I need encouragement and some good advise

[jmofaustin]

Yeah, but I just can't see those sweet broilers ticking me off to the point I wanna just ring their necks. Ya know, I think we need to come up with a new breed, "the evil broiler chick" I bet we could make millions

nobody would have a problem killing them.

 

[justusnak]

jmofaustin

If you havent raised CornishX yet.....let me tell you. THEY STINKY!! So, I personally am looking FORWARD to D Day. P U! And yummy for my tummy.
Dont think I am heartless....we jsut brood them in an area where they have little to no contact with us, other than to feed, water, and clean thier brooder area. Unfortunately....when I feed them, they all walk up to me, with those trusting little beady eyes... UGH!

It will be hard....taking ANY life is hard...but just remember....thats why you are raiseing them....they can not live a healthy long life, and to try to let them live too long, is unfair to them.

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

This is a topic Hubby and I have discussed, also. Hubby says he can't/won't do it. I was hoping I could.. but I really know I can't. Choosing which one will die is hard enough.

We did find a farmer who was willing to do the actual killing for us, so we may try some broilers in the future.

And I'm with ya! If it's big and scary <as in big yucky spiders> or mean I would have a super easy time, I think. I just.. wish that it took longer for them to grow up. 8wks just isn't much time for them to be alive (I know, I know.. it's easier if you don't have to keep them around, and feed their stinky little butts!). The only way I can think of to justify it to myself is that they will NOT live a 'long and happy life' whether or not we do it on the 8wk mark. They are not bred to live happy, healthy, active chicken lives. kwim? And living for 2yrs, unable to walk or barely move is not a life I think is fair. It's far more humane to give them a chance to .... ok, I'll leave my beliefs on the afterlife out of this LOL! But I do think they'll be a lot happier if their suffering comes to an end. Sometimes we are more humane to animals than we are to ourselves, and maybe the only gift we can give the poor, doomed brutes is to send them on. kwim?

-MEG

 

[jmofaustin]

Ok Meg, then we should do this together, we can be each others support.

 

[hinkjc]

I'll offer some insight here...we raise "meat" birds (Cornish X's) yearly and sometimes twice a year (spring & fall). It is very difficult for me to know they are going to be killed, so I cannot grow any attachment to them, therefore I avoid them at all costs. And by all means, DO NOT name them. My DH is the primary caretaker. They are fed and watered and moved to fresh grass/clover several times a day. We use chicken tractors for them - they fertilize our soil and it is easy to move them along (versus cleaning up a messy coop). Plus we get the benefit of birds raised on greens and plusher green grass every year.

I have had to fill in for my DH a couple times with the feed/water. I don't like it. I don't like the smell of them and they are viscious monsters when it comes to food. They'll rip the feed can right out of my hand and scare the crap out of me. But when you look in those sweet little eyes, they are chickens (that I love and adore). It's really hard for me, but I know this is the best thing I can do for my family in offering healthy food, where I know what they ate and where they came from.

We pay a processor because we just don't have the time nor desire to do the job ourselves. When we crate them up, we thank them for their lives. The males get big and fast, so we take them first (at about 6 wks). They clean up in a range of 6-8 lbs at that age. The females go at 7 or 8 weeks until all are processed. The longer you keep them, the harder it is...so take them as soon as you think they're big enough.

This is the best chicken I have ever tasted and will never eat store chicken again. It's not even comparable, if you ask me. We get ours from Moyer Hatchery in Quakertown, PA, and have always had good outcomes with their birds. I highly recommend them and they have a web site if you want to do a search to check them out.

I think today's society has become so reliant on things being provided for us, that we forget how our ancestors lived. Processing their own meat was a part of life. It was not even questioned - you have to eat and dinner is outside. I am trying to show my family that we have healthy food right here and you don't need to rely on anyone to provide it for you or risk contamination due to the crazies of the world. That is why we do it. So remember that when you make your decision - know you are doing right by your family and these chickens are bred for this purpose.

Jody

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

jmofaustin,

It is pretty funny that we have the exact same reasons for wanting to do it.. and the same reservations! I don't like the conditions of factory farms, hate the fact that I'm feeding my family something injected with something else (injected with extra tasty chemicals! YUM!), and I could give them a decent life.

It'll be a little while before I'm ready, since we aren't quite set up yet LOL. But count me in. I could use some hand-holding when D-day comes!

-Meg

 

[ChickieDee]

I so agree with the reasons for raising your own meat birds. I also have considered giving it a try but I just can't do it. I recently received two meat birds that were rescued from a Post Office in PA One was shoved in a Mail collection box. Poor thing. Her name is Lucky and she just started giving me eggs. She is so huge she can hardly walk and she is smelly, dirty, stupid(compared to my Reds), and doesn't clean herself. I think she too fat. She eats like she's starving even though I can hardly pick her up. I'm sure she would make an awsome oven stuffer but I just can't do it. I've opted to just by free range meat at the store. It's becoming more and more popular and easier to find in almost any store. That way I don't have to eat my friends.


Dee

 

[shaveudogg]

me and my friend decided to raise meat chickens.we started with 50 and I add my extra roos in.It is not cheap,they go through 50lbs of food in 4 days and over 9 gallons of water.Me and my two kids take care of them and they are all preety friendly.I beleive they should have a great life while they are here with us.We dig up worms and pick weeds.We have to cull them ourselves because it is illegal to run a processing plant in tn.the closes one i could find is in Kentucky afew hours away.we will cull at 12wks and we have pullets(rooster)size.We are recieving 75 more beginning of may.25 are going to be cornish hens and the other 50 are the B-que specail which are cornish x or rooster or both but they were a few dollars cheaper.any way I figure each chicken will have cost us over ten dallor to raise and that doesn't include time to take care of them.

 

[jmofaustin]

WOW

, that is expensive, I hope they taste really good! JK, I just don't want to feed my family yucky stuff anymore. Thanks for breaking it down for me.

 

[boilerjoe_96]

$10 per bird???

Wow, I just got 15 broilers to try and was planning on more like $4 a bird.

How you figure $10?

For me: .90 for Bird, 10 lbs food @ .25 per pound(assuming a 2-1 conversion ratio), another .30 per bird for vitamins, and a misc .30. .9 + 2.5 + .3 + .3 = $4.

What am I missing? I am feeding 24% starter then 20%, then butchering myself.