Post by Kelsey on Jul 11, 2017 17:07:01 GMT -5
We butchered our 15 Red Broilers on Friday, and are really pleased with how they turned out!!
They were purchased on March 31 (through feed store, from Privett Hatchery) and slaughtered July 7, so 14 weeks old.
I started them on 28% gamebird crumbles (as I do all our chicks) inside and then they went outside into two chicken tractors sometime in May (I can't remember - though we did keep them inside longer than I would normally because it was unusually wet and chilly this spring).
When they were a couple weeks old, I started mixing our usual clabber-soaked grain mix of rolled barley, peas, lentils, whole wheat and a tiny bit of flax into their crumbles. By the time they were outside they were just getting the soaked grains (should be about 15% protein for the grain mix, plus whatever the milk adds).
They were all extremely healthy and grew well. They looked more normal than Cornish Cross, like really fat buff colored chickens.
We decided to butcher on Friday because the roosters had all been crowing for a couple weeks, and suddenly wanted to fight each other. I don't know how much bigger they would/could get, but I feel like we were definitely at the upper end. The hens looked like they were ready to start laying...
The carcasses were just a bit more slender than CC, though definitely a broiler type chicken. Most people probably wouldn't know the difference between one of these and a CC carcass. And they were loaded with fat!! I parted out 6 of the carcasses and made stock this weekend, and got 3.5 pints of fat from just those 6 birds. And we got an additional 1.5 pints of rendered fat from around the 15 gizzards!
And last night's roast chicken was super flavorful and juicy. Yum!
Weights (8 females, 7 males):
4.25, 3 @ 4.75, 4 @ 5.25, 5.5, 5.75, 6, 2 @ 6.25, 6.75, and 7 pounds dressed.
They were purchased on March 31 (through feed store, from Privett Hatchery) and slaughtered July 7, so 14 weeks old.
I started them on 28% gamebird crumbles (as I do all our chicks) inside and then they went outside into two chicken tractors sometime in May (I can't remember - though we did keep them inside longer than I would normally because it was unusually wet and chilly this spring).
When they were a couple weeks old, I started mixing our usual clabber-soaked grain mix of rolled barley, peas, lentils, whole wheat and a tiny bit of flax into their crumbles. By the time they were outside they were just getting the soaked grains (should be about 15% protein for the grain mix, plus whatever the milk adds).
They were all extremely healthy and grew well. They looked more normal than Cornish Cross, like really fat buff colored chickens.
We decided to butcher on Friday because the roosters had all been crowing for a couple weeks, and suddenly wanted to fight each other. I don't know how much bigger they would/could get, but I feel like we were definitely at the upper end. The hens looked like they were ready to start laying...
The carcasses were just a bit more slender than CC, though definitely a broiler type chicken. Most people probably wouldn't know the difference between one of these and a CC carcass. And they were loaded with fat!! I parted out 6 of the carcasses and made stock this weekend, and got 3.5 pints of fat from just those 6 birds. And we got an additional 1.5 pints of rendered fat from around the 15 gizzards!
And last night's roast chicken was super flavorful and juicy. Yum!
Weights (8 females, 7 males):
4.25, 3 @ 4.75, 4 @ 5.25, 5.5, 5.75, 6, 2 @ 6.25, 6.75, and 7 pounds dressed.