Cornish Game Hens

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CrackbottomLouis

CrackbottomLouis

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Dec 4, 2017
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GA
So, my mother-in-laws b day is the 23rd of December. Our holidays include her b day dinner for wifes fam, xmas eve with my fam, and a christmas brunch with wife fam on the day. All without eating the same meal 3 times in a row. Goose xmas eve, turkey/ham xmas brunch. So, Im doing game hens for the b day/xmas dinner.

Game hen recipe....

Marinade in chk stock, cranberry juice, lingonberry jam, rasberry jam, soy sauce, mustard powder, parsley, a touch of rosemary, salt and pepper, and a very small touch of cayenne. Let soak overnight breast side down. Marinade should not be too sweet. Place on rack over deep dish. Let marinade stay below the hens in pan. Tm I will lightly glaze with rasberry sauce and cook breast side down tented with tinfoil to steam and then remove tinfoil, flip birds and cook till done and golden.
20171222_135855.jpg
 
CrackbottomLouis said:
So, my mother-in-laws b day is the 23rd of December. Our holidays include her b day dinner for wifes fam, xmas eve with my fam, and a christmas brunch with wife fam on the day. All without eating the same meal 3 times in a row. Goose xmas eve, turkey/ham xmas brunch. So, Im doing game hens for the b day/xmas dinner.

Game hen recipe....

Marinade in chk stock, cranberry juice, lingonberry jam, rasberry jam, soy sauce, mustard powder, parsley, a touch of rosemary, salt and pepper, and a very small touch of cayenne. Let soak overnight breast side down. Marinade should not be too sweet. Place on rack over deep dish. Let marinade stay below the hens in pan. Tm I will lightly glaze with rasberry sauce and cook breast side down tented with tinfoil to steam and then remove tinfoil, flip birds and cook till done and golden.
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Thats really looks good CBL. :great:
 
Looks great! Now i wonder if they are cornish x's or real cornish game hens and if so white or dark?
 
CrackbottomLouis said:
They are real game hens. Either that or I got ripped off as they werent chicken prices.
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They charge more for them. Mostly a corish game hen is a corish cross that is 5 weeks old. They charge more because they loose profits when sold that small. Im sure they were excellent tasting, judging by the picture i would say they were!
 
Redbeard said:
They charge more for them. Mostly a corish game hen is a corish cross that is 5 weeks old. They charge more because they loose profits when sold that small. Im sure they were excellent tasting, judging by the picture i would say they were!
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Havent finished yet. Soaking last night gonna cook them today. Ill post pics later. They are true cornish hens Im pretty sure. I got them from a farmers market and they were locally raised. Maybe not but I trust the source.
 
Redbeard said:
They charge more for them. Mostly a corish game hen is a corish cross that is 5 weeks old. They charge more because they loose profits when sold that small. Im sure they were excellent tasting, judging by the picture i would say they were!
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They have to be less than 5 weeks old. The ones we raise are usually that size by 3 weeks.
 
Terri9630 said:
They have to be less than 5 weeks old. The ones we raise are usually that size by 3 weeks.
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Yes correction less than 5weeks. Good catch. When we sold birds we got 2.50 to 3 bucks a pound for full sized birds. Depending on grain prices. For the "game hen" we got 4.50 a pound. We did this because if we sold them for our normal rate we would loose money. People often think smaller bird cheaper to raise, well ya kinda but you still have to cover the cost of the chick and the cost of it's replacement. If we sold a 2 to 3 pound bird for 2.50 a pound it would barely cover grain cost nevermind seeing a dime in profit. I don't miss raising the factory cornish cross. Even though their growth rate unmatched by any other bird they don't have the flavor i like in my birds. With my breeding program now being all heritage breeds i hope to pick up my old customers again and offer them a more flavorful bird. Prices will go up a little but they have to to make up for the difference in feed to protein conversation. My version of the cornish cross is dark cornish crosses with dorking and also a version crossed with dominique. I am also very eager to try a cross of the two crossbreeds. Everything is being documented, all birds are marked for study of witch combos produce a better bird. I know i won't be doing 1000 birds anymore but i hope to replace quantity with quality. You eat those yet Crackbottom? I bet they were awesome!
 
Redbeard said:
Yes correction less than 5weeks. Good catch. When we sold birds we got 2.50 to 3 bucks a pound for full sized birds. Depending on grain prices. For the "game hen" we got 4.50 a pound. We did this because if we sold them for our normal rate we would loose money. People often think smaller bird cheaper to raise, well ya kinda but you still have to cover the cost of the chick and the cost of it's replacement. If we sold a 2 to 3 pound bird for 2.50 a pound it would barely cover grain cost nevermind seeing a dime in profit. I don't miss raising the factory cornish cross. Even though their growth rate unmatched by any other bird they don't have the flavor i like in my birds. With my breeding program now being all heritage breeds i hope to pick up my old customers again and offer them a more flavorful bird. Prices will go up a little but they have to to make up for the difference in feed to protein conversation. My version of the cornish cross is dark cornish crosses with dorking and also a version crossed with dominique. I am also very eager to try a cross of the two crossbreeds. Everything is being documented, all birds are marked for study of witch combos produce a better bird. I know i won't be doing 1000 birds anymore but i hope to replace quantity with quality. You eat those yet Crackbottom? I bet they were awesome!
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Have you tried the red rangers? They grew very fast. Not as fast as a broiler but much faster than everything else we've raised. They couldn't take the heat or we'd still have some.
 
Terri9630 said:
Have you tried the red rangers? They grew very fast. Not as fast as a broiler but much faster than everything else we've raised. They couldn't take the heat or we'd still have some.
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Never raised them or tried one. I have butchered a bunch of them. To me they look structure wise the same as the cornish x. They totally have more feathers. I charge more for butchering them because of the feathers and the size of them. Everyone i have done them for says they forage great but i wonder how they know that because most still put the feed right to them. They also have a grayish fat witch i find a bit weird. I was impressed with the taste and size of the Dixie rainbows though. They are good birds, wonder how they would do in your heat?
 
Redbeard said:
Never raised them or tried one. I have butchered a bunch of them. To me they look structure wise the same as the cornish x. They totally have more feathers. I charge more for butchering them because of the feathers and the size of them. Everyone i have done them for says they forage great but i wonder how they know that because most still put the feed right to them. They also have a grayish fat witch i find a bit weird. I was impressed with the taste and size of the Dixie rainbows though. They are good birds, wonder how they would do in your heat?
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I've never heard of Dixies. My Rangers had normal white fat. Maybe it was the difference in feed. I use turkey and game bird starter crumbles for all our chicks. The high protein helps with the feather growth so I can get them outside faster. The Ranger chicks grew almost as fast as the broilers for the first 4 weeks or so then started to slow down. They were also active like a chicken should be, not "feeder potatoes" as my kids called the broilers.
 
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