CntryBoy777
Herd Master
I've known some that singed them off, but the smell of burning....well, smoldering wet feathers sure will "fill the air" and curl those nose hairs.....
Farmerjan's journal - Weather
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Baymule
Herd Master
I've known some that singed them off, but the smell of burning....well, smoldering wet feathers sure will "fill the air" and curl those nose hairs.....
Mini Horses
Herd Master
Most who do processing on large scale use pluckers. Plus MOST are pkgd whole, again, equipment to do. Those poor CCXs don't live long enough to get much more than baby feathers. 
Those bags aren't cheap either.
FarmerJan is on the tractor....we'll get a reply at some point
Those bags aren't cheap either.
FarmerJan is on the tractor....we'll get a reply at some point
Bruce
Herd Master
Stoney Ridge Farmer put up a chicken processing video yesterday. 3 people 50 birds in (IIRC) 2.5 hours. They had an assembly (disassembly??) line set up. 4 killing cones, scaling pot, plucker, gutting station, 3 sink cooling station. Bagged them with some sort of bag that shrinks when it gets hot. 2 birds at a time in the scalding pot and then both into the plucker.
B&B Happy goats
Herd Master
Was just at wally world...whole chickens were $3.88 each.....but they didn't say "crammed in a cage with 10 birds for their short life...artificial light only, ... guaranteed to have never been exposed to the sun or mother earth......and fed only chemically treated feed" , .......I wonder why they leave out the important stuff ?
Bruce
Herd Master
Actually commercial scale meat birds are always cage free. That doesn't mean they aren't packed pretty tight in their "open plan" barn though.
greybeard
Herd Master
Because 99% of US consumers don't really care, as they've been eating poultry raised in chicken houses their entire lives, just as most of their urban parents were.
And of that 99%, 98% only look at price and can't tell one bit of difference in taste, except that one tastes 'different' and that difference is almost always a matter of what one has become accustomed to experiencing.
And of that 99%, 98% only look at price and can't tell one bit of difference in taste, except that one tastes 'different' and that difference is almost always a matter of what one has become accustomed to experiencing.
greybeard
Herd Master
I would have to look back, but I believe the most recent and most stringent poultry raising rules is in Calif and it stipulates "1 cu foot per bird" and in the case of egg production, goes a bit farther.
The proposition mandates eggs can only be sold in the state if they come from chickens housed in cages that meet certain size requirements, larger than the typical industry standard. The California law requires a chicken coop be 60 square feet (five feet by 12 feet) and hold no more than 60 chickens.
Bruce
Herd Master
Yeah, the videos I've seen of commercial meat bird houses look WAY too tight for a comfortable life, even though it is only about 2 months for those Cornish X.
I'm expecting to get a locally raised never frozen chicken at the farmer's market tomorrow. Never had a fresh chicken from a small farm, will be curious to see if I can tell a difference from the commercial ones. Of course, if it were me raising them I wouldn't raise CCs, I'm not a big white meat lover. I prefer the legs and thighs so I'd get a different breed that grew more slowly and spent a lot of time building up those leg muscles.
I'm expecting to get a locally raised never frozen chicken at the farmer's market tomorrow. Never had a fresh chicken from a small farm, will be curious to see if I can tell a difference from the commercial ones. Of course, if it were me raising them I wouldn't raise CCs, I'm not a big white meat lover. I prefer the legs and thighs so I'd get a different breed that grew more slowly and spent a lot of time building up those leg muscles.
Baymule
Herd Master
Find someone to raise Red Rangers for you. They have smaller breast meat, big thighs and legs. They grow slower too. We just finished slaughtering CCX, I have the last 7 in the ice cooler to process tomorrow. I don't like the breast meat, but DD and family do. They can have it. I am more looking forward to the scrawny EE roosters from the chicks I hatched that will be ready in the fall.
