calling any one from missouri

[davony's chicks]

Welcome wonder chicken. This is a great place to find fellow chicken fanciers!

 

[davony's chicks]

Quote:
Well I'm too late as usual! I have raised a lot of young BB reds and would have sold you some had I been on here sooner. I am happy you found some.
There is a sale in Keytesville. It was held yesterday and the next one will be next month on October 9 and 30. It's an auction.

 

[Missy3b]

The new BB red hens are quite wild. They were free range birds and don't want to be handled. But I have faith that my chicken whisperer son will tame them. They are still young so it shouldn't be a problem.

My middle son has decided that he wants to show birds for 4-H so we are on the lookout for some Langshans. I know if I keep an eye out, some will show up. Funny how chicken people come out of the woodwork.

 

[smoothmule]

Wonderchicken,
I'm south of you, 45 minutes west of Lebanon (about 35 minutes north of Springfield.

For anyone in my area that's interested, I have Serama/bantam Araucana chicks hatching, they'll be available anytime. The first 2 have hatched and there will be a few more later. I have a few that were spoken for before I set these but I set several to be sure I had enough hatch. Bluesy is a cute little bantam true Araucana. I bought a rooster for her but until he arrives, she's living with one of my little B sized Serama roosters from Jerry's Serama's. They are just the sweetest, and they have the softest, silky satiny feathers, Not silky like a Silkie but so soft. And I will have some more Araucana cross chicks that are from my large fowl true Araucana rooster, Rudy, and my Maran hens and a couple from the Ameraucana hens I just sold. I have true Araucana chicks now and eggs to arrive for hatching tomorrow. I'd love to have someone else in the area that has Araucana's.

Also, I have 6 Serama eggs, set 9/3 in the incubator and they are out of 2 A sized hens and an A and B sized rooster. The pairs are unrelated to each other and to the other pair, one roo is a sibling to the other pairs hen.....cornfusing I know....
I would also sell Serama eggs but probably only 6 at a time since I only have 2 hens and they lay "almost" everyday but skip a day here and there.

UGH, its raining again!

 

[Urbanfarmerkc]

It seems I've come late to the game but I'm in Raytown, MO. I'm pretty much surrounded by Kansas City. I'm raising Delawares, Dorkings, Le Fleche, Light Sussex and cochins. I am hoping to gather Red and Buff Sussex and play more in the Dorking category in the future. We are not yet NPIP so if you wanna come on over to our 1 acre chicken refuge, all are welcome.

 

[Missy3b]

I think I have gone off the deep end. A co-worker asked if I would be interested in raising meat birds and of course I said yes. So Thursday I ordered 30 cornish cross chicks. I will raise them and he will pay me for half at the end. Should arrive next week. I have been busy researching what to feed them, etc.

I did not give him a firm price per bird, instead I said lets just wait and see how it goes and figure a price at the end. I have a chicken tractor that is not being used (good way to prevent me from buying more if its occupied) and a large dog kennel for inside until they feather out.

Anyone done meat birds? Any advice? I did read that freshly butchered birds should be placed in the fridge for 2-3 days before freezing to prevent them from being tough. I had no idea. Explains why the last ones were tough.

Missy

 

[Urbanfarmerkc]

Quote:
Thats very interesting... I took my chickens to Springfield, MO to be processed because they are USDA certified and you are supposed to have that certification if you plan to sell to the public. Anyway, they told me they HAD to freeze the birds before I took them. I haven't looked this up but it would kinda stink if that is the rules and letting them sit would prevent toughness.???

BTW, I used Aurora Grand Meat Company to process my chickens if anyone is interested in using them. You can google them for address and phone number. They were pretty good except I had a few wings go missing from the chickens I had cut up. I guess they throw a few aside as a tip for the work it takes to process them. LOL

I charge $3.50 per pound up here in Kansas City and I didn't have any problems selling them. I know others that sell for $3. and a few who have sold as low as $2.50 but I seriously don't know how they could afford to do it at that price. My birds averaged out to be about $2 per pound for feed alone.

My only advice is to process as early as you possibly can!!! Depending on your birds, you should start weighing them around 8 weeks and when they average around 3.5 to 4lbs get rid of them!!! I waited and it ate up a lot of my profits.

I've also switched from cornish to freedom (rainbow) rangers. They are very healthy and taste better in my opinion than the cornish. They don't produce as big of breast and it takes a bit longer to get them to size but up here people will pay a little more for a "dual purpose" breed and will disregard the breast.

Hope this helps.

Dave

 

[Missy3b]

Thanks for the advice. I compared prices at the feedstores and ended up paying 13.21 for a 50 pound bag of feed. I am close to $5 each just with the price of the bird and feed and this does not include water, electrcity, etc. Because my co-worker knows that this is an experiment, he will be fine with the price, but I doubt I will "make" money. But if the birds are good enough, it will be worth it. I had read about the free rangers, and might try them next time to compare.

 

[Urbanfarmerkc]

Quote:
I'm experimenting with some dual purpose birds too. Paying a dollar a bird kills any possible profit you can make and the dual purpose need to be promoted too. Hopefully that will work out too.

Dave

 

[DerbyGirlGoneChicken]

Quote:
Hi Dave! I just got on this forum too. I live in Independence...just down the road.

My husband and I are very excited about raising chickens in the spring. We've never done it before so I'm doing all the research I can before we take the plunge! I have already checked with Animal Control and they say yes. I'm also researching my breeds and of course the care of chickens.

I was wondering if you are working with Bad Seed? Your user name seemed familiar...