Got my first meat birds!!! (PIC heavy!!!)

[hydroswiftrob]

Well this is my first chicken of any sort. I am so excited. They made it through the first night with no problem at all. I think they grew overnight though :/ . I just wanted to thank the people with experience who have posted here and educated me enough to make me feel comfortable doing this.

 

[honeynajar]

You waited and watched to see who hadn't pooped in awhile didn't you???? LOL
We get our first ever meat chicks next Wednesday.... so we've been watching these posts and looked forward to your pic.... Guess we'll be seeing an update pic next week... outside? LOL

 

[hydroswiftrob]

What I have learned from my first year with meaties:

1. We did not raise enough birds. Although we haven't eaten all of them yet, we are dangerously low. I am thinking a minimum of 50, would love to do 75 but that would require the purchase of another freezer.

2. This meat makes one of the best barter tools I have ever had. People seem reluctant to pay what I want for the meat, but are willing to barter for more than twice what I want for it.

3. I miss raising them and watching them grow. I think I might split my batches into a 1/2 spring and 1/2 fall. I couldn't split this year because we bought a new house and are still settling in.

4. I see the arguments on this thread for Cornish X, Rangers, dual purpose, and I can say that I will raise Cornish X over and over until some type of apocalypse happens and I am unable to order. The feed to meat ratio is to great and the meat itself it delicious.

5. This can be done in an urban environment. I did it as an outlaw. Birds are not allowed in my city. We have since bought a farm and we are legit, but I couldn't wait for the farm and decided to be an outlaw. The birds were not noisy, my neighbors never knew until I brought them a pack of chicken for not "ratting" me out. Most of them were in shock and said "Thanks!", one even asked if I was going to raise them again because she would be interested in more meat.

6. Kids can be a part of this whole process and not be traumatized. I have a 7 yo boy and 13 yo girl that helped with processing. They learned where food comes from. They were able to sleep at night. They don't suffer from post-tramatic stress syndrome. They eat the chicken and also waste less because they understand where it came from and the trouble involved to raise it.

7. It DOES cost MORE to raise your own, but I guarantee the chicken taste, texture, and healthiness is NOT the same.

8. I love talking Cornish X. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

 

[Mikedero]

awesome thread

 

[mstricer]

Nice, they will be tasty

 

[Life is Good!]

I second the informative nature of this site....without ya'll, I'd be so clueless as to what was going on in the coop.
Strength in numbers, right?!

Your chick looks healthy and happy! Enjoy the experience.

 

[hydroswiftrob]

One bird seems to be panting all the time. I removed the food last night because I thought it might have over ate. When I came out to put the feeder in this morning, you would have thought that they had not eaten since they were born. I couldn't find the panting one for all of the running around when I grabbed the feed. When I went home for lunch, the bird was laying there panting. He/She is drinking and eating normal and walking around fine, just the panting leads me to believe something is not right. Any concerns I should have?

 

[stone_family3]

I have seven of them and they are lazy lazy lazy, they are always laying down eating and drinking. I have found a way to keep them a bit active is to move the food and water to different places every time I refill it. I always place the water and show them the water and then let them figure out the food.

Mine are almost a week now and they're starting to get big and scraggly after much reading here I found it's normal for their fuzz to rub off their bellies and they're going to start looking totally ugly

 

[hydroswiftrob]

Well I think the cause of the panting is over-eating. I took away the food last night, when I went to check on them this morning, the chick (whom we now refer to as McFatty) was breathing normal. One hour later after gorging on food, McFatty was back to panting. Looks like restricting the food is my only option for keeping these birds alive. I didn't want to worry with removing the food each night, but it appears to be my only option.

 

[hydroswiftrob]

One week old today and they are growing nicely.



My Great Dane thinks they are his babies. lol




ETA: Added a week to their actual age. They are 1 week not 2. I guess I really can't wait to eat chicken lol