Chronicles of Raising Meat Birds - Modern Broilers, Heritage and Hybrids

[Morrigan]

I can't wait to see your Barred Hollands. It's great to be raising such a rare bird. And they are beautiful too.

 

[Parront]

I can't wait to see your Barred Hollands. It's great to be raising such a rare bird. And they are beautiful too.

Bob promised me they are starting to lay and he soon will be collecting eggs. Come to think of it I do not know if he has posted photos of them. Certainly not the "Naked" photos we prefer on this thread! I kind of like white eggs, and I liked keeping Leghorns. These are basically a mix of Leghorn and Barred Rock created back when such could be certified as a breed. They were intended to have a more usable dual purpose bird that lays white eggs well. Problem was farms switched to single-purpose breeds before they really caught on. I hope I can get some local kids here to raise some. There is an exemption for 4-H that allows kids to keep a rooster. And I could maybe use it, too, if I am helping the kids.

 

[FortCluck]

I don't withhold feed. Birds marked for butchering get their regular evening meal, and then we butcher first thing in the morning before their next scheduled feeding. I also toss a bit of scratch that morning, as it gives them one last good thing before they die and DH says that the scratch makes it easier to grab and remove the crop.

We've not had shooting poop, full crops or other butchering problems, so I guess that 12 hours is enough for things for clear their digestive systems. I guess technically the last evening meal is "wasted", but I like to keep as normal routine as as little stress to them as possible.

I feed them earlier the day before but the same amount of feed. Then with hold from around 8 pm till about noon then butcher. I’ve never seen any stress from it, but it just makes things easier for me so I’m not dealing with full birds.

 

[FortCluck]

2 lbs 8.5 oz and 3 lbs 2.1 oz... the last of the jersey cross line

 

[FortCluck]

Butchered 4 today... I am butchering 4 cornish on Monday.

Funniest thing... my pug was flipping on the beagle if she sniffed the dead chickens in the bucket. She guarded them until I was done with the first 2. I even left to get fresh air and the pug kept he beagle from them

Took me 1 hour and 15 minutes from start to finish.

 

[aart]

2 lbs 8.5 oz and 3 lbs 2.1 oz... the last of the jersey cross line

How old were these birds?

 

[FortCluck]

How old were these birds?

18 weeks

 

[jolenesdad]

Argh I’ve been gone for a week missed a lot!

WELCOME @Mixed flock enthusiast I’m SO excited you’re here. We have two veg butchers now. I’m about to become an off-Farm vegetarian I think. As in, only eat meat from my own farm and try and limit dairy. Are you a vegan or vegetarian MFE?

Can’t sell unless meat is done at a USDA processor.

I’ll stick to the friends and family lol

Same here but I have TWO small farm USDA facilities within 2 hours. So, so lucky

But not a USDA facility?

in TX you can process at your farm but it has to be inspected at some point.

I think I hijacked this thread??? sorry back to raising and butchering poultry.....

On topic as far as I'm concerned.

GOOD ENOUGH FOR AART ITS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME.

hehehehe. Ugh, I’m so obsessed with @aart if anyone didn’t know.

and @aliciaplus3 this thread is for all, there’s so much awesome discussion in here!

some of my meat bird prospects are cuckoo marans mix .... there we are with white skin. yummy
we are working with a No corn no soy finish for the final 30 days on a few of our heritage birds. I am excited to see what customers think of the difference in fat color between the corn finish and the wheat/oat/ alfalfa finish.

Yes! Love this! I imagine you’ll really be able to market this difference in fat.

Hmmm, some of the meat sellers at my local FM over here (VA also) do it themselves. We don't have a place within several hundred miles that can do poultry, beyond backyard/farm people. Our FM is one of the more strict ones too. Wondering now if it's by locale then because when I looked up FM rules they seemed to be statewide, though I was looking up other products, not meat.

We have some places in TX that are state inspected (like once a year) that are not “processed under inspection” with an inspector on site. You can use those facilities for your own use OR if the meat is sold while alive. It’s harder to do this for poultry than, say, beef, but this is a fairly common workaround in most states. Someone has to pay for the live animal, you can deliver it to the processor and THEY must pay the processor as the processed meat is “not for sale”.

if someone wanted to “fill their freezer” or something and Buy, say 10 birds or more, this could be an option...

Tried several times to ferment feed and all I can grow is this lovely black mold that the chickens don't like. Bleach, purify and repeat. Too much mold in the swamp.

Poopy butt I linked to too much protein. First batch of layers got lots of attention from the family and lots of meal worms. Pasty butts galore. Reduced protein and meal worms and no more issues.

Same same same. Humidity is awful for FF. Not impossible but I find you have to stir it multiple times a day and if you forget you’re starting over and it’s annoying.

are you still getting bad butts on the Imperials? I did on Cornish on higher protein cause they are gluttons. But the imperials don’t get bad butts.

I don't withhold feed. Birds marked for butchering get their regular evening meal, and then we butcher first thing in the morning before their next scheduled feeding. I also toss a bit of scratch that morning, as it gives them one last good thing before they die and DH says that the scratch makes it easier to grab and remove the crop.

We've not had shooting poop, full crops or other butchering problems, so I guess that 12 hours is enough for things for clear their digestive systems. I guess technically the last evening meal is "wasted", but I like to keep as normal routine as as little stress to them as possible.

People get real particular about this but honestly I think the rules me from facilities needing to process hundreds of birds at once. They can’t deal with stopping or slowing. At home, just clean it up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Butchered 4 today... I am butchering 4 cornish on Monday.

Funniest thing... my pug was flipping on the beagle if she sniffed the dead chickens in the bucket. She guarded them until I was done with the first 2. I even left to get fresh air and the pug kept he beagle from them

Took me 1 hour and 15 minutes from start to finish.

When did you start?!
I guess it’s not as early as I feel right now.

 

[aart]

hehehehe. Ugh, I’m so obsessed with @aart if anyone didn’t know.

 

[FortCluck]

Argh I’ve been gone for a week missed a lot!

WELCOME @Mixed flock enthusiast I’m SO excited you’re here. We have two veg butchers now. I’m about to become an off-Farm vegetarian I think. As in, only eat meat from my own farm and try and limit dairy. Are you a vegan or vegetarian MFE?



Same here but I have TWO small farm USDA facilities within 2 hours. So, so lucky


in TX you can process at your farm but it has to be inspected at some point.



GOOD ENOUGH FOR AART ITS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME.

hehehehe. Ugh, I’m so obsessed with @aart if anyone didn’t know.

and @aliciaplus3 this thread is for all, there’s so much awesome discussion in here!


Yes! Love this! I imagine you’ll really be able to market this difference in fat.

We have some places in TX that are state inspected (like once a year) that are not “processed under inspection” with an inspector on site. You can use those facilities for your own use OR if the meat is sold while alive. It’s harder to do this for poultry than, say, beef, but this is a fairly common workaround in most states. Someone has to pay for the live animal, you can deliver it to the processor and THEY must pay the processor as the processed meat is “not for sale”.

if someone wanted to “fill their freezer” or something and Buy, say 10 birds or more, this could be an option...


Same same same. Humidity is awful for FF. Not impossible but I find you have to stir it multiple times a day and if you forget you’re starting over and it’s annoying.

are you still getting bad butts on the Imperials? I did on Cornish on higher protein cause they are gluttons. But the imperials don’t get bad butts.


People get real particular about this but honestly I think the rules me from facilities needing to process hundreds of birds at once. They can’t deal with stopping or slowing. At home, just clean it up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


When did you start?!
I guess it’s not as early as I feel right now.

I started at 7 am