What did you do in the garden today?

[jerryse]

Yep....I own my neophyte status! I actually don't have any fryers. Most of my birds are dual purpose (Orpingtons, Australorps, Ameraucanas, Cream Legbar, etc...). Some are smaller/skinnier birds (Starlight Green, Prairie Bluebells, Gamehens, Blue Andalusians, etc...). And of, course, I have barnyard mixes...although all my roosters are pretty big boys. I culled a roo last fall that was the size of a small turkey...no joke.

So none of my birds are fryers although I am very tempted to get some....ha ha. And I wouldn't say we NEVER get a tender bird.... We have had a couple which were very tender and succulent. DH usually grills them. Sometimes he can overcook them which, naturally, makes them like hardtack almost. But I'd say 60-75% of the time, they seem tougher than I'd like.

Every bird you ever raised reached 8 weeks = fryer age . Nothing to do with breed really . Back in the day my Great grandmother was in charge of the setting hens . She kept a steady supply of chicken for the table . No freezers or electric . Dual purpose breeds were the staple on most farms . Eggs , enough size for eating and broody for a steady supply of fried chicken . It took skill to have chicks hatch every 2 weeks or so . Small batches just enough for the family . If the family was large it took more chicken .

 

[TJAnonymous]

Every bird you ever raised reached 8 weeks = fryer age . Nothing to do with breed really . Back in the day my Great grandmother was in charge of the setting hens . She kept a steady supply of chicken for the table . No freezers or electric . Dual purpose breeds were the staple on most farms . Eggs , enough size for eating and broody for a steady supply of fried chicken . It took skill to have chicks hatch every 2 weeks or so . Small batches just enough for the family . If the family was large it took more chicken .

We eat a lot of chicken.... I mean a lot. But I also live in Tyson country. Chicken around here is still relatively cheap although prices are going up. We started raising chickens for eggs and because I like them. I only started to cull out of necessity because I had too many roosters. I'm a "waste not, want not" type of person. I would never consider throwing out perfectly good meat....so there you go. I actually want to buy some more ducks too. We have 5 currently - 1 drake, 4 hens. But I need a bigger coop for the ducks before I can buy some more.... I still have 2 drakes in the freezer that we culled last summer. I also have maybe 4 chickens in there already and at least 6 more to cull. That doesn't count any roos that I just hatched out a month ago or any that I'm going to hatch around Easter. So yeah....lol. I need to learn better skills about this chicken-culling wisdom.

 

[TJAnonymous]

After thinking about your comment more in regards to the TV dinner chicks....I'm still astonished. I have 5 chicks in the brooder right now who are 3 weeks old. They still seem so tiny and they are dual purpose, standard breed chickens. I can't imagine them being big enough for a tv dinner in just 2 more weeks.....

 

[karenerwin]

I have had a problem with some chickens, even young ones that are 6-8 months old, not being tender. Sometimes they are so tough that we can't eat them at all. If anyone has any tricks of the trade on this....I'm all ears!

Cook them real slow!!
Crockpot works great. Also after you kill them let them sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours. This lets the rigor mortise (chemical ?) dissipate. Or something along those lines. For turkeys the need to sit for 3 days.

 

[WthrLady]

We eat a lot of chicken.... I mean a lot. But I also live in Tyson country. Chicken around here is still relatively cheap although prices are going up. We started raising chickens for eggs and because I like them. I only started to cull out of necessity because I had too many roosters. I'm a "waste not, want not" type of person. I would never consider throwing out perfectly good meat....so there you go. I actually want to buy some more ducks too. We have 5 currently - 1 drake, 4 hens. But I need a bigger coop for the ducks before I can buy some more.... I still have 2 drakes in the freezer that we culled last summer. I also have maybe 4 chickens in there already and at least 6 more to cull. That doesn't count any roos that I just hatched out a month ago or any that I'm going to hatch around Easter. So yeah....lol. I need to learn better skills about this chicken-culling wisdom.

We're in Smart Chicken country. Lately, they've only been filling 10% of the orders that the grocery stores are putting in, so FINDING chicken at the market is a trick. Every time it's on sale, but there is none there, so I have the manager give me a rain check and then freeze or process it.
The other brands of chicken at the market is pumped up with water, citric acid and flavors and tastes icky.

 

[Acre4Me]

After thinking about your comment more in regards to the TV dinner chicks....I'm still astonished. I have 5 chicks in the brooder right now who are 3 weeks old. They still seem so tiny and they are dual purpose, standard breed chickens. I can't imagine them being big enough for a tv dinner in just 2 more weeks.....

Meat chickens, Cornish cross last fall.

Sept 2:

Oct 6 (5 weeks old) :

 

[WthrLady]

The rate of growth on a CC is INSANE! I had one get mixed in with my egg layer chicks one year, didn't have the heart to eat it, it could barely walk at 12 weeks and week 14 dropped dead.

 

[BullChick]

I have had a problem with some chickens, even young ones that are 6-8 months old, not being tender. Sometimes they are so tough that we can't eat them at all. If anyone has any tricks of the trade on this....I'm all ears!

I have talked to pensmaster about that. He said to try sous vide. “Cooked at 130* for several hours, then up the temp to 160 for the last hour. It’s tender that way, and they cook in their own juices.”

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Every bird you ever raised reached 8 weeks = fryer age . Nothing to do with breed really . Back in the day my Great grandmother was in charge of the setting hens . She kept a steady supply of chicken for the table . No freezers or electric . Dual purpose breeds were the staple on most farms . Eggs , enough size for eating and broody for a steady supply of fried chicken . It took skill to have chicks hatch every 2 weeks or so . Small batches just enough for the family . If the family was large it took more chicken .

I raise duel purpose and mine definitely aren’t cooking size at 8 weeks. They are usually only 2 pounds at the most. I’d probably only get maybe a pound of usable meat post processing. Ours don’t get big enough to be worth the work of processing until around 15-16 weeks. The ones they are talking about butchering at 5 weeks would by a meat hybrid like Cornish cross.

 

[vall]

The quail always amaze me too. My new years hatch is seven weeks now and I can't tell the difference between parents and offspring. I need to send some more to the fridge this weekend.

I cut back the mess of a sungold tomato plant this morning.. I think some of the stems were 15 feet long. Up a retaining wall and over a fence. It was productive, but I couldn't get at most of the tomatoes. I saved one cutting to root into a new plant, but the base of the original plant is still there for now in case it wants to send out new shoots.