[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

is it just same as skinning a chicken
nip the skin on the breast and then pull the skin away

[Dave C]

With this lock down, My birds are not happy about being stuck in there secure run 
Keep trying to dig out ha.

I'm a bit worried about my Hybrid meat cockerels I kept back for breeding,when they were free ranging they were chasing the hens keeping themselves fit.
Now I'm afraid they put on too much weight!!

[Dans]

Hope this is the right place to ask my question. The thread is so big that I haven't read through all the past posts.

I'm fairly new to chickens (keeping a year) and had our first two broody hatches. The first were hybrids and we killed the cockerels. We got back 1.4 and 1.7kg after gutting and was fairly happy with that. The second brood we got white leghorns as I read they were good utility birds. They are still running about (inside) at 15 weeks but they are tiny in comparison.

I want to make the best use of our broodies next year. Is there a better breed I can go for that would give me layers from the girls and meat from the boys? Or do I need to do a layers hatch and eaters hatch?

Dans

[macgro7]

is it just same as skinning a chicken
nip the skin on the breast and then pull the skin away

Same technic but much tougher skin to pull off.

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

Hope this is the right place to ask my question. The thread is so big that I haven't read through all the past posts.

I'm fairly new to chickens (keeping a year) and had our first two broody hatches. The first were hybrids and we killed the cockerels. We got back 1.4 and 1.7kg after gutting and was fairly happy with that. The second brood we got white leghorns as I read they were good utility birds. They are still running about (inside) at 15 weeks but they are tiny in comparison.

I want to make the best use of our broodies next year. Is there a better breed I can go for that would give me layers from the girls and meat from the boys? Or do I need to do a layers hatch and eaters hatch?

Dans

HI DANS
welcome aboard

answer to to your question i suppose is really depends on what your looking for really something that looks good to look at and gives good meat and eggs then you will be looking at a good starin of light sussex but you will be looking around 18-22 weeks until they are big enough
you could look at faster growing birds that Dave will im sure give good advice on

you could then introduce a good Indian game cockerel to the mix to add more meat and faster growth

this year i had IG X light sussex and the birds where pretty good they are also a sex link gene so the males come back white and females brown

the females havent laid as yet but im expecting plenty of eggs in fact the females seem like they have more meat than the males pound for pound

i got 1.8kg of dressed out bird from the IG X males at 20 weeks


onto 2017 i have cou cou de rennes and going to give this a good go at working a good line
i am 1 of only  4 people in the country with breeding group of birds
hope this gives a little bit of insight and im sure the others will chip in with good points


ryan

[Dave C]

Hope this is the right place to ask my question. The thread is so big that I haven't read through all the past posts.

I'm fairly new to chickens (keeping a year) and had our first two broody hatches. The first were hybrids and we killed the cockerels. We got back 1.4 and 1.7kg after gutting and was fairly happy with that. The second brood we got white leghorns as I read they were good utility birds. They are still running about (inside) at 15 weeks but they are tiny in comparison.

I want to make the best use of our broodies next year. Is there a better breed I can go for that would give me layers from the girls and meat from the boys? Or do I need to do a layers hatch and eaters hatch?

Dans

Hi Dans and welcome to the obsession that is meat bird and utility crosses 

Firstly, sorry to tell you this but White Leghorns are not utility birds, you will get no meat from them that's worth while, what you will get is loads of large white eggs 
I used to breed them and they are a very good choice for a laying breed.

As for birds worthy of breeding for meat and eggs a lot is down to personal preference, as Ryan said above a good cross is Indian Game x Light Sussex, Dorking are also good, but there are so many duel purpose breeds which no longer carry much breast meat and only grow large frames, most do better crossed with Indian Game as they have a double breast which carry a lot of meat.

Then you get your free ranging hybrids which grow slower and stronger than broilers and also lay well, but can they be bred from?
I will tell you in a few months ha.

what are you looking for in a Meat bird?
What size bird do you want on your table and how quickly you want it table ready.
remember time = feed = £££

If you get time try to read through this thread, might get some ideas.

Look forward to hearing about your plans.

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

Macro
What would you charge for a full skinned Muscovy a friend wants to buy one but not sure what to charge I'm aware of laws etc.
But wouldn't mind getting feed money back
Thanks

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

I was thinking £2/LB

[macgro7]

I was charging £10 per duck when I was selling them

[TracyC]

Thanks for the welcome.
Re the Ross Cobbs, they were the breed that came back as best for table birds and we have found a supplier locally too which I am pleased about.
The initial plan was to get 40 day olds and put them all in the freezer at once.  We have chicken 2/3 times a week in the form of roast or diced and sliced.  I also will be batch making meals in prep for the winter.  We were not planning on keeping any back for breeding from due to the whole weight thing Dave C however my mind is wandering as I don't want to keep paying year after year (we would get 40, maybe twice a year) when we could raise them ourselves potentially.

I have a huge, huge RIR who is this years which I was considering crossed with a female Ross Cobb?  Then using the fertile eggs as meat birds - what's your thoughts on that?  Shouldn't they be crossed?

Also, we have ducks and geese and want to put 1 of each on the table for Christmas.  They were born in May so are way past their best date for slaughter I think (from what I have read).  What's everyone's thoughts on this?  We're definitely doing it, so advice on how to cook would be welcome

Thanks all.  Hope you're all bearing up with the whole keeping them in or covered malarkey.

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

I was charging £10 per duck when I was selling them

Sounds about right cheers

[macgro7]

Also, we have ducks and geese and want to put 1 of each on the table for Christmas.  They were born in May so are way past their best date for slaughter I think (from what I have read).  What's everyone's thoughts on this?  We're definitely doing it, so advice on how to cook would be welcome

Thanks all.  Hope you're all bearing up with the whole keeping them in or covered malarkey.

Good age for geese. They should have more fat on them now. Ducks I usually slaughtered at 2-3 months.
Roasted duck, duck in orange sauce. Oh boy! Getting hungry already!
Personally I think goose is even nicer than duck! Roasted pekin/aylesbury ducks + muscovy + goose + turkey last year for comparison, and our results were:
Duck - lovely! Fat, soft meat, strong flavour
Muscovy - no fat at all. Very different in flavour to normal duck.
Goose - fantastic! Plenty of meat (was worried about it!). Milder flavour than duck.
Turkey - love turkey but if you are roasting it you can easily dry it out on the outside and not cook well inside - at least when  it's very large - our one was fairly small.
All the birds were raised by me!
This year I don't have any turkeys or ducks. Only muscovies and geese, but only keeping geese for breeding and eggs for next season.
Have you seen how ridiculously expensive geese are at the butchers?

[Marches Farmer]

I have a huge, huge RIR who is this years which I was considering crossed with a female Ross Cobb?  Then using the fertile eggs as meat birds - what's your thoughts on that?  Shouldn't they be crossed?

You can cross anything with anything - the Ross Cobb is a very fast-growing modern hybrid and the RIR a dual-purpose heavy fowl that's been around long enough to for its characteristics to become fixed.  The offspring could be quite variable.  If the RIR is huge he may damage the hen if you have him running with only one or if he favours one above the others.

[TracyC]

Thanks for the replies both.  I am really looking forward to it.  We are going to do the deed on Sunday as it's the only day we have with enough time on our hands so we don't end up panicking that we're short of time.  Only thing is, Sunday is the 18th which is 1 week before we'd be eating it.  I ready that the goose at least, is best hung to avoid tough meat from the tense muscles (or something similar) bit I don't want to risk it going off.  Would you leave it a couple of day then pop it in the freezer for a couple of days?
Just bad timing this year I guess.  Thanks.

[macgro7]

It shouldn't go of if it's hanged with guts in. I left a hen for 3 days recently and she was fine, but it was a bit colder than this week.
I read somewhere that temperature for hanging should be below 7C I think.
My goose last year was in the freezer for couple of weeks. Didn't hang it before that.