Process or wait?

[lotzahenz]

I too would do it earlier, as those birds can be quite fragile and with age they decline fast sometimes. Plus, there are always risks, and I once lost a whole flock of 15 of them to cold rain and they were all about 4 lbs each then, and I thought wrongly they could withstand a cool summer rain. Lost all but one that time, then they have other accidents and I lost the only survivor to sudden death syndrome. She walked right past me (yep, had good legs) and stopped, squatted and had a seizure. I was two feet away and there was no saving that bird. She was about 9 or 10 weeks old. Good luck, but a flock in the freezer is always a better thing.

 

[Darin115]

There is a Halal Meat slaughter house in Siler City, NC. About 20 minutes from my house. They have a new poultry processing facility. Chaudhry Halal Meats is the name of the place.

"Chaudhry Halal Meats, an independent slaughterhouse that caters to local, small farmers in the Chatham County area. Opened 10 years ago, by Abdul Chaudhry, a Pakistani immigrant, as a red meat, lamb,goat,cattle, etc, slaughtering facility, it has recently expanded to include a brand new poultry processing facility."

I just call and make an appointment and they give me a time to have my chickens up there. I have to be there at 0700 on Monday. I can wait and get my chickens then or they will freeze them and I can pick them up later. They will put them in vacuum sealed bags and label them with the weight and date of slaughter. I get them to leave mine whole. I just ask them to put all the livers in a separate container. They will also cut the bird up any way you desire.

It is very convenient for me. I can process them myself but it is just easier and less mess to pay them to do it.

Siler City was once the home of a Townsend chicken procession plant. They closed this year. You could go at the shift change and recruit a worker to process your birds on his/her own time. They would generally do it for a couple of dollars per bird, depending on how many you had. Those days are long gone.

Darin

 

[SIMZ]

Personally, I would go earlier as long as they were a decent size. But that would be my preference based on the hassle of taking care of them and wanting birds around 5 pounds. Two extra weeks of taking care of meaties, especially over the holidays, would settle it for me.

Was there a certain size you were going for? That extra time would make a pretty big difference in size.

 

[wrestling_mom]

I have nothing for you, other than I am sorry that you have lost your father.

 

[mstricer]

I'm interested if you could tell me when you fed 24/7, if there is a lot of fat under their soon. I do 12 on 12 off and very little fat. Can you let me know?

 

[Darin115]

I dropped them off this morning. I get them back on Wednesday. Looking forward to seeing what the weight of the processed birds are.
They run a excellent operation.

I fed start & grow for 24 hours for the first 3 weeks. I then switched over to a broiler feed. I kept a light on them for 24 hours. I kept the feeder full at all times. Of course the bigger they got the more they ate. I filled the feeder up once a day. The last week the feeder was empty when I would go feed them. I had not been empty long. I fed them the last time yesterday morning. It was almost empty when I went to get them this morning at 5:00am. 2 were laying beside the feeder in the dark eating when I went in. The others were bunched up asleep. I am sure they were dreaming about me coming to fill it up and another day of eating, drinking and pooping.

I did turn the light off a few nights and the food consumption did not go down. They either ate more during the day or ate in the dark.
Next time I will do the 12 on and 12 off after about week 5. I lost 2 birds probably due to heart problems. I hate I lost them but I guess that is part of it.

I worry about processing them 4 days early but I had no other choice. I also worried about them not making it to the processor alive. They won't process a dead bird. I spoke to the USDA inspector as I was waiting to drop them off. He said they look fine and healthy.

There was a guy in front of me that had 2 50lb turkeys. They were huge. He was getting them processed and leaving them whole until I asked how big his oven was. He said good point and asked them to cut them in half. Another guy behind me has 446 chickens. They were doing 800-900 chickens today plus the 2 turkeys.

I will let you know how fat they were when I get them back. I wanted my birds left whole. They are putting all the livers in a package and the birds will be vacuumed sealed with the weight on each label.

I had no real size target. I just wanted them as big as I could get them in 8 weeks without losing many birds. I will be happy if they are 6lbs dressed. The hens will probably be a little less but the roosters will be much bigger. That is my guess. I will post all the weights when I get them back. One seamed to be a runt. I am curious to see how big she was.

Thank you for your condolences. My father has been sick for a long time. He got to stay at home and pass surrounded by his family in his own bed. He was ready to go home.

Darin

 

[Darin115]

I am picking the chickens up from the processor today. I am second guessing myself on sending them early. I know I had a small one or two but I think the others will make up for the 2 light ones.

Will post results later tonight or tomorrow.

Darin

 

[wrestling_mom]

Quote:
How did it go?

 

[Darin115]

We went out of town on Sunday and I was busy before then and forgot.

I had 9 total processed. They were processed at 7 weeks and 4 days old. I had 4 hens and 5 roos. 2 of the hens were much smaller than the rest of the chickens. I should have give them another couple of weeks but I didn't. They came in at around 3lbs. They other 2 hens were 3.5 and 4 lbs. The roos ranged in weight from 4.75 to 5.5 lbs. All weights were listed with no necks, livers, gizzards or hearts. Just the whole body less the neck. I got the livers in a seperate package.

I baked one on Saturday morning. We ate it for lunch and I made chicken salad with the leftovers. It was delicious.

I am currently planning my next batch. I have to clean out the chicken house and I think I will get 25 more in January.

Darin

 

[EggsForIHOP]

That's pretty awesome! Nothing beats fresh homegrown foods - NOTHING! Plus, you gotta admit, it's nice being all done isn't it