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

[Bossroo]

Just where does some get this notion of hormones, chemicals, etc. being in our commercial food supply? They have been illegal to be used for decades.

 

[Jody]

Quote:
That's incorrect. The US and Canada ALLOW hormones in cattle. It is illegal in the EU

Some hormones used in cattle include Zeranol, Trenbolone, and Melengestrol
A study by Science News claims 80% of cattle in the US are injected with growth hormones.

Bovine growth hormones in milk. AKA rBGH


As for chemicals, nope.. not illegal either.. On the contrary, the food industry controlled FDA & USDA actually approve several chemicals.

ie: BHA/BHT , Olestra, Sulfites, etc

a companies ground beef is washed with ammonia before being packaged

tomatoes artificially ripened with gasses


This is just a few examples

 

[bibliophile birds]

and commercially produced chicken goes through several chemical baths (mostly bleach) to rid it of the bacteria it picked up in their processing plants.

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
i've heard that's a big problem with the Cornish Xs. just another reason i like my heritage birds.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
That's incorrect. The US and Canada ALLOW hormones in cattle.

Yup. I attend cattle conferences and seminars on occasion. The last one I attended had a session regarding some of the latest and greatest beef building technologies. Hormone implants were briefly mentioned as OLD ESTABLISHED (but the most effective) science.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
That's a very good movie. FRESH is better.

 

[TimG]

Jody,

I recently visited a homestead where they raise Brahmas. They hatch chicks every spring. In the fall they butcher the 6 month old roosters (minus a few kept for breeding) and the 18 month old hens and put them in the freezer. The hens are used for stew, the cockerels for roasting. In this way they get a year of egg production from the hens and maintain a sustainable flock.

I raised a dozen Cornish crosses for meat this year. They required very little care and were only around for 8 weeks. I can see where it might be a lot of work if you raised dozens at a time, but if you already have the coop space for a few, it really shouldn't be much work. The 8 week life means you could raise multiple batches during the warm months to spread things out. (I'm sure someone will say they prefer to do them all ant once and be done with it. It's just a matter of preference though it is also a bit dependent upon the physical space you have set up for raising chickens.)

I'd be surprised if you would go through 156 chickens in a year unless you have a big family. My family of four usually gets at least two meals out of one chicken, once roasted and once as leftovers in a pie or with dumplings or soup. I don't mean to tell you how much you eat, just suggesting that you double check that figure just in case.

Tim

 

[Ibicella]

I rather agree with you. My family eats meat, and as much as killing is appalling to me, mistreatment is far, far worse. I've already learned that vegetarianism really doesn't work out for me. I'd rather give my meat animals the best life I can and show them as much compassion as possible for their lives and deaths rather than keep contributing to animal abuse and buying meat that really isn't all that healthy to eat.

 

[farmin'chick]

If you want to keep a steady supply of fresh, but not too old, roos for meat, you could invest in an incubator and do staggered hatches. The drawbacks are constantly having chicks on hand at various stages of development. There is no LAW against eating the hens before they become layers, either ... they just don't usually tend to be as big as the roos.

So...if you're running a 50% male/50% female average, you start x number of eggs, say 10 eggs on day 1, 10 eggs on day 7, and 10 birds on day 14. By day 21, the first group of 10 should hatch, and you can start a new 10. 12 - 16 weeks from day 21 you should have 5 chickens ready to butcher - 3 for your family, 2 to sell, and 5 hens to sell (at any early age, as soon as you know they are hens, if you don't want to eat them). You will continue to have more or less this many every week, depending on your hatching success rate.

If you're doing a "planned" rolling hatch of this type, you can't depend on a broody to be available all the time, and I understand most want to spend time raising the chicks afterward, which takes away from their laying for a longer period. The square foam bators hold around 40 eggs, so one should accomodate your rolling hatch, and you'd want to invest in another for a separate hatcher.

Good luck, and good eating!