Rooster

[Guest guest]

This is kind of an FYI and I'd love to hear comments from folks who have

more experience than me:

I recently " harvested " a year-old, big, aggressive rooster, after waffling

about having home-grown chicks. The kid's nightmares about being chased by

the rooster decided the matter! Anyway, what was interesting was the following:

1. Said rooster had the longest thigh bones I'd ever seen on a chicken, 2-3

times as long as your average " fryer " . The bones were also harder and more

hollow than usual -- more like a goose than a chicken.

2. The dark meat was very, very dark and collagenous. There was very little

white meat.

3. The skin was very thick, almost like pigskin. After boiling the bird a

long time, the skin still felt like pickled pigsfeet -- so I baked the skin

and made cracklins. Which were quite good! Most chickens though, when you

boil them for a long time, the skin just falls apart.

Now this bird was not " free range " -- he was kept penned in a big kennel

most of the time because of his aggressive nature, and he got more

commercial food than the hens do. But he seemed healthy enough.

Anyway, the last roosters we got were more like a regular fryer. This one

was an Aracuna, and just did not seem much like chicken at all. Are the

differences mainly because of his age? If we wanted to raise " regular

fryers " would we need to get those chickens they sell as " broiling chickens " ?

-- Heidi

[Guest guest]

--- In , Heidi Schuppenhauer <heidis@t...>

wrote:

> Anyway, the last roosters we got were more like a regular fryer. This one

> was an Aracuna, and just did not seem much like chicken at all. Are the

> differences mainly because of his age? If we wanted to raise " regular

> fryers " would we need to get those chickens they sell as " broiling chickens " ?

There's a lot of difference between the breeds in terms of body form, although

it's hard to tell with the feathers on. Arucanas aren't a meat breed,

certainly,

and all those differences would not have been just because of the age. I'd

guess the tough skin probably was, though. Black Australorps and Buff

Orpingtons, both considered " dual-purpose " , are the only ones we have

experience raising for meat, they're nothing like a grocery-store chicken - less

breast meat and the white meat is a darker color, leg bones stick out farther

past the bulk of the muscle, yellower skin and fat - but the taste is fantastic,

far

superior to any commercial chicken. The meat wasn't tough, but it had more

body and texture than store chicken, which seems mushy, flacid and bland in

comparison. It's my understanding that strictly meat breeds have a lot of

problems if you let them get more than a few months old, because they grow

so rapidly, and they require higher protein feed in order to develop " normally "

(if you can call a pituitary-freak chicken normal). The larger hatcheries sell

a

number of dual-purpose breeds, which I would choose over broilers, not the

least reason being that they seem more biologically normal to me.

As for nasty roosters, that seems like the luck of the draw. We've had to do in

a couple that got too aggressive, one started attacking people and the other

was savaging the hens. Often they're not a problem, and I find the hens are

happier with a rooster around. We're rooster-less right now, and when we

order chicks soon we're going to try a Polish rooster, as they're supposed to

have very quiet dispositions. However, our nastiest rooster was a Black

Australorps, and they're advertised as having quiet dispositions, so we'll see.

Aubin

[Guest guest]

> We're rooster-less right now, and when we

>order chicks soon we're going to try a Polish rooster, as they're supposed to

>have very quiet dispositions.

Our last roosters were Polish (accidently, we got them as chicks), and they

were not nice either. But there were two of them, so maybe they were trying

to out-do each other!

Thanks for the explanation. I could NOT understand how come commercial

chickens are so big after a few weeks, mine just don't get that big. I

think the meat quality on this bird is more like what you describe, not

tough, but not at all like store-bought. I agree the hens like having a

rooster around, they seem to feel more protected. Right now though, they

seem to have accepted a rogue peacock as their rooster -- he's adopted the

flock and they stick to him, though there is an obvious species issue here!

-- Heidi

[Guest guest]

We

love you, too, buddy!

De

Re:

We're having a Heat Wave

Hello,

thanks fore the info I take 2

tramadol 1 hour before shot at 6:00 and go to bed at 8:30 shot night {firday}. I got my TP in 1-6-2006 & have recuring hep " c

" in new 1 . I am in my 13th week of Pegassist of a 48 week tx plan. But

my virl count is comeing down , it stared at 2610000 and its down to 170000

after week 11. And i did shave off my beard. I'm only 49 years young & i'm

going to beet this da-- -- thing. My wife bought me a ice bag witch

seems to help, Well thanks 4 letting me vent a bit. thank you all 4 being here

to help us .

thank you agine,

Jeff

rooster

Hug's to all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(((((((X's & O's))))))))))))))

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[Guest guest]

Hi Ya Jeff Buddy vent away and we hope the sides get easier for you. Remember to keep hydrated and drink enough water throughout the day. I'm not 1 to drink plain water and use Chrystal Light. A bunch of us do even not on tx. We should get a discount for advertising it. Hang In There. Love and Hugs. Deb