Final Results - Jumbo Cornish Cross from McMurray Hatchery

[CovenantCreek]

Quote:
How do you transport your birds? I know I can haul the live birds in my horse trailer, but I haven't been able to figure out the best way to bring them home while keeping them chilled.

 

[MissPrissy]

The butcher will have flash frozen the birds. If you don't have a enough coolers to transport them you can pack them in boxes and wrap them with many many layers of newpaper, then cover that with layers of blankets then cover that with a thermal tarp.

Frozen chickens will stay frozen for a good few hours - long enough to get them home. I would say wrapping them very well and a car trip of under 2 hours and there wouldn't be any loss or damage done to them.

I once managed a wholesale seafood company. Frozen things aren't hard to handle if you move on about your business with them and don't fool around making other stops and running errands along the way.

 

[greyfields]

In Washington and Oregon, the processors are not allowed to freeze the birds. They are chilled to 38 degrees then bagged. Those very large white coolers you can buy at Costco hold 25 broilers. Then I cover them in ice for the drive home. I keep them in ice until the following day when they are sold at the market or distributed to pre-order customers. I am not allowed to freeze the birds, either, if they are for sale. This falls under 'processing'.

I haul mine loose in the back of my pickup, which has a canopy. I put straw on the bottom. I then load them into crates at the processor. It's a bit of a juggle taking two of the coolers plus filling the back of the truck with live chickens. So, I have a small trailer I take to haul the coolers in when doing more than 25.

For our own birds, we usually use the FoodSavr and vacuum seal them for the freezer.

 

[Chickee's Mom]

Miss Prissy I just printed off this post, going to keep it for a reference. So much great info.
Did you feed medicated chick starter or the regular with the vit. in it?
I have 100 cornish x coming on April 1st and have the area ready for them. Not sure if I am looking forwards to all that poop, but thinking how great the compost will be for my garden next year.
I have someone that live not to far from me that will butcher them for $2.00 a piece, can hardly do it myself for that.

Thanks again.

 

[MissPrissy]

No medicated feeds for my birds at all. They were fed out naturally without going with cert. organic feeds. Grower feed, grains, cracked corn, lots of water.

I hope you have really good luck with yours as I did with mine.

 

[DENALI]

Are the jumbo cornish cross from McMurray Hatchery basically the same thing as the cornish cross that my local Orschelns farm store has? Thanks

 

[MissPrissy]

It is my understanding the jumbo are bigger.

 

[FarmerJordan]

Gr8 Information, If everything goes well with my 11 White Pearl Leghorn hens, and 11 Rhode Island Red hens, Along with my 3 Brahma roosters that i ordered from murray mcmurray hatchery which will be here on May 19th.

Im diffently going to make another order in October, And order this fine meat birds you talk about ... I am new to all this but your detailed information is really building my confidence .. Again to all thanks for a wonderful and educational site..

Miss when should i make my order to get my birds around October.. I noticed when i ordered my first batch of birds about 3 days ago my delivery date wasnt till May 19th

which has sadden me

i was looking foward to having my chicks .... ( but it does give me time to get my CoopDeVille built) my small town for my chicks

...

Thanks

 

[MissPrissy]

I placed my order in August and had to wait until Oct 2nd for my birds. They sell out fast!

 

[jaku]

I ordered 25 for delivery on April 19th, then 50 more to be delivered about 10 weeks later (two week recovery time in between,) for that reason. They said the Cornish X's sell out quick. There's no problem doing that, either, even if you want to change your order/cancel/modify- they don't bill your credit card until 2 weeks before shipment.