- Apr 1, 2010
- 171
- 4
- 101
My first season of raising DP and Cx is at an end. The results are in. Sorry if some of this post is in the wrong section.
I started with 67 white chanteclers, 25 partridge plymouth rocks, 25 buckeyes and 50 Cx. I did not lose a single CHICK of any variety and all were fed my own feed mix and free ranged.
-hatched 10 additional chanties and culled 1 for spraddle leg.
-Traded 8 chanty pullets and 1 rooster for 2 large black pure-bred weaner pigs. One of these pullets won reserve grand champion for breed at a chantecler show after a 5 day road trip. (500 entries) and these were my culls.
-sold an additional 6 chantecler culls
-processed 17 additional chanty roosters
-kept the rest as layers and for future stockers
Out of 25 buckeyes, 15 left home and are roaming in the woods and 3 roosters and 7 hens agreed to stay and be my experimental flock. I am observing the runaways to see how they fare.
Out of 25 partridge plymouth rocks the neighbours dog killed 22 and 2 pullets and 1 rooster escaped to try again next year. (that problem has been dealt with so please, no comments)
The processing results;
17 chanty roosters processed at 16 weeks = 3 @ about 3 lbs, 5 @ about 5.5 lbs and the rest ranged around 4.5 lbs
23 mixed run Cx processed at 8 weeks = 1 @ about 3 lbs, 4 @ about 5 lbs and the rest around 6lbs.
It is illegal for me too sell poultry not processed at a government facility and I have to say I lost my shirt on this part of the operation. 3 weeks ago, the chanties cost me about $5.00 per bird after fees & taxes and today, the cost for the CX went up to over $6.00 per bird. I have to pay extra to keep the giblets that I thought I owned and cannot have back if I don't pay for them. If I add the cost of feed, lets say $8.00 per bird + the $1.20 to buy the CX, its over $14.00 in costs so the price per lb to make a profit makes for a pretty expensive chicken. The other gripe I have is that many of the chickens came back damaged and therefore its hard to charge a premium price. There is only one processor so I don't have the option of taking my business elsewhere.
I am keeping back 6 Cx pullets and 1 roo for breeding to my chanteclers and buckeyes so that I don't have to buy from a hatchery which involves the government tracking them and imposing even more rules. Technically I am supposed to butcher and sell all my Cx in the calendar year in which they were purchased. No one keeps track of the DP so I think that it gives me more options if I avoid the hatcheries and sell live. I also believe that the chanteclers have a lot of potential to grow fairly well to a decent size if fed a higher protein feed then the standard commercial feeds. I am looking forward to next years crop.
On a side note, I must be one of the rare ones that like Cx. They have personalities, don't stink, and the vast majority were fairly active. I was complemented by the inspector that they were very healthy looking, well feathered/no bald spots and I didn't have to give them a bath before I brought them. ( I didn't ) I am thinking that soy might be part of the problem as I don't feed it and I didn't have a single issue with them.
I started with 67 white chanteclers, 25 partridge plymouth rocks, 25 buckeyes and 50 Cx. I did not lose a single CHICK of any variety and all were fed my own feed mix and free ranged.
-hatched 10 additional chanties and culled 1 for spraddle leg.
-Traded 8 chanty pullets and 1 rooster for 2 large black pure-bred weaner pigs. One of these pullets won reserve grand champion for breed at a chantecler show after a 5 day road trip. (500 entries) and these were my culls.
-sold an additional 6 chantecler culls
-processed 17 additional chanty roosters
-kept the rest as layers and for future stockers
Out of 25 buckeyes, 15 left home and are roaming in the woods and 3 roosters and 7 hens agreed to stay and be my experimental flock. I am observing the runaways to see how they fare.
Out of 25 partridge plymouth rocks the neighbours dog killed 22 and 2 pullets and 1 rooster escaped to try again next year. (that problem has been dealt with so please, no comments)
The processing results;
17 chanty roosters processed at 16 weeks = 3 @ about 3 lbs, 5 @ about 5.5 lbs and the rest ranged around 4.5 lbs
23 mixed run Cx processed at 8 weeks = 1 @ about 3 lbs, 4 @ about 5 lbs and the rest around 6lbs.
It is illegal for me too sell poultry not processed at a government facility and I have to say I lost my shirt on this part of the operation. 3 weeks ago, the chanties cost me about $5.00 per bird after fees & taxes and today, the cost for the CX went up to over $6.00 per bird. I have to pay extra to keep the giblets that I thought I owned and cannot have back if I don't pay for them. If I add the cost of feed, lets say $8.00 per bird + the $1.20 to buy the CX, its over $14.00 in costs so the price per lb to make a profit makes for a pretty expensive chicken. The other gripe I have is that many of the chickens came back damaged and therefore its hard to charge a premium price. There is only one processor so I don't have the option of taking my business elsewhere.
I am keeping back 6 Cx pullets and 1 roo for breeding to my chanteclers and buckeyes so that I don't have to buy from a hatchery which involves the government tracking them and imposing even more rules. Technically I am supposed to butcher and sell all my Cx in the calendar year in which they were purchased. No one keeps track of the DP so I think that it gives me more options if I avoid the hatcheries and sell live. I also believe that the chanteclers have a lot of potential to grow fairly well to a decent size if fed a higher protein feed then the standard commercial feeds. I am looking forward to next years crop.
On a side note, I must be one of the rare ones that like Cx. They have personalities, don't stink, and the vast majority were fairly active. I was complemented by the inspector that they were very healthy looking, well feathered/no bald spots and I didn't have to give them a bath before I brought them. ( I didn't ) I am thinking that soy might be part of the problem as I don't feed it and I didn't have a single issue with them.
