The Grass is Greener on the Other Side
June 28, 2014
Enjoy it while you can Mr. and Mrs. Houdini… .
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Throwback at Trapper Creek 
are they meat chickens on the run?, i had a few of those today, so easy to catch!
On Sat, Jun 28, 2014 at 8:16 PM, Throwback at Trapper Creek wrote:
> matronofhusbandry posted: ” Enjoy it while you can Mr. and Mrs. > Houdini… .”
C., yes, I think they have figured out that something is up 😉 Easy to catch and easy to eat!
morning darling, i am running two lots through this year, everyone wants some and they make fantastic christmas presents!!.. the second lot are white (like yours) and they are so different from my red rangers., but i thought I would give them a try and do the comparison… c
C, yes, they are different for sure, apples and oranges different, but you won’t find any Cornish bashing here, I like them for their efficiency and quick turn around. I never have understood the savings on the environment and wear and tear on the farmer to take even more weeks to grow the chicken which takes more labor, and more land being sown to annuals to feed them… . You won’t find me complaining about the fertilizing capabilities either. 200# of N per acre in a TAD moving system is not to be sneezed at, they grow some great pasture while their doing their thing.
I think the red broilers, FR etc, suit the folks who don’t have the time to move them and aren’t so into pasture management, any home raised chicken is a good thing. My expectations are that the CX will do exactly as I expect, grow some tasty meat in a short amount of time, so I can move onto other summer activities. Looking forward to your comparisons.
As for taste, of course an older chicken will taste different, (better?), it has more to do with time than breed, the amino acids change after about week 8, hence all the touting of the slower growing breeds tasting better than a CX is a kind of silly. The best chicken I’ve grown? All the roosters we had when we were selling eggs. We raised them alongside the pullets, and butchered them when we did our broilers. We sold the broilers and ate the young cockerels. Now that was tasty.
The Old Codger swears that a young rooster is the best, his job was the catch the rooster for dinner when he was a child. I am finding that these white birds (still only in their frit week) look kind of oily, they are certainly not as vigorous as the reds. So how long should I grow them for
I remember the article you wrote on them a while ago and you said more bang for your buck or something like that. Anyway I am giving them a go. But they are SO different as chicks that i am wondering about them. Do they need extra mineral for their legs?
But there is a lot to be said for getting them growing and in the freezer, and done. I love chicken. c
C., I have never given extra mineral for leg problems, but it depends on the feed and if the mineral is in available form for the chickens or not. Once we started using the Fetrell mineral the leg problems we had seen earlier disappeared. They are not trouble-free for sure, but I’m kind of a detail person so I don’t mind keeping an eye on them. Usually what happens though is people try all sorts of things to slow down these fast growing birds, and the birds end up paying for it and then get a bad rap. I say if you want a slow growing chicken – grow it. High protein early is the way to go, and then you can back off on the protein content. Daisy would surely lend some milk for some ricotta for your little dudes, I used boiled eggs this year since Jane is dry. But chicken cheese is the bomb for chickens!
I give the older ones milk, but chicken cheese? What an idea. I will look into that! I shall look on the feed bag and see if fetrell is in it, otherwise find some.. I am home all day, so like you I check the chickens often. great chatting with you too, I always learn something.. c
Ain’t it the truth; no matter how good your fences are, something can always get out! And even when none of my critters are out, the wild turkeys parading under the window saying “chook, chook” at 5 AM are just as attention-getting…
What do you feed your meat birds? They look so big and healthy.
Big Sky chick grower, plus they got a dozen boiled eggs per day for the first three weeks. Spoiled babies 🙂
Beautiful photos…especially that first one of chicken little! That’s the rooster right? Btw…is that one lil chick still following you around? I’m mean if and when it escapes the coop! 🙂