8 pound chicken!!!

[Caribou]

Because you guys are the only ones that I know will appreciate this  :D
I thought I'd post a pic of my 8 pound chicken.
He only cost $1.36 (when he was a week old chick  ;)) + God knows how much in chicken food.
I processed him at 11 weeks old.
Carolyn

[ArnieM]

Great looking chicken Carolyn.  But, at this point you should still be having chicken soup  ;)

[OU812]

Good job getting that broiler up to weight, most people butcher them at 6 to 8 weeks. I go 11 to 12 my self and switch from 26% protein to 16% protein when they get 6 weeks, kind keeps them from getting too fat and flopping over.

That baby is going to be gooood.

[HawkeyeSmokes]

Great looking chicken Carolyn.  But, at this point you should still be having chicken soup  ;)

That might be the plan here. And it sure would make some great soup! Just look at the color of it compared to the lily white ones most of us find in the stores.  :P

[Caribou]

I'm just roasting this fellow but I will get a few meals out of him and end up with a stew at the end  :)
Tonight, I'm cooking herb-roasted sunchokes and some green beans, too.  A "all-raised-at-home" dinner  :D
Either tacos or enchiladas tomorrow! yee-haw!
Carolyn

[Pachanga]

It looks like you have a turicken there.  I would have to brine his yellow carcass.  My family is spoiled to brining.  I am very jealous but happy for you.  I appreciate your self reliance.  My hounds are getting a little nervous when I tell them about your home grown meat.  

You probably already have one, but I make my enchilada sauce from scratch form dried ancho chiles plus others or I also have a chile powder and ground New Mexico Chile sauce recipe.  Both are very good.  Homemade Poblano corn soup or sauce makes a unique topping for enchiladas.  I would like to see photos of the enchiladas if you have time.

How do you pluck your chickens turickens?

Thanks for sharing,

Pachanga

[Caribou]

Thanks Pachanga  :)
That all sounds good!
I pluck the birds by hand so I don't like to process more than 3 or 4 in a day.
I do what's called a "sub-scald" before I attempt to pull the feathers out.
I heat a nearly-full canning pot of water to 138F and dip them (up and down) for 45 to 60 secs.
The feathers almost fall out when you pluck them.
I need to build one of those whiz bang pluckers some day  :D
Carolyn

[Pachanga]

I ask about the plucking because of an interesting method we use on ducks and geese when I hunt in Louisiana.   We heat a large pot of paraffin to liquid over a fish cooker.  The duck or geese is held by the feet and placed into the paraffin.  A Dowel rod or stick s used to separate feathers so the paraffin can flow into the feathers and down near the skin.  The bird is pulled out and allowed to set.  After setting the feathers are pulled from the tail forward.  Everything comes off in a few large chunks and you have a clean bird in no time.  We clean 50 or more at time (all legal of course).The pot of paraffin is dedicated and a little more is added before each kill.  Very little paraffin is used.  You have probably already seen this.

My grandmother did it your way when I was a kid.  She was an artist at neck wringing and snapping.  I still remember the headless chicken running around in the yard.  She would have been put in jail today for traumatizing me at such a young age.

Pachanga

[Caneyscud]

Carolyn

That is one mondo PAPA chicken there!  It's been decades ago, but raised a few banties.  I think if you put every banty I raised together they would not egual that monster!

[justpete]

Can't beat a home grown chicken Carolyn.
We also raise and process our own every year. We normally raise 50 some years as many as 100.
50 is good 100 gets to be a bit too much.

[Hopefull Romantic]

My admiration grews by the day Carolyn.

Great looking chicken there

HR

[Wildcat]

Was it a Rhode Island Red?

[classicrockgriller]

That is a big ole bird !

[Caribou]

It's a Cornish x Rock cross which is the same as your regular commercially produced chicken.  Like a Foster Farm chicken only I allowed mine to grow a little larger.
Like OU812 mentioned, when you let them get big they run the risk of falling over dead.  These chickens can hit a live weight of 20 pounds if nursed along.
Sadly, these are often the baby chicks that are available for kids during Easter, sometimes dyed different colors.  Even if cared for properly, they do not have much of a future as a pet.
They are just produced to grow very fast.
Carolyn

[classicrockgriller]

Interesting  ::)