A Beginner’s Excursion into Meatbirds

[Minky]

@teriz1091 - thats good data, but it scares me! 300 lbs of food. I am planning on feeding organic, and its $35 a 55lb bag here.... Man, thats a lot of food.
Shaving can usually be gotten free from a wood shop,(we have a local guy who does custom beds etc- he always has a ton) if you have one in your area. Just bring boxes or heavy duty garbage bags.

For those who have done meat birds before--- I have ordered all males... now I am wondering if I should've gotten a mixture, so I could try and keep a hen to breed next year. Has anyone tried to keep a rooster to breed? I could breed him with my Orpington, and maybe get some decent crosses. (that was my plan- but not sure if a White Rock Cornish Cross -thats what mine all called--- has the ability to live the year to make it to breeding??)

 

[Minky]

So.. I just did some math.

Taking the numbers from my hatchery's website.....
it says for an 8 week old male, to reach 8.5 lbs it will take approx. 8 kg of food . (17.6 lbs)
I pay $35 for a 25 kg bag, so I will need 7.7 bags, but since I am supplementing with kitchen scraps and some free ranging- I calculated for 7 bags of feed....That would cost me (in organic feed) just under $10 a bird JUST FOR FOOD!!! Plus I am paying almost $3 a bird to purchase.
I would really like to be able to hatch out birds that eat less and grow to maybe 5-6 lbs on free ranging..... that is the goal for 2019.

(Bedding, brooder and equipment I am making from scrap materials. )

 

[Molpet]

So.. I just did some math.

Taking the numbers from my hatchery's website.....
it says for an 8 week old male, to reach 8.5 lbs it will take approx. 8 kg of food . (17.6 lbs)
I pay $35 for a 25 kg bag, so I will need 7.7 bags, but since I am supplementing with kitchen scraps and some free ranging- I calculated for 7 bags of feed....That would cost me (in organic feed) just under $10 a bird JUST FOR FOOD!!! Plus I am paying almost $3 a bird to purchase.
I would really like to be able to hatch out birds that eat less and grow to maybe 5-6 lbs on free ranging..... that is the goal for 2019.

(Bedding, brooder and equipment I am making from scrap materials. )

unfortunately if you keep a flock over winter it will cost more than $3 a chick, and if you don't have a broody the incubator electric... but you get compost for the garden, some eggs, and CHICKEN TV....
I processed two 1/4 cx mix at 17 weeks old this week.. fall hatches tend to be small weights.. 5# apiece dressed

 

[teriz1091]

Well today was the day, & it went well! I was too busy to get any pictures. We set up a folding table with a piece of plywood on it near the chicken house. I ran a rope between 2 small trees, & had 3 short lengths of twine tied along it with slip knots. We also had buckets under each piece of twine to catch the blood. We had a trash can for the guts, & a large stockpot on the grill for scalding. We clamped the hose to the edge of the table & had it running slowly throughout the time. We used a bowl of cold water to hold the gizzards, hearts & livers, as well as a cooler full of cold water to put the finished chickens in for a bit. After they were cooled, we would move them to a cooler of ice.

We killed 1 at a time, 2 a couple times. The first chicken I’m afraid didn’t have the best death, as I didn’t realize just how much pressure I would need to get through to the jugular. Most of them went very smoothly, with minimal flopping. I went with cutting their throat, letting them bleed out, then cutting off the head.

We were out of propane, so my dad & I skinned the first 8 while my husband went for more. A note on the scalding - it’s been said before but very much worth repeating. Water temp is critical. The first one we did wasn’t hot enough & was horrendous to pluck. The next one was too hot & tore some of the skin. We got it to 155-160 for the remaining, & it worked wonderfully.

Keeping the knives sharp was the other major hurdle which took some time.

It took a few birds to get in the swing of things, but went very smoothly by the end. It was, however, time consuming. We started around 10:30-11:00, by the time we got set up. We took about a 30min break for lunch, & finished cleaning up at 5:00ish. I’m still in the process of getting them all vacuum sealed, which will easily take another hour & a half. I’m going to refrigerate them tonight & move them to the freezer tomorrow.

Really, it went very smoothly. I’ve only got 5 birds packaged so far. I weighed 2 of them, & they were 5lb & 5.8lb. I’m going to weigh each one so I can have that data.

 

[Erin80]

Glad it went so smoothly!! I just texted my husband and told him I want to do meat birds this fall . I think if you do it enough times you really get it down to a science....we have only culled two roo’s and I know the second went a lot smoother than the first. We scalded the first too long and the skin tore.

 

[teriz1091]

Got all the birds weighed & moved to the freezer. Our average was 5lb. Our largest bird was 6lb, & we had one little one at 3.2lb.

Im very glad we didn’t wait another week to butcher. The chicks were 7 weeks. If they’d been any bigger, they wouldn’t have fit in the food saver bags!

 

[Molpet]

Got all the birds weighed & moved to the freezer. Our average was 5lb. Our largest bird was 6lb, & we had one little one at 3.2lb.

Im very glad we didn’t wait another week to butcher. The chicks were 7 weeks. If they’d been any bigger, they wouldn’t have fit in the food saver bags!

they make pleated expandable bags that I fit a 17 lb turkey in

 

[teriz1091]

they make pleated expandable bags that I fit a 17 lb turkey in

I didn’t know that! Our grocery store doesn’t carry that, I’ll have to look at what they have online. Thanks!

 

[Molpet]

http://www.foodsaver.com/food-stora...96303633664-sku^FSFSBFEX626@ADL4NP-adType^PLA

I didn’t know that! Our grocery store doesn’t carry that, I’ll have to look at what they have online. Thanks!