Do they look ready to eat?!

[RickiHupp]

I know this topic went smoothly back on track but I am sorry, I have to say something!

77horses,
I am an animal lover, I am also a meat eater. I would rather raise what I want my family to eat rather than drive to the supermarket and pick up one of those plastic packages of chicken breasts that has been packed full of god knows what. I have no clue if those chickens were able to see the sunshine, feel the ground under thier feet OR if they were kept in tiny 2x2 cages thier whole life knowing nothing about the outside world. I am GLAD that people choose to buy and raise thier own food. The animals have lived a good life, very humane and they had fresh air. They had good food to eat instead of something that is packed full of horomones and what not. Let me ask you a question : If your son or daughter ony had one way to live and that way way by eating meat...which would you choose??

 

[SandraMort]

Let me give you a scenario here.

I was vegan for 4 years and ovolacto for over a decade after that. My husband is ovolacto. My children, all four of them, were raised vegetarian from birth. When it became depressingly clear that I was *UNABLE* to keep my mood under control on a vegetarian diet (we don't really know why, sorry, but I've manipulated my diet extensively before we came to this sorry conclusion) I was faced with a choice: Be a crummy parent or eat meat.

Now, I don't know if you have children, but for me, it was a no brainer. It was NOT FUN. But I didn't feel, and still don't, that I had a choice in the matter. My children are still angry with me, but have come to accept that mommy needs to eat "yuckymeat", as we call it. So the question is, once you've gone to that place, will I support factory farms or not? Let's be honest. I am RESPONSIBLE for the deaths of these innocent animals, whether or not I like to attach a face to them. The cellophane package in the store died just like the roo I processed over the weekend.... that I KILLED over the weekend. But I can tell you that the roo that died this weekend for me wasn't tortured to death, even with my inexpert technique. He died as quickly and painlessly as I was able to do for him. And I can guarantee that the cellophane package didn't have that.

Would I go back to vegetarian if I knew how? In a heartbeat. But at this point in time, it's not working out.

As an aside, if you have chickens, you are contributing to the deaths of male chickens, even if you yourself don't do it. In order to create eggs, a female chicken needs to be hatched. On average, half of the birds to hatch WILL be male and there simply aren't anywhere near as many pet homes for roosters are there are roosters to place. So, the choice for the people breeding your pullets is to sell them/use them for meat or to kill them as babies. PERSONALLY, if they're going to die anyway, I'd rather see them get a good life and die as painlessly as possibly. It doesn't seem to fit into the whole Namaste lifestyle to support filling pits with day old males and burying them alive, at least as *I* understand it.


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[jaku]

On when to butcher- I wouldn't wait too much past 8 weeks with the Cornish Cross, depending on what you are planning to do with them. Even at 8 weeks, there is A LOT more meat than a store bought chicken. Cut up on the grill or fried, I find that it's tough to get the inside of a breast done without burning the outside. I had a couple that went 10 lbs (live weight) last time, and I won't wait with this batch.

 

[Cason]

That's a very good point!

 

[SandraMort]

LOL! What is?

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[Cason]

Cut up on the grill or fried, I find that it's tough to get the inside of a breast done without burning the outside​

 

[Bossroo]

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Try cuting the breastmeat in half lenghtwise. It is now only half as thick so watch how long you cook it. Works great every time.

 

[momofchicks]

It's me again, the original poster

Anyway, we still have to process on the 27th which they will only be 7 weeks. In another post I had wrote that something was killing some. We started off with 25 and now have 19. A stinkin coon was reaching in and trying to eat their heads or something. So I think the sooner the better before we end up loosing more. I just hope these guys taste as good as everyone is saying because they have been a lot of work.
Thanks for everyone's thoughts.

 

[UncleHoot]

I think 7 weeks should be fine, but it's earlier than most of us would plan for. Expect 3-6 lbs with an average weight in the 4-4.5 lbs range (dressed weights).

For the coon issue, if you have any firewood, try putting that around the sides of the pen. For whatever reason, it seems to help. I had something that left two massive headwounds on two of my chickens last batch (somehow, they survived), so I grabbed a couple small logs and put them around the outside of the pen, and never had another problem. I've done it before, when I've had predators, and haven't had a problem since.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Even though they look pretty tasty now, I'd wait to process them until all of us can agree upon a barbecue party date. I'm available in November, 2 more weeks, so can you wait until then? I'll bring the buffalo sauce & ranch dressing.