years ago I decided that I'd eat only meat that I raised myself; and for efficiency sake, this is the crop of meat chickens that will be on my table for the next year. I looked at the long-term forecasts and decided that I'd trust them, and sure enough, we've got warmer-than-usual weather and the grass is growing and even the frogs think its spring.
So a batch of 50 chickens in the brooder, with a heat lamp, and I'll watch the conditions outside. I like a little bigger chicken, so I'll raise these until they're about 5.5lbs live weight, and then process them all in a batch, shrink-wrap bag them, and freeze them.
I don't freeze them with the hearts and livers and gizzards in them. They go into a seperate bag; the livers in particular are my favorite. I'll roast them on a pan with lemon juice and sliced green peppers; the hearts go to my brother Bryan, who loves them, and I h aven't figured out if I like gizzards or not -- but they're a staple down at the local truck stop, deep-fried and golden.
I ate a lot of gizzards in fried rice when my college roommate was from Hong Kong. But I like them chicken fried as well.
ReplyDeleteWe still have snow on the ground in NW Montana but it is melting. The biggest sign of Spring at our place is goose activity. They are busily walking around looking for the best possible laying spot. They mostly like to be outside in any kind of weather, but when they get close to laying time they want a nice cozy spot in the turkey or duck house or if all else fails the hay barn. They are willing to be pretty pushy if they think they can claim the best territory. They wander off so much between laying eggs that I have to fence them in to keep them near enough to their eggs to defend them. So until the ground thaws enough for me to put up a fence they will have to continue to jealously eye the other poultry enclosures.
Debating meat chickens myself this year. Although we eat quite a lot of turkey year round and always have a few roosters for processing.
I debate cornish cross every time I consider them. I've got to say that the 6-8 week grow out is pretty nice; gets the freezer filled with the least amount of work, and the birds themselves don't seem to have a bad time, but it sure is different than the batches of laying hens and roosters that I raise for sale. I incubate my own eggs and straight-run I get 50/50 hens/roosters. The roosters I raise for 4 to 6 months and sell as meat birds and the hens replace our laying hens and we sell them to folks who want a chicken flock of their own, but don't want to do the brooder. they'd rather pick up the hens and have eggs in a few days.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tossup for me. I like the efficiency but I'm a little guilty about it, too.
Friend you should try Mollejas guisadas with the gizzards. Muy bueno!
ReplyDeleteFriend