Super fatty chicken experience

[pcdreams]

So we raised some Deleware birds. roos went for meet and hens are starting to lay.
We processed last week and these are the fattiest birds I've ever processed. Their skins were very fatty, I'd liken it to how duck looks. And
there was so much fat inside that it was difficult to get into the bird as well as eviscerating. The back where you usually cut a slit to put your hand in
was hard (almost like a gizzard). and there was probably at least 7-8 oz of fat.

I probably did something wrong because this isn't our first batch of broiler, but it is our first batch of Delewares and any birds this old (20 weeks).
To give an idea, they were between 6-7 pounds dressed

I thought I was feeding them well. I gave them this feed and they looked good. the group (20 birds) were putting away 50# of it a week. Not sure what went wrong, but the skin is inedible and the meet is pretty tough. Raised on pasture in tractors so I wouldn't think they were over exercised. Any help is appreciated. I certainly would like to not repeat this experience.

 

[Molpet]

Cooking method depends on age. How were you cooking?

 

[pcdreams]

Cooking method depends on age. How were you cooking?
View attachment 3677350

Since I'd never grown Delewares before, I did some research (and asked the hatchery) and the consensus seemed to be 16-20 weeks for this particular breed. If I do them Again I'll likely try some at 12 and 16 weeks

baked in the oven at 325 for 1:30 covered. This is how I typically cook broilers. Low and Slow

 

[Morrigan]

Where did you buy the Delaware's from? Were they advertised as an "enhanced" or broiler Delaware?

Did you process the cockerels at the same age as the pullets? Were the cockerels fatty too, or just the pullets?

Processing any chicken at 16 to 20 weeks will yield a fairly dramatically different experience then processing a CX at 6 to 8 weeks. A 20 week old cockerel will be pretty chewy, and may need to be slowly stewed down or pressure cooked. A 20 week old pullet should still be tender enough to roast, but yes, if they have started to lay or gotten close to it, they can be much, much fattier then any CX female you've processed. This is particularly true with slow broiler type of hens. Some of the fattiest hens I ever processed were 6 month old red rangers.

 

[pcdreams]

Where did you buy the Delaware's from? Were they advertised as an "enhanced" or broiler Delaware?

Did you process the cockerels at the same age as the pullets? Were the cockerels fatty too, or just the pullets?

Processing any chicken at 16 to 20 weeks will yield a fairly dramatically different experience then processing a CX at 6 to 8 weeks. A 20 week old cockerel will be pretty chewy, and may need to be slowly stewed down or pressure cooked. A 20 week old pullet should still be tender enough to roast, but yes, if they have started to lay or gotten close to it, they can be much, much fattier then any CX female you've processed. This is particularly true with slow broiler type of hens. Some of the fattiest hens I ever processed were 6 month old red rangers.

We got the broilers from McMurray. They have 2 varieties, but we got the broilers (vs the layers).
We only processed the cockerels and kept the pullets as layers.

We've not raised cornish cross. We raised Freedom (red) rangers. Sorry, I didn't make that clear. I've been afraid to try the cornish, with all the horror stories I've heard.

 

[Morrigan]

You got the Delaware broilers that McMurray sells then? And, it was the cockerels you processed at 16 to 20 weeks who were really fatty? Not any hens?

I just processed a 12 week old Delaware broiler cockerel from McMurray. It wasn't fatty at all, so I'm not sure what went wrong.

 

[pcdreams]

You got the Delaware broilers that McMurray sells then? And, it was the cockerels you processed at 16 to 20 weeks who were really fatty? Not any hens?

I just processed a 12 week old Delaware broiler cockerel from McMurray. It wasn't fatty at all, so I'm not sure what went wrong.

Correct

 

[FunClucks]

So, I'm gonna give you a suggestion - might consider getting your feed analyzed. Most of the values (protein, fat, etc.) listed on the label were minimums. Since there are no maximum values listed on the feed, it could have been anything above the minimum. Common sense and my pocketbook says that producers will only put the minimum required to avoid increasing the price of the feed, but if for some reason you had a significantly higher fat value, for instance, that may have had an impact.

Most likely the amount of fat present in the birds was genetic and due to the age of the chicken (McMurray broilers, at 20 wks are getting an impact from their hormones, and that can make them less tender).

At 20 wks, if you're not happy with the tenderness, I'd seriously consider pressure cooking or canning the chicken prior to use. For an oven roast, process them sooner.

 

[pcdreams]

So, I'm gonna give you a suggestion - might consider getting your feed analyzed. Most of the values (protein, fat, etc.) listed on the label were minimums. Since there are no maximum values listed on the feed, it could have been anything above the minimum. Common sense and my pocketbook says that producers will only put the minimum required to avoid increasing the price of the feed, but if for some reason you had a significantly higher fat value, for instance, that may have had an impact.

Most likely the amount of fat present in the birds was genetic and due to the age of the chicken (McMurray broilers, at 20 wks are getting an impact from their hormones, and that can make them less tender).

At 20 wks, if you're not happy with the tenderness, I'd seriously consider pressure cooking or canning the chicken prior to use. For an oven roast, process them sooner

Now that you mention genetics It reminded me of something else. These birds were crowing at 3 weeks. Never had that before.

Yep we insta-potted one yesterday and it's edible that way I see lots of pulled chicken sandwiches in my future. Hey, there are worse things.

 

[speedy2020]

Just cut back on the feed next time. I would rather have fatty rooster than the skinny one any day. I would keep all the hens and find a good White Bresse rooster to make a cross for your dual purpose block.