Recent content by charthorn

  1. charthorn

    Welps hatchery

    I have had a bad experience with them this year as well. Disappointed in their current meat birds as well as their customer service. Year’s past, they were great, now not so much.
  2. charthorn

    Welp hatchery broiler chicks dying

    Probably so, they went from the best I have ever raised to the worst I have ever raised, all in one year. If they did change lines I sure with they would change back.
  3. charthorn

    Welp hatchery broiler chicks dying

    Up until this year I have had great success with the birds from Welp. However, this year's chicks were the worst I have ever had. I ordered 30 and only two reached a decent butcher size before dying. I've literally raised hundreds of meat chickens throughout the years, and these were the first...
  4. charthorn

    What do you use for a scalder?

    I used a turkey fryer for years and it's okay but kind of a pain to use all day. I made an electric one and it works great. I used a 30 gal plastic drum and installed an electric water heater element and a temperature controller. I set it in the morning and the temperature stays plus or minus...
  5. charthorn

    Scalder advice

    I have used the turkey fryer in the past and it worked okay, but kind of a pain to maintain a steady temperature all day. So to simplify the process I made an electric one. I used an electronic controller (about $100) a 30 gallon plastic barrel and a hot water heater heating element. It takes...
  6. charthorn

    Where do you process your meat birds?

    Your backyard.
  7. charthorn

    Welp. first time with meat birds

    I've used Welp's hatchery for the past 5 years and always have had great production from their birds. I order approx. 35 meaties each year and start butchering them at 6 weeks. They always average around 5 lbs dressed out.
  8. charthorn

    Official BYC Poll: Where Did You Get Your Coop & Run From?

    This coop is for my meat chickens/quail. It's build from scratch with a few new 2 x 4s but mostly reclaimed lumber from an older coop. It works awesome.
  9. charthorn

    Harvesting-First timer...help!

    They may be a little tougher, due to rigor mortis. It normally takes around 24 hours for the rigor to work out of the birds. If they are already frozen, no problem just take them out of the freezer a little earlier and let them rest for a day or so in the refrigerator prior to cooking.
  10. charthorn

    Raising on wire

    New coop worked great! All 30 are in the freezer with an average dress out weight of 5 lbs. at six weeks. The coop stayed clean and the birds were super clean.
  11. charthorn

    Packing birds for the freezer?

    We do about 50 a year and we use to vacuum seal them all but since switched to shrink wrapping them. We were having to many problems with the vacuum seal bags breaking their seal. Not an issue with shrink wrapping bags.
  12. charthorn

    Thoughts on this kill cone stand from eBay?

    I take a tomato plant cone, tip it upside down, curl the legs over and place a traffic cone in it. I've used for years on hundreds of birds, works great.
  13. charthorn

    Tips for butchering/processing alone??

    My killing cone is an old traffic cone, used it for years and it works great. Plucking isn't that big of a deal. Just get a good scald on them and the feathers come right off.
  14. charthorn

    Looking for incubator suggestions.

    I'm thinking of hatching out some quail eggs. I have never used an incubator before and was looking for some suggestions on a good one to buy. One that holds around 20 eggs or so. Thanks.
  15. charthorn

    Raising on wire

    So far the new coop is working awesome. We're four weeks into raising 30 meat birds and they are growing great and keeping clean. As some are approaching 4#, next week I'll start sending some to freezer camp.
See more
Back
Top Bottom