We just processed our first batch of CornishX's yesterday. I know there are lots of 'lessons learned' threads. These were helpful to me, so I thought I would add my own.
1. GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR MY KIDS. My kids embraced this and we had a fun, productive experience together. They are so proud of the meat we put in the freezer and their contribution to our livelihood. Even if we ended up paying $20/bird (which we didn't), it would have been worth it for the education and family bonding value.
2. These things drink more than I ever imagined. My set up involves my kids carrying 1-gallon milk jugs about 100 yds to the coop. This became an issue when 32 birds were drinking 7-8 gallons of water on hot days. A thirsty chicken is a dead chicken. As the CX's got into their 6-8 week, their laziness meant we had to keep the waterers close to them full, even if there were 10 gallons of water 30' away.
3. These birds stink. 2-lbs of feed equals 1-lb of bird. How did I miss the fact that the other pound is "stink"?
4. Free-range is an oxymoron for our birds. They did ok in weeks 4-6 when they first left the brooder, but then they got lazy and the last 2-3 weeks just sat and waddled. I think they all looked like aircraft carriers
5. Two other families came over yesterday to help us process the birds. The total process took about 11 hrs, but 2 or so was clean up of the knives, scale, etc. I would say 2 hrs was wasted on set-up disorganization and 2 hrs was invested training the kids to participate.
6. The kids actually did a great job with each step of the process. We taught 5 kids aged 11-13 how to dispatch, pluck and eviscerate the birds. It was kind of a blind-leading the blind as the adults didn't know what they were doing either, but everyone got the hang of it. I sacrificed a lot of time, quality of finished product and a little good meat, but I viewed it as an investment in future batches
7. Everyone enjoyed the process enought that we generated substantial interest in a "chicken co-op." This fall, we will likely all go in together on a drum plucker, bulk purchase feed/birds, help each other process. As the kids get better at knife-wielding, our mutual interest, quality of finished bird and costs will only improve.
I'm sure I could go on, but everyone has likely stopped reading by now, so I will leave it at that. I will put my statistics in a separate post.
1. GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR MY KIDS. My kids embraced this and we had a fun, productive experience together. They are so proud of the meat we put in the freezer and their contribution to our livelihood. Even if we ended up paying $20/bird (which we didn't), it would have been worth it for the education and family bonding value.
2. These things drink more than I ever imagined. My set up involves my kids carrying 1-gallon milk jugs about 100 yds to the coop. This became an issue when 32 birds were drinking 7-8 gallons of water on hot days. A thirsty chicken is a dead chicken. As the CX's got into their 6-8 week, their laziness meant we had to keep the waterers close to them full, even if there were 10 gallons of water 30' away.
3. These birds stink. 2-lbs of feed equals 1-lb of bird. How did I miss the fact that the other pound is "stink"?
4. Free-range is an oxymoron for our birds. They did ok in weeks 4-6 when they first left the brooder, but then they got lazy and the last 2-3 weeks just sat and waddled. I think they all looked like aircraft carriers
5. Two other families came over yesterday to help us process the birds. The total process took about 11 hrs, but 2 or so was clean up of the knives, scale, etc. I would say 2 hrs was wasted on set-up disorganization and 2 hrs was invested training the kids to participate.
6. The kids actually did a great job with each step of the process. We taught 5 kids aged 11-13 how to dispatch, pluck and eviscerate the birds. It was kind of a blind-leading the blind as the adults didn't know what they were doing either, but everyone got the hang of it. I sacrificed a lot of time, quality of finished product and a little good meat, but I viewed it as an investment in future batches
7. Everyone enjoyed the process enought that we generated substantial interest in a "chicken co-op." This fall, we will likely all go in together on a drum plucker, bulk purchase feed/birds, help each other process. As the kids get better at knife-wielding, our mutual interest, quality of finished bird and costs will only improve.
I'm sure I could go on, but everyone has likely stopped reading by now, so I will leave it at that. I will put my statistics in a separate post.
Just a few things I have learned my first year raising red rangers you might want to know- if you want more active birds but yes they take a few extra weeks, order cockerels from Noll's in PA, If you order over 100 they come to like $1.10 each. I have been doing the red meat makers and they do just what they advertise, average 5 pounds live by 9 weeks. Also on the water, I have not done this myself yet, but have the materials ready for when my batch of 100 is a bit older, make range waterers out of a float valve, rubber tub, a heavy duty garden hose, a y connector and a bend connector. They cost about $20 and no lugging water. Still need cleaned, but no lugging! It's all about decreasing the labor
