Am I the only weirdo...

[3KillerBs]

We plan on rasing hundreds of meat birds every year for the foreseeable future. My husband was concerned about a cheaper one not holding up to that kind of use.

That makes sense on that scale of operations.

I've worked in places that used cheap, home-use equipment when they should have bought commercial stuff and it was a constant headache.

 

[RoosterML]

We plan on rasing hundreds of meat birds every year for the foreseeable future. My husband was concerned about a cheaper one not holding up to that kind of use.

That’s great!!

 

[RoosterML]

@Isadora where do you get your chicks from?

 

[Isadora]

@Isadora where do you get your chicks from?

We've used Freedom ranger hatchery, Welp, and Meyer.

 

[RoosterML]

We've used Freedom ranger hatchery, Welp, and Meyer.

Have you tried Moyers out of PA? That is my personal favorite place.

 

[Isadora]

Have you tried Moyers out of PA? That is my personal favorite place.

I haven't heard of that one. I'll make a note to check into it next year when it's time to order again.

 

[RoosterML]

I haven't heard of that one. I'll make a note to check into it next year when it's time to order again.

They have what I consider the best Red Broilers. I tried Welp CX this year and was not happy.

 

[Isadora]

They have what I consider the best Red Broilers. I tried Welp CX this year and was not happy.

What didn't you like about the welp birds? The Cornish Cross chicks we got from them were all very active and healthy, but we had to grow them out an extra two weeks because they were not heavy enough. Didn't run into that problem with any of the other hatcheries.

 

[RoosterML]

What didn't you like about the welp birds? The Cornish Cross chicks we got from them were all very active and healthy, but we had to grow them out an extra two weeks because they were not heavy enough. Didn't run into that problem with any of the other hatcheries.

Taste, it all comes down to taste for me personally. Biggest issue was they were very inconsistent in the size of the birds. I understand a few being larger or smaller but they were all over the place.

 

[Mosey2003]

This is the one I'm getting:
https://coopsnmore.com/products/18-5gal-120v-2-000w-s-s-pro-poultry-scalder-chicken

Says it takes ~1 hour to heat up, fine by me. The ability to completely ignore it is the part I'm most interested in.

I'd loooove to have a full-on commercial setup, but it's nowhere near practical when all I'm doing is my own culls and a few for friends.
I'd honestly like to have an actual slaughterhouse and process for local folks, but the startup costs are huge plus I do have a full-time job.