100 Broilers and Fermented Feed Project

[kuntrygirl]

They all look amazing! Did people who were buying have a preference for skinless? Skinning sounds so much easier, though I was hoping to pluck half of them to keep whole.

It's funny how much of a difference it makes getting rid of some, but I'm sure you still have loads left! Are they all much smaller? It's crazy how slow growing your batch was.

Thank you.

Another "believe it or not" is that everyone wanted skinless birds. That was PERFECT for me.

The rest will be even smaller than these. I will try to keep them around even longer to put more weight on them. I will compare the live weights that I have documented to the weights of these that are still in the pen and process based on their "possible" dressed weights. At least I have something to compare to now. If the broilers that I still have now weigh less than the ones that I have processed, I won't process them just yet. I hope I don't have these broilers for another 3 months. :/ This batch was crazy crazy slow.

 

[foreverlearning]

They may be either thinking it's like a turkey where at a certain size it just becomes dry to cook or just one bird for a meal rather then leftovers. People still have it in their head that skinless is healthy and that is great for you. Personally, I like my skin too much. Great job on the processing!

 

[Coralietg]

Thank you.

Another "believe it or not" is that everyone wanted skinless birds. That was PERFECT for me.

The rest will be even smaller than these. I will try to keep them around even longer to put more weight on them. I will compare the live weights that I have documented to the weights of these that are still in the pen and process based on their "possible" dressed weights. At least I have something to compare to now. If the broilers that I still have now weigh less than the ones that I have processed, I won't process them just yet. I hope I don't have these broilers for another 3 months.

This batch was crazy crazy slow.

I feel like I could make Cornish hens out of some of the monsters I have outside. Where did you get these guys from again? Maybe they have some rare form of Cornish dwarfism, I would be ready to make nuggets out of them all.

 

[kuntrygirl]

They may be either thinking it's like a turkey where at a certain size it just becomes dry to cook or just one bird for a meal rather then leftovers. People still have it in their head that skinless is healthy and that is great for you. Personally, I like my skin too much. Great job on the processing!

Thanks.

Not sure what their thinking is. Even with I have cooked (baked, smothered, gumbo) chicken with the skin on, I peal the skin off and put it on the side. I only like the skin when I fry chicken. Other than that, I don't care for it too much.

I cooked a whole skinless broiler in my big black pot yesterday and it was perfect. It was juicy and moist. I had some for lunch and will have some when I get home . I think I will have 1 more serving after tonight.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Thank you.


Another "believe it or not" is that everyone wanted skinless birds. That was PERFECT for me.


The rest will be even smaller than these. I will try to keep them around even longer to put more weight on them. I will compare the live weights that I have documented to the weights of these that are still in the pen and process based on their "possible" dressed weights. At least I have something to compare to now. If the broilers that I still have now weigh less than the ones that I have processed, I won't process them just yet. I hope I don't have these broilers for another 3 months. :/ This batch was crazy crazy slow.

I feel like I could make Cornish hens out of some of the monsters I have outside.  Where did you get these guys from again? Maybe they have some rare form of Cornish dwarfism, I would be ready to make nuggets out of them all.

The office was near your area by Hanger Road in the office building to the right as you come in to town.

 

[Coralietg]

The office was near your area by Hanger Road in the office building to the right as you come in to town.

Like off Airline Hwy? Only place I have been on that road is to Animal Control to drop a dog off that was harassing the chickens, so I'm not too sure of other places. Good to know though!

 

[BCMaraniac]

Ok. Here are my results from this weekend. My final count was 9 broilers processed (11 weeks old). Due to people stopping in, I couldn't process any more. I may try to process 3 every evening when I get off from work and more this upcoming weekend. I'm hoping.

The broiler pen seems so much more quieter and the food is lasting longer.

Live Weight - Processed Weight
Broiler #1 4.18 lbs - 3.88 lbs
Broiler #2 4.80 lbs - 4.10 lbs
Broiler #3 3.80 lbs - 3.50 lbs
Broiler #4 3.14 lbs - 2.60 lbs
Broiler #5 3.15 lbs - 2.68 lbs
Broiler #6 3.14 lbs - 2.62 lbs
Broiler #7 2.98 lbs - 2.55 lbs
Broiler #8 2.92 lbs - 2.50 lbs
Broiler #9 3.10 lbs - 2.76 lbs


As long and as much as I have been complaining about the small weights, I am surprised that people are calling and requesting small broilers. Everyone wants either 2 lb'ers or 3 lb'ers. No one has requested anything over 3 lbs. They say they prefer the smallers broilers because they feel the meat will have more flavor and be tastier and juicier and more tender than a big broiler. So, it sounds as if the smaller weights are working out better than I expected. And there I was worried about the weights. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't have the larger broilers because no one would have wanted them. No one wants a big broiler.

I did give 3 of the broilers away to 3 elderly people in my neighborhood. They are all on a fixed income and I know they love fresh farm chickens. I will probably give 1 to my neighbor and offer another broiler to the neighbor across the street whose dog killed my turkey and duck. (That's another story).

The ones that were resting in the fridge from last Thursday have been bagged and placed in the freezer. We're off to a great start. Some of the broilers that were processed Saturday, will go in the freezer on tomorrow after I get a few orders together. As people are placing orders, I'm giving them a day that the order will be ready and I will deliver on that day. It's not as bad as I thought.

KG, your birds look great! It was very sweet of you to look after your elderly neighbors.

I have a question, though. Did you price your skinless birds a little more per pound to offset the loss of skin weight? Or do you price it based on its weight with skin and then skin it for them? Just curious how you handle that.

 

[kuntrygirl]

The office was near your area by Hanger Road in the office building to the right as you come in to town.

Like off Airline Hwy? Only place I have been on that road is to Animal Control to drop a dog off that was harassing the chickens, so I'm not too sure of other places. Good to know though!

Yes before you get to the Animal Control office.

 

[aoxa]

Ok. Here are my results from this weekend. My final count was 9 broilers processed (11 weeks old). Due to people stopping in, I couldn't process any more. I may try to process 3 every evening when I get off from work and more this upcoming weekend. I'm hoping.

The broiler pen seems so much more quieter and the food is lasting longer.

Live Weight - Processed Weight
Broiler #1 4.18 lbs - 3.88 lbs
Broiler #2 4.80 lbs - 4.10 lbs
Broiler #3 3.80 lbs - 3.50 lbs
Broiler #4 3.14 lbs - 2.60 lbs
Broiler #5 3.15 lbs - 2.68 lbs
Broiler #6 3.14 lbs - 2.62 lbs
Broiler #7 2.98 lbs - 2.55 lbs
Broiler #8 2.92 lbs - 2.50 lbs
Broiler #9 3.10 lbs - 2.76 lbs

Here is a pic of all of them bagged for resting in the fridge. Bought 100 bags for $3.00 at a local poultry place.


Here is a pic of one of them skinned.


Here is a pic of a broiler that I smothered last night. This is a broiler from the batch that was processed on last Thursday. It was SO GOOD!


Here is a pic of the first order that went out this morning. This customer wanted 1 small broiler and 3 leg quarters. This broiler weighed 3 lbs 5 ounces.


As long and as much as I have been complaining about the small weights, I am surprised that people are calling and requesting small broilers. Everyone wants either 2 lb'ers or 3 lb'ers. No one has requested anything over 3 lbs. They say they prefer the smallers broilers because they feel the meat will have more flavor and be tastier and juicier and more tender than a big broiler. So, it sounds as if the smaller weights are working out better than I expected. And there I was worried about the weights. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't have the larger broilers because no one would have wanted them. No one wants a big broiler.

I did give 3 of the broilers away to 3 elderly people in my neighborhood. They are all on a fixed income and I know they love fresh farm chickens. I will probably give 1 to my neighbor and offer another broiler to the neighbor across the street whose dog killed my turkey and duck. (That's another story).

The ones that were resting in the fridge from last Thursday have been bagged and placed in the freezer. We're off to a great start. Some of the broilers that were processed Saturday, will go in the freezer on tomorrow after I get a few orders together. As people are placing orders, I'm giving them a day that the order will be ready and I will deliver on that day. It's not as bad as I thought.

That has been my experience as well. My parents got the big ones, as did we. They do tend to be more tender when they are smaller IMO.

Both taste fabulous. I have a rotisserie and cook up birds for my parents as well for a small fee. Kind of like Costco offers those cheap rotisserie birds, mine end up being over $20 each because they are so large lol. My parents got enough meat to last them a week for lunch sandwiches for 3 people. I get free lunches there... I work with my mother, so they kind of paid me to eat my own chicken lol.

I think they are good sizes at around 2.5- 3 pounds. You did good!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Ok. Here are my results from this weekend. My final count was 9 broilers processed (11 weeks old). Due to people stopping in, I couldn't process any more. I may try to process 3 every evening when I get off from work and more this upcoming weekend. I'm hoping. The broiler pen seems so much more quieter and the food is lasting longer.


Live Weight - Processed Weight
Broiler #1 4.18 lbs - 3.88 lbs
Broiler #2 4.80 lbs - 4.10 lbs
Broiler #3 3.80 lbs - 3.50 lbs
Broiler #4 3.14 lbs - 2.60 lbs
Broiler #5 3.15 lbs - 2.68 lbs
Broiler #6 3.14 lbs - 2.62 lbs
Broiler #7 2.98 lbs - 2.55 lbs
Broiler #8 2.92 lbs - 2.50 lbs
Broiler #9 3.10 lbs - 2.76 lbs



As long and as much as I have been complaining about the small weights, I am surprised that people are calling and requesting small broilers. Everyone wants either 2 lb'ers or 3 lb'ers. No one has requested anything over 3 lbs. They say they prefer the smallers broilers because they feel the meat will have more flavor and be tastier and juicier and more tender than a big broiler. So, it sounds as if the smaller weights are working out better than I expected. And there I was worried about the weights. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't have the larger broilers because no one would have wanted them. No one wants a big broiler.


I did give 3 of the broilers away to 3 elderly people in my neighborhood. They are all on a fixed income and I know they love fresh farm chickens. I will probably give 1 to my neighbor and offer another broiler to the neighbor across the street whose dog killed my turkey and duck. (That's another story).


The ones that were resting in the fridge from last Thursday have been bagged and placed in the freezer. We're off to a great start. Some of the broilers that were processed Saturday, will go in the freezer on tomorrow after I get a few orders together. As people are placing orders, I'm giving them a day that the order will be ready and I will deliver on that day. It's not as bad as I thought.

KG, your birds look great!  It was very sweet of you to look after your elderly neighbors.

I have a question, though.  Did you price your skinless birds a little more per pound to offset the loss of skin weight?  Or do you price it based on its weight with skin and then skin it for them?  Just curious how you handle that.

Thank you.

As far as the pricing, I called around to several stores to find out how much broilers are and I came up with a price. I didn't set a price based on skinless or with the skin. To be honest, it was so easy to skin it. Once I made my slit, I just pulled the skin off with no problems. You bring up a great point about the weight of the skin. Now you have me thinking . I think I will use the chicken plucker to pluck them and then weigh them to see how much the broilers weight with the skin on. Thanks for pointing that out.

I hope that helps you about the pricing.