Cornish Cross

After Sharon read my last post about Freedom Rangers and Cornish Cross she said that it sounds like I'm disparaging the Cornish Cross.  I read what I wrote and I can see where someone might look at the last post and agree with her, so I want to make sure that I try to clarify myself.  The intent wasn't to disparage the Cornish Cross since it's the bird that we've really had great success with on pasture and have really liked their flavor and texture.  I was really trying to show the differences between the traits in the two types.  There is a reason that the Cornish Cross is the most popular meat chicken - it's because all of the traits that make it a great meat bird have been bred into it.

Freedom Rangers / How to cut up a whole chicken

Yesterday we processed our last batch of chickens for 2010.  Sharon tried a new breed of chicken this year called a Freedom Ranger.  The Freedom Ranger looks similar to a rode island red but it is bred specifically for pasture raising.  Unlike the Cornish Cross our standard pasture raised chicken, which grows very quickly and becomes very very slow as it grows, the Freedom Ranger grows a little more slowly and keeps its speed.  I guess I need to explain slow and quick in a chicken.  When we think of chickens, we mainly think of a bird capable of outrunning a human, like in the move Rocky, where Rocky had to run down the chickens to increase his quickness.  Those chickens were not the Cornish Cross meat bird!  Rocky's grandmother could catch a Cornish Cross... which is why Cornish Cross chickens are protected by their pen 24 hours a day as they move across the pasture.  If not, every predator in the area would being enjoying Cornish Cross chickens before we had a chance to sell them to our customers.  The Freedom Ranger on the other hand would give Rocky a run for his money.  The Freedom Ranger was allowed to run the pasture during the day, and at night they would gather in their pen and wait for it to be closed-up to protect them at night.  From a meat perspective, the Freedom Ranger takes a few more weeks to grow, is longer in the body, has a longer neck, and and doesn't have the appearance of obesity that a Cornish Cross does.  Additionally the Freedom Ranger has more feathers and the feathers are very soft.  When I mentioned the feathers to Sharon, she said the that Cornish Cross is actually bred with fewer feathers specifically with plucking in mind.  Plucking with the Freedom Ranger wasn't an issue at all.  They plucked beautifully and I thought the processing (gutting) was easier than the Cornish Cross.  Sharon still has to do the math to determine if the savings on feed (they eat less than the Cornish Cross) and management costs make up for the smaller size and longer growing time.  Oh yeah, and then there is the taste test.  We did sell some of these birds to customers at cost so that we can get opinions on the taste, texture, and finish as compared to the Cornish Cross.  We'll keep you posted on the taste and customer feedback.  One last note.  We put together a video on how to cut up a whole chicken to help our customers save some money. How to cut up a whole chicken

Chicken Processing #2 Done!

We finished 3 days of chicken processing.  WaHoo! We didn't have any major breakdowns and kept on a pretty good roll most of the time.  I'm always very pleased that our family is able to work through the long days, in less than comfortable conditions, (today it was nearly 90 degrees) for 3 days.  That's not to say that it doesn't "stretch" our family dynamics, but we survive and thrive even while we are very glad to see the 3rd day come to an end.  We still have one more major processing day or two lined up in a week or two to complete all of the broilers before fall, but those birds will be done at a more leisurely pace since most will be for our family.  At lunch yesterday we were contemplating the fruits of our labor and looking forward to the cold winter days being warmed by the comforting smell of a delicious chicken roasting in the oven.  Our family really gets charged up knowing that other families will also be enjoying the chickens that we raised and processed.  It really is a great feeling knowing that we're able to share the fruits of our labor with our community.  We even had time to give a few tours over the three days to some of our chicken customers.  We think that it's important for our customers to see where and how their food products are being raised.  That's the beauty of buying locally.  Not only are you supporting local farmers but you have the opportunity to look behind the scenes, ask questions and be discerning about something as important as the food you put into your families bodies.  Our farm isn't laid out in perfect rows and right angles but it has a beauty that has to be experienced.  We invite customers and anyone interested in how we farm to stop by for a farm tour.  We're proud of the work we do, how we raise our animals, how we work to be good stewards of the land and are happy to show it to others. 

Chicken Processing Prep

This week we're gearing up for the last chicken processing of 2010.  We've made some minor adjustments to our processing area by putting down crushed cement in some of the areas that we work,  moving our cones to hang between cones instead of hanging off of trees, and this time we've made sure we have a couple of heating elements for our scalder on hand.  The scalder heating element seems to be our weak link so we're going to make sure that we don't get bottle necked by this again.  We'll process chickens starting Wednesday and wrapping up Saturday.  This time we won't have any help, so we need to make sure that we're not slowed down by any equipment failures. 

Teamwork

My brother came over yesterday to lend a hand getting hay out of the field.  We put together an efficient team to get the work done.  It took all afternoon, but it was very efficient and we flew through the process.  Sharon ran two trucks connected to trailers that could carry about a dozen bales at a time.  She dropped one off one truck and trailer for unloading took another back out to the field to be loaded.  Tim was running a skidloader out in the field picking up bales and putting them on trailers and I would unload the trailers around the paddock or in the hoop building.  While we were moving bales, George was running the tractor to rake the remaining hay in the field so that the hay was ready to bale once we had the bales picked up.  It was awesome.  Next year we'll have almost double the alfalfa and that will really add to the time spent in moving bales.  And if Sharon thinks I complain about the accuracy NOAA weather now, wait until we have 100ac of alfalfa to manage!

Hay + Breakdown + Rain

The second cutting of alfalfa hay has been what you might call a disaster.  Since it has been the wettest July on record it has been tough to get the hay cut, and when I did it got some rain on it.  Worse yet was when I was baling my tractor broke down after a dozen or so bales were rolled.  I would have run over to my brothers and picked up his tractor, but my truck had a flat that same evening so I was stuck.  Once I finally got the flat fixed I did get the tractor, but by then it had rained again.  I ended up raking the hay again but this time with the wheel rake set to fluff the hay rather than rake it into a windrow.  It worked well and the hay was still in okay shape, but when I went to use the baler the slip clutch was slipping too much.  Etc, etc, etc.  Finally I get things rolling again and when I'm about 1/4 from finishing I run out of bale rap!  And then the rain again last night.  So as I write this I'm wondering what to do with the the remaining hay on the field.  Not an easy decision really.  On a positive note we did have another heifer calf this morning and she's nursing from her mama and she looks great!

#51 Update

The next thing that we have to deal with for cow #51 is retained placenta.  Retained placenta is a condition where the placenta isn't expelled within 24 hours after birth.  I called the vet to get his advice and he said that we should just let nature take its course unless the cow starts to show signs of illness.  He said that they used to go in much sooner and physically remove the placenta, but what they are finding now is that the outcome is better if they just let her do her thing and only intervene if things start to go in a bad direction.  Since she seems to be doing fine, and is feeding normally, we'll keep an eye on her.  He did say if I can take her temp, that would allow for a good indication of an onset of infection.  A friend had a good tip for taking the temp.  He ties the thermometer to one end of a string and the other end of the string is tied to a cloths pin.  When the thermometer is inserted the cloths pin is clipped to the hair above the tail.  If I can get close enough I guess I'll give it a try.  Hope I can get the thermometer back!

What Now?

We've had it very good for calving over the years with only one real mishap where we lost a cow and a calf.  Last year was tough with a new heifer calving for the first time and having twins.  That heifer, now a cow was #51.  She never nursed the calves properly and we ended up losing both of her calves after bottle feeding them for months.  This year she gave us a problem again.  She had her water bag hanging out for much longer than normal.  This was during my second cutting of hay which turned out to be a bad turn also, but I'll write about that later.  Anyway Sara came out to the hayfield to tell me that the water bag shouldn't hang more than a couple of hours.  So I called the vet and he said he'd want to know what was going on in there.  Look for a breach or a head back etc.  George and I setup the corral panel, chute and headgate.  Luckily #51 is our most gentle cow and she allowed us to walk her up to the corral and she went easily into the chute and headgate.  While she was walking I put my hand in her and could feel feet so I knew the calf was very close.  When she was in the headgate I was able to reach in further and could feel that everything felt normal, and was right and ready to go but she wasn't pushing.  I decided that I should help things along and find out if this calf was alive.  I reached in and grabbed both of the calf's front legs and pulled until my hands ached.  After my hands had stopped cramping I pulled some more.  Eventually George started helping and it wasn't long until the head was just about out.  A little pulling down rather than back and the calf slid out.  We carried the calf around to the front of the chute and let the cow out.  She took to the calf right away and all was good except we noticed that she had what appeared to be another water sack hanging at one point.  Maybe twins again, but then later I saw placenta so I didn't think much of it again.  Everything was good until after about a day we never seemed to catch the calf nursing.  Sara and I decided to try to strip some milk from the cow and so back to the corral the cow went, this time with calf in tow.  We put the calf on the cow at first but the cow kicked her back.  Then Sara tried to milk the cow but she was dry.  At that point we figured that the cow had been nursed dry so we let them go back to what they were doing.  Another 24 hours later and the calf was looking bad so we started bottle feeding.  Things went down hill quickly for the calf and eventually we lost the calf.  In the mean time it was suggested that #51 might have another twin in there that wasn't alive that could be life threatening, so back to the chute again.  This time I had to go shoulder deep to look for another calf.  No calf so we let her go again.  Once she has closed back up she'll go to the sale barn.  Too bad too because she is so gentle it would be great to have a herd of cows with her disposition.

4-H Dickinson County Fair

Last week was the Dickinson County Fair.  As usual it was a lot of fun and work for the kids.  Sara had her milk goats and Tom and George had their goat kids that were Sara's goat's kids.  They tried making them meat goats, and the rate of gain was good, but compared to a meet goat breed they were very small.  Sara also road her horse at the fair, so with all of the animals at the fair grounds, that meant lots of time at the fair grounds to keep everyone fed, watered and pens clean.  Everyone did really well, and Tom got outstanding junior for his robot arm that grabs and object and dropped it in another location.  All in all a fun and rewarding week.

Sara Running Flag

Tom's Robot