[AT] Pluck chickens with a clothes dryer?

[Ben Wagner]

Good correction for me there, Mark, on the original breed cross.  The
Cornish Cross can put on the meat, but the downside is the heart attacks and
lameness.  I use a chain link dog kennel as a coop, with chicken wire
wrapped around it to make the holes smaller.  As a result,  I can drag the
coop in different places, giving the birds a fresh forage each day.  That
dramatically cuts down lameness, since the forage has the nutrients and the
birds are forced to exercise for a few yards each day.  If you know the
Cornish Cross, the forced exercise is about all they get beyond trips
between feed, water, and shelter.

I also found that using higher quality feeds gives the same result.  Sunrise
Feeds, milled 45 minutes down the road from me in Stuarts Draft VA, makes a
good broiler feed.  I doubt if its available outside of the Shenandoah
Valley.

Ben Wagner

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 12:32 AM, Mark Greer <markagreer at embarqmail.com>wrote:

> Cornish Cross are a cross between a White Plymouth Rock hen and a Cornish
> Rooster. They are the standard chicken that you buy at the supermarket and
> can be butchered at 6-8 weeks of age. I have 24 day-old Cornish Cross chicks
> coming on Monday that the kids will be raising for 4H for our county Fair.
> Two pairs go to the fair and will be sold there and the other 20 go in my
> freezer mid September. The eat like pigs and grow extremely fast. Heritage
> breeds take 12-20 weeks to reach full size and still don't have as much meat
> on them as the Cornish Cross do.
> Mark
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ben Wagner" <supera1948 at gmail.com>
> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> >
> Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 1:25:28 PM
> Subject: Re: [AT] Pluck chickens with a clothes dryer?
>
> Unfortunately, I've heard that many of the heritage breeds are seeing a
> huge
> drop in numbers.  I'd like to get the Plymouth Rock breed, since they have
> a
> great appearance with the speckled feathers.
>
> I think the Cornish cross was a cross between the leghorns and Rhode Island
> reds, but don't quote me there.
>
> Have you ever heard of the "skinning" method of plucking?  Somewhere along
> the way I remember hearing about it; maybe it wasn't for chickens.  I think
> the way it works is to pull the entire skin with feathers off the bird.
>  I'd
> think it's only good for immediate cooking, since the meat would dry out
> quickly, and you'd also lose the fat which makes the flavor.
>
> Ben Wagner
>
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