| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jun 25 2012 : 6:00:37 PM
I have a question about raising meat chickens, or rather getting ready to butcher them
I was told that switching them to rabbit feed the week before will help the meat taste less gamie and more like they were grass feed. Any comments?
Thanks
Liz
Wanna be farm girl in my heart, semi- city girl in life |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Bornagainfarmgirl |
Posted - Jul 13 2012 : 1:55:21 PM
No- rabbit pellets do indeed swell and it could be what happened..... My dog got into rabbit pellets once and we almost lost her due to the swelling (Thank god for our wonderful Vet!). If you ever try meat birds again, just stop feeding them their regular feed 24 hours in advance (let them drink water still though)....that is simply all you need to do.
I am so sorry this happened to you- All that hard work!
As to everyone that thinks you are 'nuts' for doing all these new things, I hear ya! My family thinks I am too and I came up with a response:
"I would rather find out someday that if my ideas/philosophies were 'wrong' I did not hurt anything in the process, than live with the guilt that I could have made this world just that much better for myself and my children, and maybe even their children".
I love to wander country roads. |
| batznthebelfry |
Posted - Jul 11 2012 : 03:45:46 AM
Liz I had to laugh as I am so used to looking at the MJ names I didn't realize you were the one who started this thread...so please forgive me for my silly comments above about the blame game.....I read everything under the MJ name but then try to answer by the given names so sometimes this poor hen gets confused :)..............but I am still sorry your family went thur this & it is part of any new adventure sometimes but a painful one at that....I know now you will do your best from your posts & that you are kind hearted & never meant anything bad to happen to your animals.......
Oh I am with you on the grass fed cows...love it....I learned if I was going to do something like chicken fried steak with grass fed to soak it in buttermilk over night....some will soak it in cola to help with the toughness....or pound the dickens out of it...lol...I learned a trick form my grand grandmother who corn/molasses fed her wild dears in the fall & winter to sweeten up their meat before we hunted them....she did the same to the cows a few months before they were to be butchered...she put out bits of it in the areas the cows were so they got a bit each day & it sure made the meat great by the time we cooked it up............great granddad made her a molasses wooden container with a wooden wheel that when licked would turn into the molasses under it...the big container was blocked except for the wheel so the cows couldn't get to all of it but they sure enjoyed that ever so often...
I have always said if I ever get any cows, even one I will create this same thing for them.
You are only a yr younger than me but I see you & I both are learning as we go...it sure has it fun sides to it as well as the heartache but I am sure like me you won't trade all this new learning for anything.....
yakLady is right...chickens though can die at the drop of a hat even when yo do everything right...& they never really need any special feed before butchering unless like she says you want a big more fat on them.....
The things I do for mine I am sure really don't change their eggs that much but I love being able to feed them hot oatmeal or stone cut oats with cranberries in the winter...I do most of what I do for them cause I enjoy how happy they are & they seem to get less chest colds/frost bite ect in the winter...........Since I am a stay at home girl I can do these things cause I want to but really you don't have to do anything special for them...my neighbor girl 2 doors down only gives chicken feed & veggie/fruit scraps if she has them....Since I have no children near by or grand children to spoil I think this is the reason I do what I do...it makes me feel wanted & needed......Michele'
Chickens RULE!
hen #2622
theoldbatzfarm.blogspot.com |
| YakLady |
Posted - Jul 10 2012 : 9:30:56 PM
Oh man how sad :( Ya try something that sounds like a good idea and it just doesn't work out :( I'm sorry!
For next time (if there is one) I would highly recommend harvesting at 8-10 weeks and you shouldn't have any 'gamey' taste issues at all. You can finish them with scratch grain the last few days if you want some subQ fat for roasting/rotisserie, but it's not necessary :)
Good luck, and I'm really sorry for how this all happened!
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising Tibetan Yaks, Highland cattle, Laying hens, Muscovy ducks, Silver Fox rabbits, and a few dogs. |
| ramonaj |
Posted - Jul 10 2012 : 8:14:10 PM
that is truly awful. so sorry that happened to you. our first batch of meat birds grew so fast some of them died of heart attacks. we didn't know what on Earth was going on. There can be a pretty steep AND expensive learning curve when you're first trying new things in raising/growing your own food. We give our meat birds chickweed from the garden but that's about it as far as grassy stuff goes.
happiness to all sentient beings |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jul 10 2012 : 3:48:49 PM
Oh Michele, I wasn't saying that the blame game was coming from here, no it is from my nephew and hubby.
You guyes have given me support, a shoulder to cry on and soooo much infomation, this whole thing has been easier to get thru because of you ladies. I don't live in a chicken friendly environment so I don't have anybody to compare notes with about my girls. I'm so happy to have the MaryJane Community to turn to. My family thinks I'm kinda nuts for wanting hens, eating my own eggs and drinking raw milk.
Unfortunately most people have been brainwashed into thinking truley natural food is bad and everything has to be processed, pasturised and pumped full of who knows what be fore to should be eaten. At 52 I'm just starting to learn that things aren't suppose to be that way.
We even found a farmer who raises
grass raised beef that we buy when we can. it sometimes can be a little tougher but you can't beat the flavor!
Wanna be farm girl in my heart, semi- city girl in life |
| Dusky Beauty |
Posted - Jul 09 2012 : 5:56:54 PM
Differences in species are very interesting too... I've butchered many ducks, but just did my first gander a week or two ago, and his kidneys were Teeny TINY compared to duck kidneys, but absolutely everything else was larger.
~*~ http://silverstarfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/ ~*~
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.”
~Erma Bombeck |
| batznthebelfry |
Posted - Jul 09 2012 : 07:19:54 AM
oh Liz none of us are blaming her or her hubby for what happened....we have all been there in one way or another & she did post that the had died & didn't understand so we we trying to help her not blame her or play the blame game in anyway....Sometimes when things happen like this we are at a lose of what we could have done for a different outlook & I know that was all I was trying to do for hr...I have made chickens my life so I have researched, read ect to make sure if I can make my 'kids' happy, healthy & content I will do it...but things happen so I wanted to after the tears come to be able to understand what I missed or could have prevented....thats why I explained the autopsy for her...so hubby cold see if it was even the hay or something other that they could learn from.....
Anna, I live in a fairly quiet area so when fireworks ect go off it sends my girls into dropping off egg production...lol...they are sooo sensitive...lol...I raise them more for the love I have for them than whether they lay or not..I have some near 10 yrs old that lay ever so often & I don't mind...I am just happy to see them out there sunbathing & being chickens....
I too, if have to butcher a chicken skin them like you I don't fry it & hate plucking feathers more than anything so skin it is the best for if I have to do it......I love that you got to see from someone what the insides of a chicken really looks like...its fascinating to see just how much stuff is in that little body....I also think the lungs are amazing...neon pink & tiny...makes me wonder how they can really breath since we as humans have huge lungs...the 1st time I did an autopsy I hated it since I so loved the bird but I realized I had to understand what made them live & die...so for me it was a way to open myself up to a better education of chickens...because of it I have been able to help others understand their chickens better when they ask me questions.................once a teacher always a teacher I guess :)....Michele'.
Chickens RULE!
hen #2622
theoldbatzfarm.blogspot.com |
| Annab |
Posted - Jul 09 2012 : 05:50:34 AM
Sorry! I read that wrong- so disregard
Might be the heat affecting laying output too if they aren't hardy hot weather layers. Different breed layers produce better in different conditions. Some are more suited for hot, some more for cold.
We have butchered our own and grilled the meat. It was tasty, but not worth the mess. Also didn't bother plucking but rather skinned them instead. We don't fry our chicken or eat the skin so why bother.
The friend who showed us a bloodless method of killing them and is also an animal keeper, so he took the time to show hubs and me a bit of the anatomy (I know ungulates and horses and that's about it)
It's super cool to see clusters of egg folicles in procession before they become eggs. That was the most fascinating part of all. That and opening up the crop to see all the grit.
But I'm just as happy to buy locally from someone else who has taken the time to deal with the mess in their own processing.
We did fast our hens to be butchered a day before processing so there wouldn't be as much fecal material and food matter mess. But I don't know if this is standard procedure or something I'm just used to doing for vet procedures anyway. |
| Annab |
Posted - Jul 09 2012 : 05:37:39 AM
fireworks shouldn't mess with the taste. That has everything to do with what they are eating. Input equals output.
For the past 9 or so years we have put on a professional fireworks display on our farm. It rivals that of most small cities and takes 3 days to set up. True, the first one or two "wind tests" and play time set everybody into a cackling frenzy at first, but once it's dark and the show starts we don't hear a peep, and I have always collected just as many eggs the day after as the days before.
These hens are cooped at night and aren't set out to free range until mid afternoon, so know nobody is secretly laying somewhere else either. |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jul 09 2012 : 04:04:13 AM
You know I really didn't think they timed out either but it feels like everyone is playing the blame game. What happened, happened. we can't change the out come now, we just move forward, and if/when we do it again we will do it on our own and follow our own instincs.
For now I'll enjoy my hens, they are alot less work and I get the best eggs ever! We also learned that our free range laying hens don't
work very well on the dinner table they were TOUGH!!!!!! Even after stewing for a long time, maybe next time I'll try to make sausage.
We have also had alot of fireworks going off lately and my girls eggs have been less lately, I didn't even think anout the fireworks messing them up, Thanks again.
Liz
Wanna be farm girl in my heart, semi- city girl in life |
| Annab |
Posted - Jul 08 2012 : 08:07:46 AM
And I had a rehabbed rooster who had been destined for the poultry plant that was HUGE!! He bounced off one of those semi tractor trailers. Their lifespan is supposed to only be 6-8 weeks and he lived 2 years.
There's always room to grow, pity our wallets can't afford to expand with that knowledge |
| batznthebelfry |
Posted - Jul 08 2012 : 02:06:01 AM
No I can say your birds did not time out as I have a broiler hen who is a yr old now & most say they can't live beyond 4-5 months cause they get too much weight & die from a heart ache or break legs from the weight.......
I wish your hubby would have at least looked at the tummy area to see how much feed was in it so you could see if the rabbit/hay swelled enough to kill or hurt them.....glad you are enjoying the laying hens...i adore mine who are all off laying cause we have had 2 weeks of fireworks going off in the area...only 3 of 13 are laying each day but I know that will change soon as it gets quiet again...Michele'
Chickens RULE!
hen #2622
theoldbatzfarm.blogspot.com |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jul 06 2012 : 06:37:14 AM
Thank you all for the advice, sympathy and hugs.
We butchered the remaining 14 birds on saturday,but I couldn't get my dh to do the autopsy he just wanted to get it done.
I was really afraid we were going to have problems with the rabbit pellets, now we know. It was a learning experience (unfortunatly an expensive one) we started with 50 birds and lost a few here and there, we never expected a big loss all at once.
Do you ladies think that they may have just "timed out" they were almost 12 weeks old and my nephew said that they should have been done at 8 weeks, but they were still really small at 8 weeks.
Well next time we will do it ourslves and research it better and follow our oun instincs, that waywe have nobody to blame but our selves if there is a problem. or ,aybe I'll just stick with my hens and be happy with just eggs for now.
Thanks again
Liz
Wanna be farm girl in my heart, semi- city girl in life |
| Annab |
Posted - Jul 05 2012 : 04:02:40 AM
This entire poultry thing has beena learning process for me too.
Here's what I have found to be good sources
1. going online and becoming a member of the poultry youth association. Anyone of any age can join. It's a chat forum like this where you can ask questions and just chat about poultry. A moderator will answer your questions. 2. get a subscription to either Backyard Poultry or some other poultry related magazine. They are chalked FULL of great articles and tips 3. Stop believing everything people tell you and do google searches yourself to cross reference the information
So sorry :( |
| morristribemom |
Posted - Jul 02 2012 : 04:30:30 AM
Hey Chick-chick,
I'm so sorry for you, what an experience. :(
Just a word for next time, because there really should be a next time, limit the advice you're willing to listen to. This lifestyle brings more opinions than I ever thought possible, it can be enough to drive you crazy!
I just finished our first batch of meat birds and they turned out fine. Not huge, but good enough. I learned a lot, and I plan to give them more turkey starter, as well as flock starter, next time to make them a little bigger. They really don't need much, just fresh air, clean water, and food.
Have a good cry in the shower and get back up on the saddle! :)
Hugs,
Kelly
Kelly Morris
www.themorristribe.com |
| oldbittyhen |
Posted - Jul 01 2012 : 11:26:04 AM
rabbit pellets will swell to 4 times their size when the chickens drink, so most likely they blocked completly up...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jun 29 2012 : 7:10:47 PM
Michele, thanks for the advice. We lost one more today and My dh is going to do the remaining birds tommorrow, he did notice that there wasn't as much poop as usual the last couple of days. I won't be there but I did tell him to do the autopsy and what to look for, I hope he listens to me (and you) I'll keep you posted.
Wanna be farm girl in my heart, semi- city girl in life |
| batznthebelfry |
Posted - Jun 29 2012 : 1:05:46 PM
oh dear hen I am so sorry about this but I think since you were going to butcher them you need to go ahead & do a few autopsies to see what happened...do it very carefully so not to cut anything inside but see if there was a blockage in the crop, stomach, gizzard or intestines...since rabbit feed is purely grass/hay it shouldn't of killed them but it could have not broke down as quickly as the feed does & caused a blockage or gizzard bound inside......even with the large amounts of water they take in it may have just not been enough for them...but since you just started this I can't see it killing them this fast so check the hearts...they may have had heart attacks which is a know fact as is broken leg bones in some heavy meat birds if they get too much weight on them...thing to look for with the heart...is is soft & mushy, way over sized & pinks instead of firm & deep red...Check veins & valves around it are they in good shape & not twisted, ballooning or broken open.
To autopsy is different that preparing a bird to eat you want to turn it over on its back & cut a small cut just under the the breast area & slowing cut sown wards towards the vent...being careful not to cut any intestines ect...so not cut thur the vent though...gently spread the area open & slowly start pulling out what you can & look at it for clues...once you find the gizzard, cut that open to see it its a nest of rabbit feed...is alot of it dry, not broken or ground up? look at the small & large intestines...is there pockets of airs ballooning out, can you feel full pellets of feed in there? Reach in the bird & carefully pull out the heart & liver...is the liver orange or dull pink instead of deep red? ...If you find heart or liver problems then you got bad chicks that had a possible genetic defect that hit them as they grow older...thats why you need to autopsy more than one while you do this to see if its a genetic ailment instead of an outside problem like the feed....please if you do this tell us what you found its always so helpful to others who may have this problem in the future...thank you for the update...Michele'
Chickens RULE!
hen #2622
theoldbatzfarm.blogspot.com |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jun 28 2012 : 9:13:43 PM
 Well unfortunatly I have my answer regarding giving rabbit pellets to our meat birds. My DH went to feed them and found 23 out of 38 dead, most of them around the feeder and the remaining 15 don't look to well. It really broke his heart. we were going to butcher them on Saturday, now it looks like we won't have any to do. My gut and his told us that that was not the right thing to do but my nephew's wife said they would be fine and it would help the meat (we were splitting the birds with them) Next time (if ther is a next time) I will educate myself better, not jump into it and will not do it with anybody but my husband. and I will trust my gut.
Wanna be farm girl in my heart, semi- city girl in life |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jun 27 2012 : 7:14:17 PM
Thank you ladies for your advice and words of wisdom. I'm feeling a little better about the whole thing, I guess we will find out on Saturday, hopefully we will be having chicken for dinner.
Wanna be farm girl in my heart, semi- city girl in life |
| homsteddinmom |
Posted - Jun 27 2012 : 5:26:46 PM
we started ours on chick starter(non medicated) then added some catfish food to the mix when they got older. Ours taste great!
Homesteading Mom in East Texas. Raising chickens, Rabbits and goats here on my farm!
http://homesteddinmomsworld.blogspot.com |
| SheilaC |
Posted - Jun 27 2012 : 2:20:06 PM
I'm going to guess that most of us who began raising meat birds were unprepared! ;) we sure were!!
http://troutwife.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/brooktroutwife |
| batznthebelfry |
Posted - Jun 27 2012 : 12:52:32 PM
Liz its normal to be confused when you first get an new animal that you are using for food...so don't worry about that..all you are trying to do is the best you think for the animal...as for the chickens just keep doing what you are doing...after yo have butchered them if you like the taste then you know what to do in the future...if you prefer a bit more meat on them then add the oats, flaxseed, yogurt, milk & extra proteins the next time around...I promise you what you are doing now is good & you will enjoy the meat you get from them...Michele'
Chickens RULE!
hen #2622
theoldbatzfarm.blogspot.com |
| chick-chick |
Posted - Jun 27 2012 : 04:36:56 AM
I'm so confused. We kinda jumped into this unprepared, with another couple, who are equally unprepared, not one of our best choices.
So maybe it is best to go with the regular feed or finisher feed and not the rabbit food?
Wanna be farm girl in my heart, semi- city girl in life |
| batznthebelfry |
Posted - Jun 26 2012 : 07:41:04 AM
Ok What I think is going on here is they are switching to an all grass feed instead of the chicken feed which has other things in it..vits/minerals/prteins ect...problem with this is broiler chickens have no gamy taste even if feed their normal feed up to the time they are butchered...but an all grass feed may make the meat a bit more tender but if its a Rooster you are butchering...hens you don't have to worry about this.....the broiler Roo we did once was fine & tender with its normal feed...so its up to you how you want to go with this but for me it would be a waste of Money.....I do know some will actually add more things to the chickens diet a few weeks before the butchering such as yogurts, oats, flaxseed ect to give more to the chicken so its super healthy & has a bit more added weight....Michele'
Chickens RULE!
hen #2622
theoldbatzfarm.blogspot.com |
