What kind of chickens?

[skyhightree1]

If you raise or have raised chickens for the freezer what kind do you prefer and why? I prefer Cornish crosses. Red rangers are good too.

 

[TN Cattle Man]

It would be pretty tough to beat the Cornish crosses... Right size birds and they actually have some flavor to them unlike what you buy at the grocery store.

 

[slick4591]

Red Rangers have always been recommended to me as the better flavored, but they take a couple of weeks longer to be ready to slaughter. Hard to beat a Cornish cross for the benefits of both flavor and finish time.

 

[M.Magis]

I've raised cornish crosses, and to be honest I didn't notice them tasting any different than grocery store chicken. And they cost me about 4 times as much as buying grocery store chicken. I enjoyed it and will do it again, but not because it was better chicken.

 

[bird dog]

When you can buy a cooked rotisserie chicken at Sam's warehouse for 5 or 6 bucks, I don't know why anybody would raise chickens for meat. All the Wal Marts also sell them but the Sam's ones are bigger and better.

To me it is some of the cheapest ways to eat around. Whole chicken pieces one meal. Tear off the rest of the meat and you have enough for sandwiches or tacos. Use the remaining scraps on top of a salad the next day.

 

[skyhightree1]

When you can buy a cooked rotisserie chicken at Sam's warehouse for 5 or 6 bucks, I don't know why anybody would raise chickens for meat. All the Wal Marts also sell them but the Sam's ones are bigger and better.

To me it is some of the cheapest ways to eat around. Whole chicken pieces one meal. Tear off the rest of the meat and you have enough for sandwiches or tacos. Use the remaining scraps on top of a salad the next day.

Some people prefer a healthier route and don't mind the extra effort/money. I prefer to know whats going in my food and raising my own as much as possible. If sams and walmart is great to you that's good but you probably never ate many fresh chickens right off the farm you raised. You are looking at savings of money and getting full... I am not penny pinching or shying away from work and am looking for quality.

 

[callmefence]

Nothing healthier than chicken raised on donuts,ho hos, ringadings, honey buns and curdled milk....lol

 

[True Grit Farms]

When you can buy a cooked rotisserie chicken at Sam's warehouse for 5 or 6 bucks, I don't know why anybody would raise chickens for meat. All the Wal Marts also sell them but the Sam's ones are bigger and better.

To me it is some of the cheapest ways to eat around. Whole chicken pieces one meal. Tear off the rest of the meat and you have enough for sandwiches or tacos. Use the remaining scraps on top of a salad the next day.

My wife makes good chicken soup out of the chicken scraps.

 

[True Grit Farms]

When you can buy a cooked rotisserie chicken at Sam's warehouse for 5 or 6 bucks, I don't know why anybody would raise chickens for meat. All the Wal Marts also sell them but the Sam's ones are bigger and better.

To me it is some of the cheapest ways to eat around. Whole chicken pieces one meal. Tear off the rest of the meat and you have enough for sandwiches or tacos. Use the remaining scraps on top of a salad the next day.

Some people prefer a healthier route and don't mind the extra effort/money. I prefer to know whats going in my food and raising my own as much as possible. If sams and walmart is great to you that's good but you probably never ate many fresh chickens right off the farm you raised. You are looking at savings of money and getting full... I am not penny pinching or shying away from work and am looking for quality.

There's a big difference between eating healthy foods and eating healthy. A responsible is diet is mandatory for your health.

 

[skyhightree1]

Nothing healthier than chicken raised on donuts,ho hos, ringadings, honey buns and curdled milk....lol

Now here is a man that knows something :lol: :tiphat:

 

[skyhightree1]

When you can buy a cooked rotisserie chicken at Sam's warehouse for 5 or 6 bucks, I don't know why anybody would raise chickens for meat. All the Wal Marts also sell them but the Sam's ones are bigger and better.

To me it is some of the cheapest ways to eat around. Whole chicken pieces one meal. Tear off the rest of the meat and you have enough for sandwiches or tacos. Use the remaining scraps on top of a salad the next day.

Some people prefer a healthier route and don't mind the extra effort/money. I prefer to know whats going in my food and raising my own as much as possible. If sams and walmart is great to you that's good but you probably never ate many fresh chickens right off the farm you raised. You are looking at savings of money and getting full... I am not penny pinching or shying away from work and am looking for quality.

There's a big difference between eating healthy foods and eating healthy. A responsible is diet is mandatory for your health.

Yea I know the difference I haven't always had the best eating habits but I do prefer to raise my own animals If at all possible and foods

 

[Dave]

The Cornish cross will grow real fast. Sometimes too fast resulting in broken legs and heart attacks. Red rangers grow slower and it doesn't seem they get as much meat on their bones. I really prefer home grown chicken. I raise the Cornish cross. At about 5 weeks I slow them down some by mixing whole grain (generally barley) in with their feed. I also have them in a portable shed which I move twice a week so they eat grass.

 

[slick4591]

My wife makes good chicken soup out of the chicken scraps.

Cracking the bones and boiling down until it's a really condensed broth is a big plus for us. Maybe my imagination but homegrown just tastes better to me.

 

[JMJ Farms]

All I've got is games. Had a few extra roosters that took to fighting about 6 months ago. Wrung their necks and cooked em up. Could've took the three of them and fed 200 people. Put a peice in your mouth the size of marble and it would grow to the size of a softball. I'd imagine whip leather would be tender up beside them.

 

[Ky hills]

All I've got is games. Had a few extra roosters that took to fighting about 6 months ago. Wrung their necks and cooked em up. Could've took the three of them and fed 200 people. Put a peice in your mouth the size of marble and it would grow to the size of a softball. I'd imagine whip leather would be tender up beside them.

Had the same result with some Leghorn roosters a few years ago, the more you chewed the bigger the bite seemed to get, no matter how they were cooked.

 

[farmerjan]

I raise some of the Cornish crosses for meat. Have killed many NH cockerels that didn't make the grade for show birds for meat also. You have to feed the "egg laying" breeds to fatten as fast as possible so they can be killed at a young age. We have had big games, that my son raises for show. They are good for soup. But again, you gotta kill them younger rather than older. Some of the layers make good soup, the sex-link hens and such after they are laid out in 2 years. I do better selling them at the poultry swap to the different ethnic groups and just raise up the cornish cross for me. I have a couple of farmers that have the poultry houses, confinement, that ship out the broiler types at 42 days. Often they will leave behind some of the small ones that don't make the "grade" or size. I will get them, half grown, put them in a moveable type coop and feed for another month or so. They will really get some growth when not crowded inside, and out on grass they get pretty good tasting without the whole baby chick thing. I agree that it can't beat the roasted ones at Sam's or even Walmart for money value, but I just like my own raised up food.

 

[greybeard]

What kind of chickens?

Fried or BBQd.

 

[Ebenezer]

Some old breeds have their own taste. We had 2 lines of Dominiques and I could tell you which line was on the plate after they were cooked and ready to eat. Some of that better taste requires slower growth. The lack of taste in CC broilers is good if you merely want to taste the sauce or the spice but is also the turnoff for me on purchased chicken. If I ever got some to just eat I would try Speckled Sussex for some unknown reason - maybe I have read that they were originally selected for that.

 

[farmerjan]

Most of the breeds of chickens that are in the "English" class were bred to be dual purpose fowl. They all have white skin and were preferred for table fowl. Naturally Cornish being the most developed for eating. As were the Dorkings. They are supposed to be very tasty birds. Sussex are also one of the breeds. There are several colors but speckled is the one most seen. All the breeds in this class are considered to be desirable for eating with sufficient eggs to make keeping them profitable.
I also like a few breeds in the American class and a couple in the Continental class. Faverolles are supposed to be a dual purpose breed and there are few bred today. There are a few different colors. Also Welsummers are in that class. I'd like to get some dorkings and faverolles. Right now I have standard Black Langshans and New Hampshires. Raised Lt Brown Leghorns but there is no meat. I like the Welsummers as they have a somewhat similiar but darker color pattern to the Brown Leghorn but they are also layers of very dark brown eggs and good foragers.

 

[farmerjan]

Some of the taste is from the breed, but alot has to do with how they are raised. Out on grass, eating natural protein as in bugs etc, besides getting a good grower feed, gives a whole different flavor. "Chicken tractors" or moveable coops are ideal to raise birds for meat.