Hey everyone,
How was your chicken season this year? I had a busy yet generally happy one. I moved into my country place in late July and immediately ordered chicks.
My first order was from Meyer's. I ordered 15 Buckeyes and 10 OEGB's. They took 3 days to arrive and I lost all my OEGB's and 2 Buckeyes. Meyers promptly replaced them though. My exotic was a black silkie.
The second order was a hungry man assortment from Cackle. It consisted of 50 broilers and 25 sex link hens. I had only 1 loss in this group to normal chick issues. I had a couple that got nailed by the dogs though...
Anyway, the broilers turned out great and we had a very busy day butchering them, but they were very nicely feathered and plucked beautifully in my brother-in-law's whizbang plucker. I think the biggest problem we had was getting a good consistent scald using a turkey fryer (with water of course) and a thermometer. We ended up needing one person just for scalding duty.
Next year I plan on a thermostatic scalder and hopefully a Featherman plucker!
I should add I held them to 9 weeks but they were on strictly free range foraging the final 2 weeks. I think this helped them to feather out and develop better bone structure prior to butcher. I still have 2 running around that I promised to my neighbor that are doing great at 3 months of age.
My sex link hens are doing well and I am hopeful they will be laying in a few months. I got them in mid-August when they were 2 days old. The Buckeyes and surviving OEGB's are also doing well, but I am sad to report I have NO OEGB roosters. I plan to remedy this next year with at least 25 assorted birds, probably from Meyers again. I am finding myself partial to the barred and white varieties.
Finally I am very sad to say my stupid dog also got loose one other time and got our silkie. I will also definitely be replacing him in the spring. Right after I buy a stronger dog tie-out!
How was your chicken season this year? I had a busy yet generally happy one. I moved into my country place in late July and immediately ordered chicks.
My first order was from Meyer's. I ordered 15 Buckeyes and 10 OEGB's. They took 3 days to arrive and I lost all my OEGB's and 2 Buckeyes. Meyers promptly replaced them though. My exotic was a black silkie.
The second order was a hungry man assortment from Cackle. It consisted of 50 broilers and 25 sex link hens. I had only 1 loss in this group to normal chick issues. I had a couple that got nailed by the dogs though...
Anyway, the broilers turned out great and we had a very busy day butchering them, but they were very nicely feathered and plucked beautifully in my brother-in-law's whizbang plucker. I think the biggest problem we had was getting a good consistent scald using a turkey fryer (with water of course) and a thermometer. We ended up needing one person just for scalding duty.
Next year I plan on a thermostatic scalder and hopefully a Featherman plucker!
I should add I held them to 9 weeks but they were on strictly free range foraging the final 2 weeks. I think this helped them to feather out and develop better bone structure prior to butcher. I still have 2 running around that I promised to my neighbor that are doing great at 3 months of age.
My sex link hens are doing well and I am hopeful they will be laying in a few months. I got them in mid-August when they were 2 days old. The Buckeyes and surviving OEGB's are also doing well, but I am sad to report I have NO OEGB roosters. I plan to remedy this next year with at least 25 assorted birds, probably from Meyers again. I am finding myself partial to the barred and white varieties.
Finally I am very sad to say my stupid dog also got loose one other time and got our silkie. I will also definitely be replacing him in the spring. Right after I buy a stronger dog tie-out!
