Great video! Nice to have Gina on camera! Your channel is a Blessing with your family integrated into the vlog. Good harvest for Lumnah Acres, a great inspiration for all the Modern Steaders. Justin Rhodes says, "just plant it", Lumnah Acres says, "just raise them"! LOL
Enjoyed the video. It's nice to have a take on young taste buds. Cook two chickens and have your test taste then refrigerate the leftover meat and make shredded chicken taco's or chicken salad sandwiches or chicken pot pie. We love leftover chicken and nothing goes to waste. You did an amazing job on that table. It's beautiful. So glad to see you getting good use from it.
Raise buff orpingtons for setters and as you know they make excellent mother's as well. This will cut out the incubating process and save on your electric bill. I have incubated eggs in the incubator and 3 days before they hatch put them underneath Broody hens to finish out the process. It's something you can think about. It has worked well for me and I wanted to share my experiences for you have helped me in more than one way. When we all work together how happy we'll be. Love to see you two work together.
When I do chicken broth, its recommended (WellnessMama) to save the garlic and the parsley for the last half hour, simmer chicken 24 hours, beef broth for 48 hours, then I freeze it in my half gallon jars, leave 2 inches head room, one jar keeps in refrigerator for a week, so good for winter! Thanks for the great videos! Hope Olivia feels better : )
Yeah and White Rocks tend to be larger, since they were THE meat bird before Delawares and Cornish Cross. If they would wait 10-12 months, Brahmas(hens or virgin males) or Jersey Giant hens.............
Icelandics are DELICIOUS... but they are tiny birds. Good eating when retiring over the hill laying hens and extra roos, but not much yield for the work involved. Great layers though, even through the winter.
Saw your description above talking about anxiety - have you tried American Skullcap? What about Kava Root? Passion Flower? Also on the meat breeds have you raised Faverolles yet?
At fourteen weeks, do you think that another two or three weeks would have yielded a larger bird? Forgetting about economics, I'm just wondering how old a 5, 6 or even 7 lb bird that Perdue calls an over-stuffer might be? Understanding that toughness gets to be a factor with age I'm curious where the break point on age vs size is. Have you ever kept meat birds for a longer period on pasture and if so how much weight did they gain because they grew for a longer period of time?
Perdue raises Cornish Cross which will pack on weight faster than heritage breeds. Check Al's earlier videos where he raised Cornish and Barred Rocks at the same time. He did a follow up on the weights and flavor difference.
David Johnston ....Hi David, So I was wondering what the law of diminishing returns had to say about just one, two, or three more weeks? I get that there are differences in the breeds and all that... but is it just not worth it to keep the birds around just a little longer if you want a larger bird? Does the next pound take considerably longer to achieve?
That's a great question. I have to refer to Joel S., John Suscovich, for their vastly superior experience and record keeping. Both indicate the optimal growth to food ratio that 14 weeks is pretty much the cut off. Time of year also plays a part. Early season birds, when it's warm, put more food to growth. Late season, when it's getting colder, more calories can be spent on keeping warm, than adding on weight. John S. for example, went with Red Rangers for his first crop this past year. Heritage type birds, slower growing, better foragers, less commercial food to growth ratio. He let these go longer, 14 weeks, as it was still mid-summer when he harvested. His next crop was Corn X, faster growing, more commercial feed to weight, but he could harvest earlier with what was left of his growing season. John also has the factor that he is a farm marketer, his Corn X may not be as flavorful as heritage breeds, but with his methods his Corn X are still more flavorful than Perdue, not to mention the quality of the meat. Al on the other hand, is approaching as a sustenance homesteader. As is suggested by both Joel S. and John S., he's still researching what works best for his area, his situation. His first crop was half Corn X, half Barred Rock. His Corn X harvested at 12 weeks had more weight but he noticed how much less feed he was using once they were gone, and he was only feeding the BR. An additional 2 weeks with the BRs didn't cost him significantly as they had good weight to food ratio, and he had much tastier birds. A fair consideration when growing your own food vs weight for market birds. He then did mixed heritage breeds for further evaluation. The first half harvested, I would give the slight advantage to the BR. He also mentioned a difference in fat content between the BR and the white birds. It will be interesting for the follow up on flavor difference, my money is on the BR be more flavorful as well as slightly heavier on average. He still has another week of growth on his second half of this crop, so we will see from his experience, and late season weather, how much more weight they put on. In short, as is pointed out by Joel and John, theirs' are only guidelines, you have to work out what works for you. Al's experience, that he is so kindly sharing, can also help you shape your approach. Al and Gina both mentioned, not only meat for freezer, but future pullets for NYolkC, that they are leaning toward BR. That egg laying factor may also play in your consideration for pasture raised production. You might find this video from John S. helpful. ua-cam.com/video/aQSUYp9lFJY/v-deo.html
Looks like you did a good job raising them. Not a lot of weight difference between birds. Now to see what the next batch weighs. That couldn't have been fun having to pluck all those birds.
My mentor swears that barred rock are awesome. Baking birds.... Because of the yellow skin... ....im gonna have to check out the which one tastes best video..... Thanks Al. N family!
Great video today. Hope that Olivia is doing better now. Sure would be awesome if I could keep chickens but that wouldn't work right now. Greetings from Andreas on Off Grid Sweden
we're on our third yardbird. we had the same trouble. we had very good customer service. they sent a new one each time. this last one was sent summer 2017. we've done over 100 birds so far this year. have not had any trouble as of yet. I have a direct number if you need let me know.
We are putting more up. starting tomorrow. Our computer crashed and I need to get it fixed before I edited the footage. I didnt want the computer to delete it
Al, so none of those birds weighed more than four pounds. If you are seeking larger birds you might consider Jersey Giants. Roosters can weigh as much as 14 lbs. More like a small turkey. Of course the hens are larger also. You get more meat per bird. One rooster might be good for three or four meals. Dollar for dollar you might also consider quail. They take less feed than chickens, grow to harvesting age faster and the eggs are better for you. Both the meat and eggs are higher in antioxygents than chickens. Try looking up the health benefits of quail.
Al, why are you calling them "white ones"? We know what breed of chicken it is. It is a Delaware chicken. Delaware is also a great dual-purpose breed. Some people like white feathers for meat birds because it can leave a cleaner looking carcass.
great video as always Al Gina Olivia, information benefits all . enjoying the channel tremendously very relaxing time to spend the morning. 🚺🔨🐔🐔🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🍜🏡👍👍👍🍴🍗hi Mr Biggs you keep being loud and proud. you guys your beautiful efforts are greatly appreciated Thanks for sharing till tomorrow same time same place enjoyed the rest of your all day as a family. bye. 🐕🏡💕💕💕💕💕😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
Muscle is denser than fat. A lean bird could weigh as much as a bird with more fat, that looks more robust. Fat equals flavor, and they tend to be juicier, as well as more tender. I look forward to a taste comparison between the white birds vs Barred Rocks.
going to be processing our non gmo organic pasture freedom rangers soon, and then the new hampshires after that, i dont eat them but will ask hubby what his opinion is. they eat alot..... the rangers can be done from 9-11 weeks, and the n hammps can be from 11-14 i think. first time doing them. i can tell you what not to do- le bresse... too small, slow growers, and darker meat....
@@abundantlyblessedhomestead9951 they did amazing.i have the freedoms rangers again they are 5 weeks now and new hampshires 1 week as of of today. i got 45 new hamp and 35 freedom rangers. hubby likes the new hampshires better. they are slower growing but arent as aggressive of a bird. like eating and such. much nicer i think. yes they take a bit longer but i am happier with them. and they are the birds that get sold to the organic farms here. hope that helps. oh and weight wise. they went from 5-almost 8 lbs. we let them go a bit longer and we also kept a few of the girls for eggs. they lived about 3 yrs , my fat girl was over 10 lbs when she passed.
@@greatdanerescuemom1 do you remember how many weeks old the new Hampshires were when you butchered them and they were 5-8 lbs? That sounds fabulous! Where do you live? I live in a Northern climate and I'm a little concerned about their Combs freezing. Have you had any troubles with this?
Great video! Nice to have Gina on camera! Your channel is a Blessing with your family integrated into the vlog. Good harvest for Lumnah Acres, a great inspiration for all the Modern Steaders. Justin Rhodes says, "just plant it", Lumnah Acres says, "just raise them"! LOL
:)
This has been a good follow Al and Gina to see your hard work paying off in a bountiful meat bird harvest...Enjoy!
Enjoyed the video. It's nice to have a take on young taste buds. Cook two chickens and have your test taste then refrigerate the leftover meat and make shredded chicken taco's or chicken salad sandwiches or chicken pot pie. We love leftover chicken and nothing goes to waste. You did an amazing job on that table. It's beautiful. So glad to see you getting good use from it.
Raise buff orpingtons for setters and as you know they make excellent mother's as well. This will cut out the incubating process and save on your electric bill. I have incubated eggs in the incubator and 3 days before they hatch put them underneath Broody hens to finish out the process. It's something you can think about. It has worked well for me and I wanted to share my experiences for you have helped me in more than one way. When we all work together how happy we'll be. Love to see you two work together.
Your methodial approach is impressive.
When I do chicken broth, its recommended (WellnessMama) to save the garlic and the parsley for the last half hour, simmer chicken 24 hours, beef broth for 48 hours, then I freeze it in my half gallon jars, leave 2 inches head room, one jar keeps in refrigerator for a week, so good for winter! Thanks for the great videos! Hope Olivia feels better : )
Thanks, I bet that makes a nice stock
sorry if I missed it...but how old are these birds?
14 weeks old
Awesome video! Question at what age is good to harvest/process Plymouth Barred Rock males & females? Tfs💖💅
These birds were 14 weeks old
Lumnah Acres Ok thank you so much 👍
The Real HomeSteaders -
We Love 💕 You Guy Because You Are Real
Great job. Thank you for sharing.
That's intersting how they are the same weight. They look bigger on 📷. Would different feed make a difference like fly larve or cracked corn?
Great vid..table looks nice👍
Question: were the white ones aka Delaware's regular Delaware's or the Delaware broiler from McMurray?
You might want to try white Rocks. They grow faster and lay just as well as the Barred Rocks
Yeah and White Rocks tend to be larger, since they were THE meat bird before Delawares and Cornish Cross. If they would wait 10-12 months, Brahmas(hens or virgin males) or Jersey Giant hens.............
Check the magnetic safety switch on your Yard Bird. That may be why it is not working.
Only have the 5 hens for eggs right now,but my 2 Red rangers are so good tempered and great foragers
Thanks!
Icelandics are DELICIOUS... but they are tiny birds. Good eating when retiring over the hill laying hens and extra roos, but not much yield for the work involved. Great layers though, even through the winter.
Saw your description above talking about anxiety - have you tried American Skullcap? What about Kava Root? Passion Flower?
Also on the meat breeds have you raised Faverolles yet?
Is Livvie feeling better today? Hope she feels better soon, we miss her keeping you in line LOL!
Thanks for the information. I'll be getting my first chickens next year!
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Blessings
At fourteen weeks, do you think that another two or three weeks would have yielded a larger bird? Forgetting about economics, I'm just wondering how old a 5, 6 or even 7 lb bird that Perdue calls an over-stuffer might be? Understanding that toughness gets to be a factor with age I'm curious where the break point on age vs size is. Have you ever kept meat birds for a longer period on pasture and if so how much weight did they gain because they grew for a longer period of time?
Perdue raises Cornish Cross which will pack on weight faster than heritage breeds. Check Al's earlier videos where he raised Cornish and Barred Rocks at the same time. He did a follow up on the weights and flavor difference.
David Johnston ....Hi David, So I was wondering what the law of diminishing returns had to say about just one, two, or three more weeks? I get that there are differences in the breeds and all that... but is it just not worth it to keep the birds around just a little longer if you want a larger bird? Does the next pound take considerably longer to achieve?
Little White Dory
I would like an answer to this also
That's a great question. I have to refer to Joel S., John Suscovich, for their vastly superior experience and record keeping. Both indicate the optimal growth to food ratio that 14 weeks is pretty much the cut off. Time of year also plays a part. Early season birds, when it's warm, put more food to growth. Late season, when it's getting colder, more calories can be spent on keeping warm, than adding on weight.
John S. for example, went with Red Rangers for his first crop this past year. Heritage type birds, slower growing, better foragers, less commercial food to growth ratio. He let these go longer, 14 weeks, as it was still mid-summer when he harvested. His next crop was Corn X, faster growing, more commercial feed to weight, but he could harvest earlier with what was left of his growing season. John also has the factor that he is a farm marketer, his Corn X may not be as flavorful as heritage breeds, but with his methods his Corn X are still more flavorful than Perdue, not to mention the quality of the meat.
Al on the other hand, is approaching as a sustenance homesteader. As is suggested by both Joel S. and John S., he's still researching what works best for his area, his situation. His first crop was half Corn X, half Barred Rock. His Corn X harvested at 12 weeks had more weight but he noticed how much less feed he was using once they were gone, and he was only feeding the BR. An additional 2 weeks with the BRs didn't cost him significantly as they had good weight to food ratio, and he had much tastier birds. A fair consideration when growing your own food vs weight for market birds. He then did mixed heritage breeds for further evaluation. The first half harvested, I would give the slight advantage to the BR. He also mentioned a difference in fat content between the BR and the white birds. It will be interesting for the follow up on flavor difference, my money is on the BR be more flavorful as well as slightly heavier on average. He still has another week of growth on his second half of this crop, so we will see from his experience, and late season weather, how much more weight they put on.
In short, as is pointed out by Joel and John, theirs' are only guidelines, you have to work out what works for you. Al's experience, that he is so kindly sharing, can also help you shape your approach. Al and Gina both mentioned, not only meat for freezer, but future pullets for NYolkC, that they are leaning toward BR. That egg laying factor may also play in your consideration for pasture raised production.
You might find this video from John S. helpful.
ua-cam.com/video/aQSUYp9lFJY/v-deo.html
David Johnston
I would like to see independent tests because there is some bias with others raising birds.
You probably know this, but if you roast the pieces until very dark brown before simmering the stock, it makes the flavor a lot richer.
We were told this. We need to try roasting them first. We have a lot of bones to make more broth with
Looks like you did a good job raising them. Not a lot of weight difference between birds. Now to see what the next batch weighs. That couldn't have been fun having to pluck all those birds.
My mentor swears that barred rock are awesome. Baking birds.... Because of the yellow skin... ....im gonna have to check out the which one tastes best video..... Thanks Al. N family!
It is amazing how flavorful the barred rocks are compared to other breeds.
Lumnah Acres right on..... Hope u n the family are well my brother
Great video today. Hope that Olivia is doing better now. Sure would be awesome if I could keep chickens but that wouldn't work right now. Greetings from Andreas on Off Grid Sweden
I bet you will get some when you can. It is all a process
Your outdoor kitchen is awesome. I watched ever video of the build. Great job. 🙂
all the bird are tucked up in there sleeping bags ready for freezer camp lol !! BIG THUMBS UP
How long did you let they go before you butchered them?
Never mind, I looked at the comments... 14 weeks.🙂
Thank you.
I am looking at breeding my own chickens for meat but stuck on a good heratige breed I am in Australia so some limited to breeds
we're on our third yardbird. we had the same trouble. we had very good customer service. they sent a new one each time. this last one was sent summer 2017. we've done over 100 birds so far this year. have not had any trouble as of yet. I have a direct number if you need let me know.
Good video. I may have missed it, are you going to be putting up more videos from when you were processing the pigs?
We are putting more up. starting tomorrow. Our computer crashed and I need to get it fixed before I edited the footage. I didnt want the computer to delete it
What's the deal with the pucker, company going to repair/replace?Great vlog,very informative.
Have you tried Rode Island Reds?
No we haven't
Eagle Camp Homestead SWFL good all around bird 👍
Al, so none of those birds weighed more than four pounds. If you are seeking larger birds you might consider Jersey Giants. Roosters can weigh as much as 14 lbs. More like a small turkey. Of course the hens are larger also. You get more meat per bird. One rooster might be good for three or four meals.
Dollar for dollar you might also consider quail. They take less feed than chickens, grow to harvesting age faster and the eggs are better for you. Both the meat and eggs are higher in antioxygents than chickens. Try looking up the health benefits of quail.
I read somewhere that freedom rangers are not a heritage breed and they won't breed true.
Thumbs up Lumnah's!
2 chickens at once... Leftovers! Great for lunch at work! And you get to actually compare the taste of two.
Al, why are you calling them "white ones"? We know what breed of chicken it is. It is a Delaware chicken.
Delaware is also a great dual-purpose breed. Some people like white feathers for meat birds because it can leave a cleaner looking carcass.
I always second guess my self when recording so I call the Delawares white ones! Lol
great video as always Al Gina Olivia, information benefits all . enjoying the channel tremendously very relaxing time to spend the morning. 🚺🔨🐔🐔🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🍜🏡👍👍👍🍴🍗hi Mr
Biggs you keep being loud and proud. you guys your beautiful efforts are greatly appreciated Thanks for sharing till tomorrow same time same place enjoyed the rest of your all day as a family. bye. 🐕🏡💕💕💕💕💕😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
Al, the freedom ranger chickens are a hybrid chicken, not a true heritage. If you breed them, you will not produce the same type of meat chicken.
Muscle is denser than fat. A lean bird could weigh as much as a bird with more fat, that looks more robust. Fat equals flavor, and they tend to be juicier, as well as more tender. I look forward to a taste comparison between the white birds vs Barred Rocks.
Thanks
We know who is the boss!
You say white one, is that Cornish Cross?
Yes the white one is a Cornish
Not sure about chickens, but in humans, fat weighs less than muscle.
You butcher the males or females??
i think you need an external mike for when you are in the out door kitchen,hard for me to hear you,
You never said what breed the white ones were
Thank you AL for sharing your video homestead chicken farmer garden bye 👋 bye 👋 👨👩👧👸👕👓🐩🐈🐔🐓🐥🐖🐕🐐🌱🏡🎥👍👍👍
Why aren't you recording weight by tenths
soaringtractor don't be like that. that's odd. Not very accurate. Why not have tenths. And how do you know?
Muscle (meat) weighs more than fat. So chances are the barred rock chickens have more meat despite having more fat
The fat is for flavor in dumplings!!!
On average, fat is about half the weight of muscle/meat.
That small amount of fat is done that a whole lot of weight muscle is denser than fat so it's not it's negligible
going to be processing our non gmo organic pasture freedom rangers soon, and then the new hampshires after that, i dont eat them but will ask hubby what his opinion is. they eat alot..... the rangers can be done from 9-11 weeks, and the n hammps can be from 11-14 i think. first time doing them. i can tell you what not to do- le bresse... too small, slow growers, and darker meat....
Thanks
What were the results for your new Hampshire chickens? Weight etc
@@abundantlyblessedhomestead9951 they did amazing.i have the freedoms rangers again they are 5 weeks now and new hampshires 1 week as of of today. i got 45 new hamp and 35 freedom rangers. hubby likes the new hampshires better. they are slower growing but arent as aggressive of a bird. like eating and such. much nicer i think. yes they take a bit longer but i am happier with them. and they are the birds that get sold to the organic farms here. hope that helps. oh and weight wise. they went from 5-almost 8 lbs. we let them go a bit longer and we also kept a few of the girls for eggs. they lived about 3 yrs , my fat girl was over 10 lbs when she passed.
@@greatdanerescuemom1 do you remember how many weeks old the new Hampshires were when you butchered them and they were 5-8 lbs? That sounds fabulous! Where do you live? I live in a Northern climate and I'm a little concerned about their Combs freezing. Have you had any troubles with this?
🇨🇦
all the black ones look the same.???? hahaha
I think your heritage birds would do better and cost a lot less if you would let them free range.
omg your way more interested in this than your wife is...when in doubt...kick her out...get a new one