I had to debate with myself over this and accepted it.

[chixrus]

i have mixed feelings about my meat birds. first off, i kept them too long and they stank. they never EVER stopped pooping. i'm not trying to turn you off from getting meat birds, but i think that you should think about it. also, if you get them, get rid of them no later than 8 weeks. however, the birds were delicious. if you're raising just a few roosters, i wasn't as fond of those, but i think that they're still worth it. good luck and good for you that you're trying to eat more natural food!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Quote:
Yea, I remember when I first got thrown into the chicken thing. The wife bought 26 meat birds. We also bought 50 MORE birds and then we separated them according to breed.

I remember her telling me "just do not name that bunch there" , little did I know at the time what was in store for them (meaties)

 

[95yj]

do it... a couple ideas, if your really planning on eating chicken three times a week thats a very large flock, you could raise a batch of about fifty cornish crosses or the like in a tractor or free range and butcher them in one go, that will take some of the pressure off of the dual purpose flock. also with a flock that large you will most likely have few problems getting attached to them, especialy if you still keep "pet" chickens. i raised a small flock of cornish crosses earlier this year and though i cared about them and talked to them i reminded myself they were their for meat and when it was time to send them to disney land i had very few problems. i think it would be really cool to keep a continuous flock of dual purpose chickens for meat. i'd go with a heritage breed if i were you.

 

[Emzyyy]

Or you could just stop eating chicken...

LOL

 

[Wildsky]

One of these days I will learn how to process chickens and be able to fill my freezer.

I have that movie on my nexflix que.

 

[MissPrissy]

I would like to note after reading the original post -


NEVER eat anything that has simply died. You really don't know what is lurking in there that made them die. Chickens often simply die but the reason why they die is very hard to determine.

If you plan to eat your chickens then learn to do the deed or have someone do it for you.

Older hens 2+ years and older are really only good for stewing. Don't expect as much on them as you see with grocery store chickens. An egg layer is not very meaty and isn't going to give you same amount of food as a meat breed chicken.


You might try raising 10 - 20 meat birds for 6 to 8 weeks this spring and processing them for freezer at 4 - 6 lbs instead of trying to harvest old hens who may weigh in at 3 lbs total but be mostly bone.

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
Is there any hatchery that would sell only 10 meat chicks? I'd be interested in that, I've only ever seen them selling 25 at a time, and I'm scared to jump in and get that many my first time out.

 

[MissPrissy]

You can go in halves with someone near by and split an order. To be honest, 25 is really not too many to raise to raise at 6 weeks. The trouble lies in making sure you have a solid plan to process them - finding a processor can be difficult, not many will handle poultry of any kind. If you process them yourself without help you'll want a couple days to make it through the herd. Hand plucking is time consuming.

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
I found a pretty good deal on a drill plucker kit this morning at Cabela's ($30) I don't know how well it works. I'm just scared that I will do one and be so sad and horrified I won't be able to do another.
I did ask a guy that lives over the pasture from us if he'd help and he was super excited, I think he'd do a good job (country grown man

) I could probably split the deal with him I'm not 100% sure, we haven't reallly spoken about it seriously.

I don't have any place to "board" meat chickens at the moment, I was planning to build a shelter and use the spot where I have my veggie garden now (fenced in) it will take some work, but it could work - and I'll put my veggie garden somewhere else (the area currently gets too much shade)

 

[Sunny Side Up]

There are a lot of options with meat birds, this could be the beginning of an educational season for you & your family as you experiment with different breeds & different methods until you find what works best for you.

There are meat birds bred to be fast growing, they're really meaty & tasty, but they can be smelly and must be butchered within a small time frame or they'll die off on their own. There are others bred to grow big but at a slower rate, and can be butchered within a wider range of time. And standard breeds who take longer to grow out and may not get as big, but can be butchered only a few at a time each week.

If your freezer space is limited you can do what I do, butcher 6-8 at a time, let them rest in the refrigerator a few days, then simmer the meat off the bones and freeze it in packets. You can make your meat go further too if you use it in dishes that stretch it with rice, pasta or potatoes and vegetables. It's probably healthier than eating big chunks of pure meat at a sitting. Your family might be able to get by with only 1 or 2 chickens a week.

I've let myself get too sentimental about my layers, and my refrigerator's freezer is still stuffed with packets of cooked chicken. But someday I could see myself dispatching a non-producing layer and inviting her in for dinner. Some of these older gals are really heavy! Sometimes when I pick them up I find myself thinking ... SOUP! I hear that their flavor is incomparable, something most of us have rarely tasted since most of our chicken is butchered at a young age. And it doesn't seem like such a bad end for an old hen, she lays eggs for several years then nourishes the family for several days in a delectable soup. Better than dying from a prolapse, or internal laying, or at the paws of a raccoon.