Farm Butchered some Slow Whites-Little bit disappointed

[Border Collie Dad]

On Saturday, I butchered 6 of my Slow White roosters.
They were 12 weeks old.

I would have butchered more but cut my hand and required stitches.

The rest will be this Saturday.

First, the good.
It went really smoothly due to my new turkey fryer/scalder and new plucker.
In the past, I heated several kettles on the stove and carried outside.
By the time I did one or, maybe two, the water was too cool.
Now, I can get the proper temp and maintain it.

And the plucker really makes this easier.

Now, the disappointment.
Was planning on going for 8 to process but had to stop at 6 due to the cut.
Kept my two biggest roosters for breeding and plan to keep 6 hens for eggs.
I know that 2 roosters may be too many for just 6 hens but the second is insurance if something happens to one of them

These birds were really skinny once the feathers were off.
5 of the 6 dressed out in the 4# range.
When I cut them up, there isn't a lot of meat on the breasts, wings and thighs.

They were well fed.
9 bags of starter and grower at $25/bag. (Non GMO) for 24 birds.

Once they were in the coop, they were kept inside the fence area until about a week or so ago when I let them out to free range.

Trying to decide which hens to keep.
Bigger ones or smaller ones.
For eggs to eat, I don't think it matters.
But for breeders, I'd think I want to keep the biggest ones

This isn't my first time with Slow Whites.
Raised them several times in the past and they were decent sized.

In the future, I think I'm going with Cornish Crosses for meat

Including the cost of buying, it's around $13/bird.

 

[bbbuddy]

That's weird. Mine always have nice pump breasts, not quite as large as Cornish Cross, but way bigger than any other breed.

Two years ago my Slow Whites that I ordered had some dark feathers mixed in on a few chicks, and I incubated chicks from their eggs and I got some chicks that were all colored, so the breeder hadn't kept them pure. I think Welps gets the eggs from different breeders that contract with them.

I wonder if you didn't get Slow Whites but another white breed that a breeder sent because they didn't have enough Slow Whites? A little cheating?
I would contact Welps and let them know. Maybe you'll get a discount.

I decided to replace my flock, so got new Slow Whites this year and this time they are all white, and growing well.

 

[Freeholder]

That's weird. Mine always have nice pump breasts, not quite as large as Cornish Cross, but way bigger than any other breed.

Two years ago my Slow Whites that I ordered had some dark feathers mixed in on a few chicks, and I incubated chicks from their eggs and I got some chicks that were all colored, so the breeder hadn't kept them pure. I think Welps gets the eggs from different breeders that contract with them.

I wonder if you didn't get Slow Whites but another white breed that a breeder sent because they didn't have enough Slow Whites? A little cheating?
I would contact Welps and let them know. Maybe you'll get a discount.

I decided to replace my flock, so got new Slow Whites this year and this time they are all white, and growing well.

I think that mistakes are sometimes made at the hatcheries, for sure. Little yellow chicks all look the same, and if someone wasn't paying attention, they could have dumped a batch of something else into the Slow Whites bin -- maybe some White Plymouth Rocks, which are still good chickens, but not as fast growing.

Kathleen

 

[Firebird]

Mine always dressed out pretty large, and usually butchered at about 9 weeks.

Edit- my bad, we butchered Cornish crosses

 

[summerthyme]

I always weigh live birds to determine when to butcher. A 7 1/2 pound live bird gives you a 5# dressed carcass.

We're those 50# bags of feed? It takes about 20# of grain to get a CornishX bird to 5# dressed. Slow Whites take about 30% more. Pasture provides very little actual calories, unless you include something like buckwheat or other grain crops or have a massive grasshopper infestation!

Slow Whites definitely aren't as plump and meaty as CornishX birds... I've often said a 5# Slow White will be 6-8" *longer* than a 5# Cornish X carcass. But they've always been plenty meaty for us...

Summerthyme

 

[Border Collie Dad]

Mine always dressed out pretty large, and usually butchered at about 9 weeks.

Mine were 12 weeks because the plucker took 3 weeks from order to delivery.
Otherwise, I would have done them at around 10 weeks.

I think that mistakes are sometimes made at the hatcheries, for sure. Little yellow chicks all look the same, and if someone wasn't paying attention, they could have dumped a batch of something else into the Slow Whites bin -- maybe some White Plymouth Rocks, which are still good chickens, but not as fast growing.

Kathleen

There may be something to that, Kathleen.

Some of the hens are really small.
These roosters looked ok while still feathered and alive.
Once the feathers were off, they looked pretty scrawny

I would contact Welps and let them know. Maybe you'll get a discount

I plan to contact them.

Also, paid for 25 but only got 24.
Didn't count them when they arrived but noticed later.
None died

 

[day late]

With a title like that I thought this was a post by a member of BLM.

 

[bw]

I figured this was some kind of zombie thread.

 

[jward]

Thanks for the hands on reporting; sorry to hear bout the cut. Given how bleak one of our possible futures may be, might want to prep up to handle such cuts yourself in the future

 

[Fake Shemp]

After watching Mark Dice, some slow whites should be butchered.

 

[WalknTrot]

Were they SW's from Welp? That's weird.

I screwed up once and waited until the birds were 13 weeks. The cockerals were HUGE (dressed 9-10 lbs) and the hens (though a little bit smaller) were just rolling in fat. They don't have the double breasts, but they have SO much more dark meat...like Summertyme said...their bodies are looong compared to regular broilers. I much prefer the Slow White carcasses for the table. Just generally burned out on white meat chicken, I guess.

Unless the genetics of the Welp Slow White line have changed, or they sent you the wrong breed, I can't figure it. I free-feed 22% meat bird through the whole cycle, they are confined in the barn to a pen, so no other occupation but to eat. Then, if I'm keeping anybody for the layer flock, flip them to something lighter like 18% grower. I suppose if you fed 18% grower throughout their whole growth phase, it could make a difference. Couldn't tell ya, because I have not done it.

 

[Freeholder]

I know that I bought White Plymouth Rocks from a hatchery (not Welp, I think it was Murray McMurray) one time, and I am 99% certain that the chicks I got were White Leghorns. Big size difference! So they do make mistakes, and at this point, there may not be anything they, or you, can do to make it right.

Kathleen

 

[WalknTrot]

I know that I bought White Plymouth Rocks from a hatchery (not Welp, I think it was Murray McMurray) one time, and I am 99% certain that the chicks I got were White Leghorns. Big size difference! So they do make mistakes, and at this point, there may not be anything they, or you, can do to make it right.

Kathleen

Haha! OMG..I guess so. Yup, White Rocks were the birds used for broilers before modern broilers were invented. They are what my Grandma grew for her meat flock, and the genetics that were available 50-60 years ago in White Rocks made some darned impressive table birds.

Leghorns on the other hand.....2-3 lbs live and soaking wet!

 

[Border Collie Dad]

Thanks for the hands on reporting; sorry to hear bout the cut. Given how bleak one of our possible futures may be, might want to prep up to handle such cuts yourself in the future

I thought I had it covered.
it bled a lot but seemed to have it pretty much stopped until later
Finally went to the Fast ER and they turned me away.
No mask.
Finally, at around 11 PM, I called the real ER to see if they would see me.
They let me cover my face with a handkerchief.
5 stitches in one finger and 4 in the other.
It was a freak accident.

Had the knives laying on the table and I was reaching inside for the innards.
They popped out causing my hand to slide across the blades.

I free-feed 22% meat bird through the whole cycle, they are confined in the barn to a pen, so no other occupation but to eat.

They had 22% for around 6 or 7 weeks and my feed store ran out and had only 20% in the non-GMO.

The frames on the roosters were decent so I think they were Slow Whites (maybe)
Not a lot of fat on them.

Some of the hens are really small.
I have a couple Sex Link hens that are as big as some of these hens

 

[WalknTrot]

They had 22% for around 6 or 7 weeks and my feed store ran out and had only 20% in the non-GMO.

That should have been fine then.

Dang...gonna make me think twice about ordering Slows next spring when the local processing plant gets it's remodeling done and is back on line.

 

[summerthyme]

I know that I bought White Plymouth Rocks from a hatchery (not Welp, I think it was Murray McMurray) one time, and I am 99% certain that the chicks I got were White Leghorns. Big size difference! So they do make mistakes, and at this point, there may not be anything they, or you, can do to make it right.

Kathleen

I had that happen from Meyer hatchery! By 10 days old, I knew they weren't CornishX! They said they had a new hire who packed the wrong chicks- they were sex linked cockerels! I never ordered from Meyer again... I also had ordered 12 straight run Cuckoo Marans. I got 13 birds- 11 were cockerels! They ranged in size from bantam to huge, and were clearly not remotely purebred.

But I don't know of any other breed (including Jersey Giants or White Rocks) that will get close to 4# dressed before 6 months old...

Summerthyme

 

[Border Collie Dad]

But I don't know of any other breed (including Jersey Giants or White Rocks) that will get close to 4# dressed before 6 months old...

Normally, I'd be satisfied with a 4# bird

But the breasts and thighs had very little meat and little fat.
The boneless breasts might have been 3/4" thick and the thighs not more than 1/2"

I got a lot of carcass for stock, though

 

[WalknTrot]

Yeah..yer talking to a crazy woman who ordered straight run Cuckoo Maran chicks to come in this week. (From Hoover!) My old bags are getting too old...I have a dozen hens that need to go bye-bye sometime soon to clear out the coop for the newbies. It's time..have heard enough of the neighbors bitching at me 'cuz I haven't been selling eggs!

They are comparatively fast growing - the cockerels especially get nice sized fast. So I'll keep a couple roosters for the flock - just in case Armageddon happens. But they are more fit birds overall, than the Slow Whites for layers, are easy to get along with in the flock, and again - SHTF - always a couple hens that want to go broody in the bunch.

 

[summerthyme]

Cuckoo Marans were my "SHTF breed" for years... until I found the Slow Whites. And I'd still like to experiment with a hybrid of the two breeds. The CMs grew faster than any other non Cornish breed, and I discovered you can sex them by color by about 2 weeks old (the cockerels are lighter gray), which could be handy in a situation where you really can't justify feeding out a bunch of roosters when you only need replacement pullets.

And hubby still swears their eggs are better tasting than most. I do think the shell quality is much better than many breeds.

Summerthyme

 

[Doc1]

The unfortunate fact is that all birds - all of 'em - look a lot smaller once they're plucked and dressed. This catches a lot of new homesteaders off guard when they look at their smallish flocks and think they're seeing a lot of meat. Also, professional, large scale breeders who are raising meat birds use selected breeds/genetic stock and feed them special diets and meds to put the weight on. You aren't likely to duplicate that on a small holding.

Best
Doc

 

[WalknTrot]

Cuckoo Marans were my "SHTF breed" for years... until I found the Slow Whites. And I'd still like to experiment with a hybrid of the two breeds. The CMs grew faster than any other non Cornish breed, and I discovered you can sex them by color by about 2 weeks old (the cockerels are lighter gray), which could be handy in a situation where you really can't justify feeding out a bunch of roosters when you only need replacement pullets.

And hubby still swears their eggs are better tasting than most. I do think the shell quality is much better than many breeds.

Summerthyme

Yup..I plan to cull extra rooster chicks as early as possible from this new straight-run bunch. NOT gonna mess with any useless stragglers this late in the game.

 

[summerthyme]

The unfortunate fact is that all birds - all of 'em - look a lot smaller once they're plucked and dressed. This catches a lot of new homesteaders off guard when they look at their smallish flocks and think they're seeing a lot of meat. Also, professional, large scale breeders who are raising meat birds use selected breeds/genetic stock and feed them special diets and meds to put the weight on. You aren't likely to duplicate that on a small holding.

Best
Doc

Oh, heck, no! Feeding decently bred meat birds is downright simple, and barring disease or predators, can be nearly foolproof. They require adequate protein and energy content, but purchased specialty feeds make that simple. Sufficient shelter from sun and rain, free choice fresh water, and *all they can eat* grain fed 12 hours a day... you'll get great results every time.

We had a small issue this year... not sure why, but our CornishX birds averaged over 6# at 7 weeks. We should have started butchering a week earlier!

One thought- we had issues with small birds several years ago, due to coccidiosis when they were young. We caught it and treated it, but I suspect it damaged their guts, because many of them finished much smaller/lighter than normal.

Also... if you have a few birds clearly smaller than the others, and they aren't cripples (leg injuries keep them from walking to eat enough), you may not have enough feeder space. We use one large (40# capacity) hanging feeder for each 25 birds. If they are competing for space at the feeder, some won't get enough.

Oh, and under the "you can't make this sh*t up" category... the CornishX birds refused to eat the chicken "crumbles" that DS had on hand for a batch of chicks he'd started earlier that spring! I had to run 50# of crumbles (they actually were tiny, hard pellets) through my Whisper Mill to make it into mash for them! Never saw that before!

Summerthyme

 

[Border Collie Dad]

The unfortunate fact is that all birds - all of 'em - look a lot smaller once they're plucked and dressed. This catches a lot of new homesteaders off guard when they look at their smallish flocks and think they're seeing a lot of meat. Also, professional, large scale breeders who are raising meat birds use selected breeds/genetic stock and feed them special diets and meds to put the weight on. You aren't likely to duplicate that on a small holding.

Best
Doc

That is true but it's not my first rodeo, Doc1.
Haven't done this in several years but have raised this breed several times in the past.

Feed was available 24 hours a day, BTW, and they had an appetite.

 

[Laur]

Now that's what I call a great clickbait title lol

 

[Millwright]

I see the error in your plan.

Instead of messing with the slow whites, you should have gone for the fast whites.

They would have gotten to the food quicker than the slow whites, eaten more and weighed more.

I guess that would entail some chicken races, so you could see who was the quickest.



BUT...I don't know much about chickens either.

 

[vestige]

I see the error in your plan.

Instead of messing with the slow whites, you should have gone for the fast whites.

They would have gotten to the food quicker than the slow whites, eaten more and weighed more.

I guess that would entail some chicken races, so you could see who was the quickest.



BUT...I don't know much about chickens either.

Stick with hogs

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

I don’t know anything specific about slow whites, as I have never raised that breed before. But both light brahmas and Delawares are known for producing large roosters - especially light brahmas. I grow both breeds, and they do well in a family flock.

But the other thing - i realize the meat would be more tender at 12 weeks old.

But I always figured that IF I were ever to butcher my own, I would probably hit them between 14 and 16 weeks old, because they would by alot bigger by then, yet not too old...

of course, please realize that I have never actually butchered one of mine...

 

[vestige]

I don’t know anything specific about slow whites, as I have never raised that breed before. But both light brahmas and Delawares are known for producing large roosters - especially light brahmas. I grow both breeds, and they do well in a family flock.

But the other thing - i realize the meat would be more tender at 12 weeks old.

But I always figured that IF I were ever to butcher my own, I would probably hit them between 14 and 16 weeks old, because they would by alot bigger by then, yet not too old...

of course, please realize that I have never actually butchered one of mine...

I wrote something years ago to this effect:

Considering all the joys I have encountered in this life I can remember none that even closely compared to my Mother's fried chicken.

That is not verbatim but close. It has been a long, long time.

My mother died 20 November 1971.

Far too young

 

[Border Collie Dad]

Stick with hogs

The Mrs. doesn't like having the chickens (or any other livestock, for that matter)
I'd love to have a couple pigs.
A few years ago, I showed her where would be good to put pigs.
She said that if I got pigs, she was out of here.
I told her that it was nice knowing her.

 

[TxGal]

I'm adding this here and in a few threads, since it's somewhat related:

Just a somewhat related heads up, I'll probably put this in several threads because it can fit in a few places.

I was out and about to several different feed stores in the last few days, a few local and a few TSCs. I talked to more than a few folks in the poultry areas while I was getting some feed. They were shopping for feeders/waterers (which are in short supply), and other basic supplies for poultry.

All are planning to get chicks in the spring and are getting ready. All mentioned the rising food prices and increasing unavailability, and are concerned it will get worse. Some haven't had chickens in years but still have their hen houses up and have been using them for garden storage, etc. Some haven't had chickens before. Some are planning to add to their current flocks. Some are planning to free range to help cut feed costs, many are planning on using their chickens to help fertilize their gardens, etc. All are planning on doing it for eggs and meat; that's a bit of a change, many just do eggs around here.

If anyone is thinking about ordering chicks in the spring, of any type, probably shouldn't wait too long. If you need any poultry raising supplies, don't wait long for that because it could be a bit of a hunt. I needed a new waterer, and I got the last one....and it was $10-$15 more than I paid a year or so ago.

 

[nehimama]

I had just skimmed over the thread titles, and thought, "WTH? Butchering Snow White?"

 

[WalknTrot]

I'm adding this here and in a few threads, since it's somewhat related:

Just a somewhat related heads up, I'll probably put this in several threads because it can fit in a few places.

I was out and about to several different feed stores in the last few days, a few local and a few TSCs. I talked to more than a few folks in the poultry areas while I was getting some feed. They were shopping for feeders/waterers (which are in short supply), and other basic supplies for poultry.

All are planning to get chicks in the spring and are getting ready. All mentioned the rising food prices and increasing unavailability, and are concerned it will get worse. Some haven't had chickens in years but still have their hen houses up and have been using them for garden storage, etc. Some haven't had chickens before. Some are planning to add to their current flocks. Some are planning to free range to help cut feed costs, many are planning on using their chickens to help fertilize their gardens, etc. All are planning on doing it for eggs and meat; that's a bit of a change, many just do eggs around here.

If anyone is thinking about ordering chicks in the spring, of any type, probably shouldn't wait too long. If you need any poultry raising supplies, don't wait long for that because it could be a bit of a hunt. I needed a new waterer, and I got the last one....and it was $10-$15 more than I paid a year or so ago.

Yeah..or get them NOW like I'm doing (some hatcheries are still shipping), let them grow up over the winter and have pullets laying their first eggs by March, 2022.

Haha..there IS a tiny bit of method to my madness. Sometimes.

 

[Border Collie Dad]

Circling back to this because I didn't finish with my results.
I butchered 5 roosters at 12 weeks and 8 hens and roosters at 13 weeks
12 weeks
lbs-oz.
4-10
6-4 (might be an error)
4-7
4-10
4-5
********************
13 weeks
3-1
3-1
4-1
4-1
5-3
3-1
5-0
5-7

As I said above, there wasn't a lot of meat on these birds.
Breasts were thin, thighs were ok.

I'm thinking 12 weeks was way too soon for these birds.
They looked decent sized with the feathers on

And a new complaint!
Eggs.

I've been getting eggs for a couple weeks.
They are really small!
I know that they will be small, initially, but don 't recall how long they stay small.
They're about the size of banty eggs.

I am supplementing light an extra 4 hours a day.
Feeding Kalmback non-gmo layer (I think it's 16%)
They free range during the day

I had considered hatching some in the spring but not sure with little meat and small eggs

 

[savurselvs]

The Mrs. doesn't like having the chickens (or any other livestock, for that matter)
I'd love to have a couple pigs.
A few years ago, I showed her where would be good to put pigs.
She said that if I got pigs, she was out of here.
I told her that it was nice knowing her.

Same here.