Help me, I am new reading up and just confused...so anything you can share with me is great. Also I read some people process at 43 days, some 60 days...how do you know? What did you do? Please share!! Thanks, Corinna
Depends on how big you want the birds. I rarely have help so I process half as Cornish game hens to break up the task at about 3 1/2 to 4 weeks. The rest I do at about 7 or 8 weeks.
We like to have big roasting chickens instead of fryers so I'm not too hung up on age. I've gone as late as 20 weeks and dressed out some that looked like small turkeys! I usually start at around 12 weeks. Usually I butcher in several hatches...the males first and then then hens. At some point it gets to be a point of diminishing returns in that the feed you are giving them is being converted to fat instead of meat.
The feed to meat conversion slows considerably after 6 weeks. I have weighed and graphed two batches so far this year. The growth line is very steep up to 6 weeks and begins to become less steep after that. The last batch of 51 averaged 7.14 pounds dressed at 60 days old. (a few pullets in the mix brought the average down) but many of the roos were well over 8 pounds. I've decided that an 8 pound chicken is just a little too big for my needs not to mention that cost per pound goes up after 6 weeks of age. If you like a 4 pound bird, 6 weeks is the time to put them in the freezer to get the lowest cost per pound. If you want a big roaster, wait longer, but understand that the cost per pound will increase.