Cheapest meat birds

[U_Stormcrow]

You should be aware that "wait and see at the TSC" is HIGHLY regional. This past two years, my local TSCs (multiple) have sold out of birds on delivery day on numerous occasions before I could make the 40 minute, or 1 hour, drive in to town - and they will neither "hold them" for you, or even allow you to pre-pay and pick up.

So while its good advice generally, your specific circumstances may differ.

Free on Craigslist is uncertain (quantity, condition) but a good way to introduce unknowns to your property. Granted, a quick culling helps mitigate. Just be aware that you are balancing cost and risk. If your only concern is cheap meat, that's an easy equation - but if you maintain a flock of your own which you value for breeding or show, probably not the best idea. If your flock is merely high turn over production layers for eggs??? Well, that's a more nuanced trade with wide disagreement between reasonable persons.

 

[ShrekDawg]

You should be aware that "wait and see at the TSC" is HIGHLY regional. This past two years, my local TSCs (multiple) have sold out of birds on delivery day on numerous occasions before I could make the 40 minute, or 1 hour, drive in to town - and they will neither "hold them" for you, or even allow you to pre-pay and pick up.

So while its good advice generally, your specific circumstances may differ.

Free on Craigslist is uncertain (quantity, condition) but a good way to introduce unknowns to your property. Granted, a quick culling helps mitigate. Just be aware that you are balancing cost and risk. If your only concern is cheap meat, that's an easy equation - but if you maintain a flock of your own which you value for breeding or show, probably not the best idea. If your flock is merely high turn over production layers for eggs??? Well, that's a more nuanced trade with wide disagreement between reasonable persons.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense! Last year ours sold pretty fast but even then they still had tons and a lot of cheap chicks because later in the season and then this year people stopped buying cause they had already bought a ton. Like I’m pretty sure ours had ISA Browns for like a quarter or something like that. I almost bought and resold as started pullets but we have Mareks on our property although we’re moving soon but yeah. I hadn’t thought about bringing disease with Craigslist birds plus idk if they’d have that much meat on them? Plus it’s a lot of driving/back and forth to people’s houses. I was mostly just curious though since idk if I can bring my current birds to the new place and I don’t think I could butcher over there as there’s a lot closer neighbors there AKA they might see or hear and be freaked out. Unless I could set something up I could do it behind hah

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Yeah that makes a lot of sense! Last year ours sold pretty fast but even then they still had tons and a lot of cheap chicks because later in the season and then this year people stopped buying cause they had already bought a ton. Like I’m pretty sure ours had ISA Browns for like a quarter or something like that. I almost bought and resold as started pullets but we have Mareks on our property although we’re moving soon but yeah. I hadn’t thought about bringing disease with Craigslist birds plus idk if they’d have that much meat on them? Plus it’s a lot of driving/back and forth to people’s houses. I was mostly just curious though since idk if I can bring my current birds to the new place and I don’t think I could butcher over there as there’s a lot closer neighbors there AKA they might see or hear and be freaked out. Unless I could set something up I could do it behind hah

I butcher at the side of a small shed. Not that my neighbors care, or that anything is visible across my acres - but I have a hook mounted on the outside of the shed wall (one of those support your ladder/bycicle types) I hang my scale off of it, and hang the bird from that. If I'm disrobing the bird, I'll leave it hanging as I work the skin off, before moving to a folding plastic table (easy to disinfect) to complete the butchering. There's a hose at the shed, so that's my cold potable running water, too.

Little muss, little fuss, and the whole operation is protected from the view of almost the whole of my property.

Hose is good for washing the blood off the shed wall, also. Sooner is best. *tip for the wise*

Very best fortune to you, whatever you decide.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I butcher at the side of a small shed. Not that my neighbors care, or that anything is visible across my acres - but I have a hook mounted on the outside of the shed wall (one of those support your ladder/bycicle types) I hang my scale off of it, and hang the bird from that. If I'm disrobing the bird, I'll leave it hanging as I work the skin off, before moving to a folding plastic table (easy to disinfect) to complete the butchering. There's a hose at the shed, so that's my cold potable running water, too.

Little muss, little fuss, and the whole operation is protected from the view of almost the whole of my property.

Hose is good for washing the blood off the shed wall, also. Sooner is best. *tip for the wise*

Very best fortune to you, whatever you decide.

That’s a good idea!! Thanks!! The new place there’s not really much place to hide cause basically the whole yard is visible from everywhere hah

 

[3KillerBs]

You should be aware that "wait and see at the TSC" is HIGHLY regional.

Yes.

In my area the TSC and the Southern States only have chicks for a short time in the spring and they don't go on discount.