First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[PlaidBattleAxe]

I'm going to PM Beekissed

Honey, that sounds like a bargain from heaven. I don't have anybody that is remotely interested in chickens. I will be individually processing mine. That's why I'm going to take my time and do it right. The first birds I ordered are layers and several had pasty butt. Beekissed, my mentor, said it was because I let them get too hot in the brooder. I had trouble regulating the temp. Good luck with your hatch. I have 12 Silver Grey Dorking eggs coming on the 25th. I'm really happy about that. I lucked into these. Two separate lines from Horstman and Urch. They are pretty much the best. The lady selling them lives in AR and I'm in NW La. I've got to have more coops.

I hope you have a wonderful time with your hatching eggs----I've seen pictures of SGD and they are beautiful. I know! I need more coops too! DH thinks I'm a madwoman. And I moved the brooder lamp back a bit after you told me what Beekissed had said to you. I added ACV to their water, and yogurt to their feed. Hopefully they pull out of it soon---chicken proctology is not my forte!!

@ Plaid - I also don't have a local grocery store. It closed a year ago because they were 4% below where they wanted to be in profits. I was there daily and really relied on them! I have to drive 15 miles one way or 20 the other to go to a store now that has variety. IRRITATING!

My first bottle of ACV was just Heinz from the local "mart" because it was all I could get here. I honestly can't tell any difference. Flexibility is key when you live rurally.

Do you have a convenience store that has one serving plain yogurt? Anything is better than nothing. I don't have TS here but can you find a local feed store? My local feed store actually has waaayyy better prices than the bigger commercial feed store in my area. I just bought feeders and waterers for like $10 to $15 less at my local feed store over nationwide store. I couldn't believe that I hadn't bothered to look there before.

As Linda says. I would definitely go with anything beekissed recommends regarding brooder temp causing pasty butt. Aoxa and Beekissed are the reason I decided to raise Cornish X. I was scared to death until I saw their videos and pics of their lovely Cornish X running around. They were adorable and I knew that was what I wanted for my birds. Those two really inspired me and gave me hope that I could do this despite all of the bad news regarding these birds. I am so happy that I made this choice! I doubt Beekissed or Aoxa are reading my thread but they really are my inspiration and I send them much thanks! I egwill forever defend the raising and the free ranging of CX properly with those two!

Plaid- I admit sometimes I really hate googling stuff. There is just way too much info from way too many sides and I seldom make much sense of it. I way prefer a real person to help me out. You can't even imagine how touching it is to me that I have inspired you. I will always be here to offer advice if I can as I am going through the same thing. I LOVE that you have family wanting to get in on this. That is wonderful and will be so awesome for providing both of your families some lovely healthy meat and a healthy experience raising them. I imagine in NY that may be harder to come by affordably as it is here in the west.

Linda - I wish I lived closer to you. I can just tell you are an awesome lady and I would want to be your chicken raising buddy. I would LOVE to be standing right next to you watching for those eggs to hatch!!

Oh, and on edit. My hubby and have decided on a second coop for my 3 Silkies and Cochin Roo rather than trying to push them in with my laying hens. Yay!!! On monday, I pick up the materials!!!

Thank you regarding all the info and advice about the PB. I appreciate everything and the time you take to write me back with such in depth responses. So again, thank you!!
I'm going to free range my CX too---I feel bad the kiddie pool is so confined and they are such curious happy active little buggers. I don't want them to turn into the "frankenbirds" a lot of people blog about.
Woot! for another coop! Have fun with that!!

 

[PlaidBattleAxe]

Our local grocery is "local owned" but it sold out to a chain brand so eeeeeeeeeeeeverything changed stock wise. No more natural or organic products. At all. It's all the chain brand. Prices went up, and quality went down. I tried to shop there as much as possible, to support local business..but I just can't now. Any other time, it's worth the drive once a week to get the better quality food. Frustrating, though. In case of my pasty butt supply run, I took your advice and went local. DH would have flogged me if I drove to the far away market just for yogurt and acv! Lol. Seems like all the small town businesses are struggling, and the big name groups are just waiting to step in and "rescue'..makes me sad to think about it.

 

[JessicaThistle]

I'm going to PM Beekissed
I hope you have a wonderful time with your hatching eggs----I've seen pictures of SGD and they are beautiful. I know! I need more coops too! DH thinks I'm a madwoman. And I moved the brooder lamp back a bit after you told me what Beekissed had said to you. I added ACV to their water, and yogurt to their feed. Hopefully they pull out of it soon---chicken proctology is not my forte!!
Thank you regarding all the info and advice about the PB. I appreciate everything and the time you take to write me back with such in depth responses. So again, thank you!!
I'm going to free range my CX too---I feel bad the kiddie pool is so confined and they are such curious happy active little buggers. I don't want them to turn into the "frankenbirds" a lot of people blog about.
Woot! for another coop! Have fun with that!!

You are welcome. You call my responses "in depth". I call them long winded! Lol!

Give your birds some space to move about. Don't feed 24/7, this way you can encourage them to forage. Do you have fruit trees? My hubby brings apples and plums, that have dropped, home from his customer's yards. We toss them out on the grass outside of the tractor and it encourages them to go out. They can really put away a pile of fruit. Plus even big and fat, they do still play a bit of keep away.

In one of my earliest videos, my daughter gave the chicks some feathers and they ran around and around for hours playing keep away with them. I think the key is giving them something to do besides lay there and eat. Plus, it is awesome entertainment for you. I haven't turned on my tv in a couple of months.

 

[offgridhermit]

Quote:
Wow, 3 hours to butcher 50? How many people were doing it? I thought I did good doing 4, (13 pound birds), in 3 hours, including clean up!
I now have 12 more, day old Cornish chicks I got on Friday.

 

[LindaB220]

Wow, 3 hours to butcher 50? How many people were doing it? I thought I did good doing 4, (13 pound birds), in 3 hours, including clean up!
I now have 12 more, day old Cornish chicks I got on Friday.

Good job!!! How old were the 13# birds?

 

[offgridhermit]

Quote:
Their live weight was between 12-14 pounds and dressed out at 9.5 and 10 pounds. They were about 3 months old.

I fed them on a Saturday morning and didn't feed again before butchering on a Monday morning.

No poopy butts or full crops or full intestines so they weren't very smelly when I butchered. I did make sure they had plenty of water for that day and a half though but no food. The hen was smaller and only dressed out at 7#s and she had a broken leg.
It was my first time butchering, and I was surprised butchering the roosters and finding their male organs...

When they came out, I'm like, what on earth is that kidney shaped thing? I knew it wasn't the kidney, wrong color and location.

lol My neighbors eat them just like the liver, gizzard, and heart. I've never eaten that part of an animal before.


So now I have 12 baby Cornish chicks, and 25 layers and 1 rooster. Some of my layers are still pullets and haven't started laying yet. I'm getting about a dozen eggs a day at the moment, and sell them for $3/doz.

 

[LindaB220]

Their live weight was between 12-14 pounds and dressed out at 9.5 and 10 pounds. They were about 3 months old.

I fed them on a Saturday morning and didn't feed again before butchering on a Monday morning.

No poopy butts or full crops or full intestines so they weren't very smelly when I butchered. I did make sure they had plenty of water for that day and a half though but no food. The hen was smaller and only dressed out at 7#s and she had a broken leg.
It was my first time butchering, and I was surprised butchering the roosters and finding their male organs...

When they came out, I'm like, what on earth is that kidney shaped thing? I knew it wasn't the kidney, wrong color and location.

lol My neighbors eat them just like the liver, gizzard, and heart. I've never eaten that part of an animal before.


So now I have 12 baby Cornish chicks, and 25 layers and 1 rooster. Some of my layers are still pullets and haven't started laying yet. I'm getting about a dozen eggs a day at the moment, and sell them for $3/doz.

That's fantastic. Good luck

 

[JessicaThistle]

We butchered our final 18 from batch number one today. I edited because we took care of 18 in 3 1/2 hours including clean up. My husband was such as sweetie because it was 100 and something degrees outside. He did the culling, plucking part and then brought them inside where we kinda have air conditioning (wall unit) to let me eviscerate without dying. I am extremely sensitive to the heat and would have really struggled outside.

Can I just say that I must be a really big sap? I went out to make sure the chickens had water right before we began the process. It was hot out! They all ran to me. I have a couple that honk and they did that. I petted them and I suppose said a pitiful goodbye as I walked away with stinging eyes. I couldn't believe the loss I felt. I really cared about these little guys as I raised them by hand from one day old. I nursed some back to health in my chicken hospital (box in the house) and saved lives just to protect my investment and then end them. Wow. What a revelation.

So, once the process began, my 17 year old daughter, stepped in to try and eviscerate her first chicken. If you knew my daughter you would be as stunned as me! She calls me the crazy chicken lady and shows no interest in my chickens. Although she did hold my sweet little Easter Egger chicken once. She likes hair, make up and looking perfect. She butchered 4 of the chickens for me! She was a rock star!!

Anyway, I went like crazy trying to eviscerate as fast as possible to keep up with my husband. They seemed to just keep coming and they did. He was much faster than I was. We eventually got through them. A little funny...my hubby thought that he got through them all and started to clean up. He looked out into the pasture to see the biggest roo we had standing out there looking around like "where'd everybody go"? We had a laugh about it because he skipped out on the first go round a week ago too. I had my hubby reheat the scalder and take care of him too. He was big and looks like a turkey in the pan.

So, after it was all done, I went out to lock up my layers and bantams and take a peak at CX batch #2 that is one week old today. I went out to the now empty chicken tractor to just take it in. They were gone. No more peeps, honks or other sounds, just empty. I feel an extreme loss. When I look into our coolers with 18 beautiful chickens and the 8 in the freezer, I know they sacrificed their short lives for my family. I also know that I raised them with extreme love and their best interest at heart. They were very healthy as their organs were all perfect and I know they were happy every moment until the end. The meaning of their life has been accomplished. What a profound thing to experience!

So, back to the info part and away from the emotional part. Snap out of it. I will let these guys rest a few days and then package them up. I will weigh them after packaging so I don't know yet the final wait or cost per pound. That is to come. Yes, i am still feeling a bit emotional. We will see how I feel tomorrow, but I have 29 more week old CX in the brooder and I can't let this consume me. I will move on because I have to. I chose to raise meat chickens and it is what it is.

@PlaidBattleAxe - When you read this, please don't freak out sweetie. You will have feelings just like me and you will need to focus on the health of your family and the importance of you pushing through this because you raised these chickens to feed your family. That was their purpose and you need to accept that when it comes to the end. I needed to express this for myself and for others that may feel the same thing I did. You have to let these chickens go as they are here for this purpose and it would be harmful for them not to.

A little Vodka at the end of the night is quite helpful.

 

[PlaidBattleAxe]

I commend you and your family for the awesome work and care you have given your birds.. like I said, it is what has inspired me to try my hand at doing the same for my family. I love these little peeps of mine. I spend time with them, and give them attention while I'm feeding them, changing their bedding, etc and at 1 week old I can't even believe how much bigger they are. Total of 3 losses so far, but the others are growing and thriving (with the exception of a few recovering pasty butts).

Not going to lie, I did read this last post, and I know I'm going to be feeling the same as you. Love, triumph, and loss. I'm likely going to cry like a baby. But I've been telling myself, and my husband, and my kids that these are babies who have a good life with us, and it's our job to make it as good as we can for them in the short time they are here. If they were at a factory or even possibly someone else', they might not have the love that we give them now and freedom we intend to give them once they go outside. I look at them and I see adorable little puffs, but in each tiny bird I also see a week's worth of chicken, chicken soup, and such that will feed my family and help us to be the best we can be with our healthy food. It's beautiful and stark in the symbiosis of it.

You chronicled your experience so thoroughly and wonderfully. Thank you for doing the same with the final page of your first round of birds. On happy note---our babies are the same age! My little brood is 1 week old today.

 

[Brookshire11]

I've been waiting for the best time to order mine...I heard they don't handle heat well, and I'm in North Texas, where it's up to the 100s some days.
However we also had an unseasonably cold winter last year. Would it be better to wait until early Spring to order and raise?
Or just get more into fall?

I guess I'm asking, when does everybody do their broilers? Is it once a year type thing?

Sorry for all of the questions...lol