Is anyone else raising fall broilers? Our chicks came today: 8/18

[Huntress78]

Got my Cornish X on 8/22 and took them in to be butchered yesterday. They all dressed out between 7 and 8 pounds. I did prefer raising them in late summer/fall rather than spring/summer. They do much better in the cooler temps.
Taking them in, however, was stressful for both them and me. No one in the family will have anything to do with killing them though, so I would have to pay someone to come and help me. I'm not complaing. They are all more than willing to help take care of the chickens.

Those are some great weights! I got mine on 8/22 also but I don't think one hit 7 lbs. What feed did you use?
Around here it's just the opposite...I get no help caring for the birds but do get help with processing.

 

[pichuris]

All done and in the fridge. It went pretty well once we got going and I am happy with the outcome. I think next time, we could get the cost down more by buying from the feed store now that I know they are less expensive than TSC and I think we will do a bigger batch too. So numbers time (love my new scale)... We went through 5x50lb bags of feed and one bag of cracked corn (won't do the corn next time either)= $112.51 Cost of 19 chicks=$23.75 We lost two chicks so had 17 to end with.

DRESSED BIRD WEIGHT 1 2.63 2 2.75 3 2.94 4 2.94 5 2.94 6 3.25 7 3.31 8 3.43 9 3.44 10 3.44 11 3.5 12 3.56 13 3.63 14 3.75 15 3.81 16 4.0 17 5.13

TOTAL POUNDS= 58.5 Pounds $2.08 per pound Not sure how good that is but they look wonderful!

Thats great! Thank you for sharing your numbers. It gives this first timer an idea of what to expect. Im glad your day was fruitful.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

OUR fridge is FULL though. This is 17---it got me to thinking, what do you all do when you have a really big batch? Do you have a separate fridge or do you pack them in ice or something?

 

[galanie]

One way to store them requires more work now but a ton less later. Debone the whole carcass and can them. Sounds daunting but it's not. There's a few great uTube videos on deboning an entire chicken; takes less time than you'd think. Cut up the resulting meat and can it. It will be cooked as tender as you like, and you've only a open a can for a quick chicken salad or casserole or something.

Another way is to put them straight into the freezer and just don't eat them for a few months. The rigor mortis stage will pass in the freezer; just takes a lot longer. Process a week or so apart in smaller batches. Personally I'd never do this many at a time but then I have to do it all myself.

 

[SIMZ]

OUR fridge is FULL though. This is 17---it got me to thinking, what do you all do when you have a really big batch? Do you have a separate fridge or do you pack them in ice or something?

Sounds like it went great! We have a separate refrigerator that we use just for this purpose. Before that we stored them in plastic bags in coolers full of ice water and just kept adding ice. It works just as well.

 

[metersovermiles]

Are you free feeding them? I have two week old broilers and am reading confusing/contradicting info.

 

[Celie]

OUR fridge is FULL though. This is 17---it got me to thinking, what do you all do when you have a really big batch? Do you have a separate fridge or do you pack them in ice or something?

I have 2 sub zero freezers that I keep at -6 degrees F and flash freeze the whole batch in a single layer. This is important to arrest any possible bad bacteria from developing. If you do not have a freezer, or you are processing yourself, it is important to chill the birds fast after processing. Using a clean ice chest with lots of ice is better than your refrigerator, since it will cool the meat much faster.

 

[Celie]

One way to store them requires more work now but a ton less later. Debone the whole carcass and can them. Sounds daunting but it's not. There's a few great uTube videos on deboning an entire chicken; takes less time than you'd think. Cut up the resulting meat and can it. It will be cooked as tender as you like, and you've only a open a can for a quick chicken salad or casserole or something.
Another way is to put them straight into the freezer and just don't eat them for a few months. The rigor mortis stage will pass in the freezer; just takes a lot longer. Process a week or so apart in smaller batches. Personally I'd never do this many at a time but then I have to do it all myself.

By skinning them, you can skip the plucking part, too. I always put mine into ice chests with lots of ice water to chill them really fast until rigor passes and then flash freeze to minus 6 degrees below zero F.

 

[Celie]

Are you free feeding them? I have two week old broilers and am reading confusing/contradicting info.

Everyone has their favorite feeding methods. Just remember with CornishxRock crosses, they were bred to gain weight very fast and are eating machines, so to avoid leg and heart problems, after 3 weeks, restrict feed to 12 hours a day. If you have females, they take a couple of weeks longer than males do. As far as red or black boilers go, that's a whole different regiment !

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Oh, yes, we did chill them in a super cold ice bath (a RubberMaid container full of ice and clean water). I just thought it was best to let the meat settle for a day or two in the fridge before freezing to let rigor pass and let the meat soften/age.

We are already discussing the next batch (not sure that I want to be butchering in December though so I kind of doubt it).