From Yard to Table With Bucks D2

I'm hoping a frost misses us until late next month. That's the most we could hope for. Raising Coturninx quail in your area, I would think parasites are always knocking at their door. What do you use for their control? Were you able to take off and attend your daughters speech at regional competition? I would have enjoyed sitting in on that and quizzing her afterward. Thanks Dad for helping her with projects like this. I'll touch up my 110 before catching another rooster. DM
 
There's no way. If it came from the supermarket the breast would be 3 times the size (genetically modified). Probably tastes 10X better than the supermarket chicken as well.

Tony, thanks. You'd be surprised how many think it comes from the grocery store. Somebody's got to raise it, process it, package and freeze it. Then ship it to your store. I skinned this one. Most you buy are plucked. I noticed this D2 blade had some stain spots on it. So, even in my dry climate a near stainless, high carbon steel requires extra care just being left in it's sheath. More care for less Cr content. DM
 
She gives the chicks medicated feed for the first few weeks which seems to help on mortality, but don't really have any parasite issues.
No speech's it's all horse showing. She is doing mostly ranch horse and reigning now, but she has done the western pleasure, and english. I pretty much make it to all their horse shows, particularly the ones that matter. I like to be there and will always be there for my girls, but I could care less about the horse shows.
 
cchu, I'm sure they feed them differently than I do. I merely feed them the recommended feed store bagged feed correct for age. With it's standard, mostly grain ingredients and some needed vitamins mixed in. For 4-5 months. It takes time for them to grow to a nice size and they are allowed to roam. Not caged. Those folks obtain those nice plump hens in 3 months. I wonder how they do it. The broiler breeds do better but not in 3 months.? Yes, these do have really good flavor. Have you processed any? With your Buck knife? DM
 
St8, Thanks for being there for your girls. A good Dad. Mine showed horses as well: (4H & AQHA) liking the halter classes, Western Pleasure and Trail. Liking Trail the most. DM
 
cchu, I'm sure they feed them differently than I do. I merely feed them the recommended feed store bagged feed correct for age. With it's standard, mostly grain ingredients and some needed vitamins mixed in. For 4-5 months. It takes time for them to grow to a nice size and they are allowed to roam. Not caged. Those folks obtain those nice plump hens in 3 months. I wonder how they do it. The broiler breeds do better but not in 3 months.? Yes, these do have really good flavor. Have you processed any? With your Buck knife? DM
Crazy story my grandfather is Chinese but he was born in Mexico. He's lived in NYC since 1970 though. That said he was employed for a very long time at a Hispanic live chicken market.

So I grew up processing chickens but I use chef and Chinese butcher knives to do it. The plucking was all done by a machine! By the time my big brother was a teen in 1980 was the first time I saw a Buck get "flicked" dukes of hazard was all the rage, oak Ridge boys etc... In any case I've been reverting back from the one hand folders and have been shopping for a 110 or 112.

My parents were chefs so even though I'm a knife nut I still can't get myself to use folders with food. Although my dad carried a buck fixed hunter on his job in the Bronx as an armed guard for a hospital. It's not normally what one associates with buck but their true stories!
 
Thanks for sharing with us a good story. I'll file it away. It had a funny side as well. Hope you hang around. DM
 
Finishing up our roosters today. I even did one start to finish using only my hatchet. It was good. Came off without a hitch. DM
 
These were most of the models I used in processing the 16 roosters. All went well, no cuts sustained and now we have meat in the freezer. Enough to last until the end of the year. A good project. I think we'll do it again next Spring. DM
 
Dave, glad everything worked great and the hatchet use was cool. With the blood, fat and other slick substances which knife had the surest grip?
 
This is a good question. You are indeed a thinking man. With fed animals things get slippery when you process them. Because they get higher quality feed and your looking for weight gain to put more meat in the freezer. So, more fat comes with it. Not normally true with hunted game. Cleaning fish are close to processing pen raised chickens. The surest grip would have to go Buck's 428 handle. This was most noticeable. Plus, this handle accommodates 2 blades, so it's wider. This could be a factor.? Still, I enjoy the solid feel of a 110 (it's heft). And like using them. The BCCI 110 offering with D2 steel would be a close 2nd. As it's handle material has layers (each with small ridges) and this helped with gripping when my hands were slimy. Which occurs on the first chicken. The paper-stone handle model was close to the D2 model. Then the wood laminated handle of the Bass Pro model. Even with it having finger grooves it was slippery. But I like the steel (ease of sharpening) on this model and it's blade coating with finger grooves. So, I used it the most. Go Figure! I think you'd have to go to a handle of canvas micarta or stacked leather to improve toward a more sure grip knife. Thank you, DM
 
My political science professor once told a story of a guy talking about how immoral it was to eat animals while eating a ham sandwich
 
It would be interesting to see how a 279 or 277 would function, both for edge retention from the various steel offerings and from the huge stainless frame. Oh and let's not forget cleanup after, a lot of stringy things could get caught in the lock.
 
PC, I've used a Alpha Hunter on deer some. I like it and my daughter likes that model. They work real well. The one I used had 420 steel and black rubber handles. It grips good, locks up solid and cleans quick. It was built with no spine at the blade stop. Thus, is like self cleaning. The divot in the choil needs corrective work. As the blade will hang up in this blade stop divot during cutting. I've often said I'd build a different blade for one. Making use of the handle space more efficiently. So, you could see what I'm talking about. The frame on this model is solid and handles can be changed out easily. Plus, it's action is smooth and quick and has a lanyard hole. Also, it's leather sheath accommodates two position carry. Not much got caught in it's liner-lock that didn't dislodge with a squirt of water. It was also offered in upgrade steels. A good heavy built folder. DM
 
That was great to see your results with the hatchet. I've never thought of using one.

Dad raised meat birds that matured in about three months. They were like small turkeys at butchering time. They didn't fit well in the killing cones. They were fed regular feed. They ate two to one compared to the laying hens that arrived at the same time. I don't remember what breed they were, but they had huge breasts, twice the normal size. They grew very quickly. It was time to butcher when some were having difficulty moving around.
 
Gedd, Thank you.
Those were probably Cornish Game Hens, Cockerels or Broilers. Most of these breeds are designed to reach 4 1/2 lbs. in 6 weeks. They can have (as you mention) skeletal, structural problems. AS they grow so quickly their frame cannot support the weight. Yes, fed regular feed and they'll eat twice what a normal growing hen would and fed for about 2 months. I've gone that route in some years past. Ok, you feed them for 2 mos. and they eat twice as much and have problems. Or you purchase a dual breed and feed them half as much for 4 mos.. They gain slower, on less feed, are feed longer but have no problems. Many of these were over 5 1/2 lbs.. Many of those other breeds I had to put feed and water in bowls right in front of them. Because they could not get up and walk to the food. It's the farmers call. Where he thinks the economy and value rests when trying to feed his family. Some just don't want to care for them any length of time.? Just giving both sides of the coin. Another knife that worked well on this was the early year date Bucklites. As those blades were ground thin and can cut a leg joint apart easily. DM
 
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O- forgot something of importance pertaining toward this topic. When using blades of good steels they would process 12-13 roosters before needing some attention. i.e. stropping or steeling. I strop on slurry to bring the edge back. Putting off taking it to the stone as long as possible. It seems push cutting through bone, even though they are small is hard on a knife's edge. Something to remember. DM
 
Nice little write up DM,I enjoyed following this thread.SOon it will be time for deer hunting here and I'll need to pay attention to some blades before it starts,lol.
 
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