I never knew raising meat chickens would be so stressful

[steveo]

I have been posting about my first experience raising cornish x and it has been very stressful. In the beginning things seemed to go pretty smooth while they were being raised in my shed. I gave them feed 24/7 up to about 3 weeks old and then switched to 12 on and 12 off with the feed. I think I should have went with 12 on and 12 off much earlier.

I built my chicken tractor from the link jaku provided for me and put the birds in my new tractor. I assumed they did not need heat since they were pretty much feathered and things started going down hill from there. Not sure how many birds I lost out of my original 26 but I think it is up to about 8 birds dead. I processed 2 today and plan on doing the rest in the morning. I do not have a chicken plucker yet so I am plucking them by hand which is a real bummer. I am usually very prepared for anything I do but not this time, I was planning on taking them to the processor but they can not do the birds for another 2 weeks.

To top it all off my significant other is not being very nice about the whole thing. She will not help and was complaining that there was a few feathers left on one of the chickens I just did. She comes from a hunting family but gets grossed out by knowing where her food really comes from and would rather have the boneless chicken from the supermarket. Sorry for such a long post but I had to complain about my stress to someone lol.

 

[cw]

steveo im glad you posted, i just got 50 broilers from meyer hatchery and was curious about the 12 on 12 off with feed ? and you answered it for me and i have a better ideal of how my signifinate other may react

 

[TimG]

We you going to use West Gardiner Beef for the processing, or is there another in the area? Do you know what they are charging for chickens this year?

 

[steveo]

Quote:
I was going to use West Gardiner Beef for the processing because they are highly recommended by many people I know. Unfortunately there was a miscommunication and I did not realize that they do not start processing chickens until June 5th. They charge $2.85 per chicken.

I am glad I already have a date with them to butcher my pigs.

 

[Chicken Rob]

i am going to bring a bunch done there also. never had any done before . are they all packaged and inards removed ?

 

[ShadyGlade]

You might like to induce your SO to watch one of the videos that shows how "wonderfully" treated her supermarket chickens were. It is hard for most folks to stomach the abusive conditions and pathetic lives that our factory farmed meat animals live prior to and at slaughter. She might begin to form a different opinion about what you are doing then. Eating animals raised in this way condones and accepts such treatment as acceptable. I for one do not understand how anyone with an ability to do otherwise would financially support the agricultural philosophies that treat our living food in such unjust & inhumane ways.

 

[steveo]

Quote:
I am fighting a losing battle with this one. I grew some really nice leaf lettuce and it had some small green bugs on it before I rinsed it all off. She would not eat the lettuce lol. She would rather eat the stuff someone else grew and loaded with pesticides for some reason. Luckily the kids and I love the all natural stuff.

 

[bja105]

Keep working on her, she'll come around. Keep leading, the family will eventually follow.

Thanks for the updates. I moved my 3 week olds outside yesterday, and made sure I gave them a heat lamp. I'll start 12 on 12 off tomorrow.

 

[jakeolsen2219]

At least there is one good thing about cornish x's, in 6-8 weeks they are done and dead! I have been having some stress of my own thanks to mine, so I can sympathize with your situation. Good luck, and let us know how they are on the table!

 

[saddina]

Can you slam together a drill plucker tonight to make it go faster tomorrow? I know there's directions on the site. If you miss a few pin feathers, you can pluck them out with tweezers, just like when she does her eyebrows.