Stringy Meat?

[ourltlflock]

I processed another 12 birds and this time the meat is stringy and slightly tough. I've raised lots of meatbirds and I did nothing different this time, except using a plucker and they came from a different hatchery. Any ideas?? Anyone else have this issue?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

More info needed. What breed/cross? How old at processing? Free range or confined? How long did the meat rest prior to freezing or eating? Cooking method - time/temperature/oven/grill/fryer/smoker?
What were they fed between this and other groups?
Was the time of year comparable?

 

[Mosey2003]

Agree with ChickenCanoe, we need more info.

 

[ourltlflock]

Sorry. They are Cornish cross, housed in an 8x10 run, fed 10 hours a day. Large birds processed at 8 weeks, smaller birds at 9 weeks. I rest the meat 2 days then vacuumed sealed and into the freezer. All of my meat birds eat the Nutrena Meat Bird feed. 20% protein I think. We did this group in the fall, I've done another group in the fall with no issues. As far as cooking goes, on the smoker and crockpot are my most common ways of cooking and they always come out yummy.

 

[Mosey2003]

That's odd. Did they free range or move around a lot more than other batches?

Are they a different hatchery strain than before?

 

[ourltlflock]

That's odd. Did they free range or move around a lot more than other batches?

Are they a different hatchery strain than before?

No more movement than the other batches. They were from a different hatchery though.

 

[Mosey2003]

No more movement than the other batches. They were from a different hatchery though.

That seems like the only difference then.

 

[RoosterML]

No more movement than the other batches. They were from a different hatchery though.

Wondering why did you use a different hatchery? If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Wondering why did you use a different hatchery? If it ain't broke don't fix it.

You'd think they'd be near identical outcome though. That brings up the question of not just the hatchery difference but the type of meat bird could have been different. You know, you've got the Cobb 500, 2.0 and whatever other number I can make up to put after Cobb. The difference could be you had a slower growth strain the first batch and the other hatchery sold the super quick growth strain. Or vise versa.

 

[Mosey2003]

Wondering why did you use a different hatchery? If it ain't broke don't fix it.

I wouldn't assume they chose to use a different hatchery, the store where they buy might have changed it. If you aren't ordering yourself you don't have much control over it.

OP - did you change the way you processed them? Like, the method of dispatch?