hard on them. We do usually raise ours 8 to 10 weeks. What is so great is that everyone on CITR takes the time to share there thoughts and ideas,etc. I love it!
On October 19, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Bev in CA says:
oops, I should proofread better! There instead of their.
On October 20, 2011 at 1:34 am