North Carolina

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Less than a day old from french black copper maran eggs....ideas as to why color is different?

Chick only lived about 4 hours......

awwww..........sorry it didn't live. RF is right about throwbacks and
sometimes odd colors.......just don't why they happen

 

[dutchbunny83]

I've never heard the term throwback....
Sometimes chicks hatch with something wrong with them and it reflects in the color?
(Sorry I'm still new to this whole hatching and genetics thing...)

 

[dutchbunny83]

Guys I think I am raising meat birds all wrong.

I started for several reasons-- I wanted to know where my food came from, know what they eat, and ensure they have a great life and a humane processing, which I was able to accomplish.

The next important thing was creating organic GMO free food for my children, which I wasn't able to do. They ended up being on regular feed which is full of soy and corn. It's not washed in bleach & filth in a processing plant, but they still had monsanto based food which inevitably some will be residual in their meat so I feel like that was a fail.

Finally is the cost. We aren't "poor", but we definitely aren't rich. I'm a stay at home mom and my husband is in the Army. We essentially live from paycheck to paycheck, and while we do have nice things, all the money goes right out to bills. I try to be very budget conscious when grocery shopping and was hoping the cost to raising my own would be similar to store bought. Unfortunately at $2.50 per chick, about $20 a week for food, by the recommended processing age of 10 weeks I will have spent $230 on 12 chickens that's dressed weight is between 3-4lbs. That's almost $20 a chicken, when at the commissary I can get chicken (though not as good) for $4. I want the best for my family and the chickens, but I can't afford to spend 5 times as much every time we eat chicken.

Any suggestions on getting the cost much much lower?

I just feel so defeated from this and we've only processed 2. In the end I couldn't even help, I just got so upset. I don't know....

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

I've never heard the term throwback....
Sometimes chicks hatch with something wrong with them and it reflects in the color?
(Sorry I'm still new to this whole hatching and genetics thing...)

A throwback just means they are carrying a trait from their ancestors that hasn't been visible in their parents. If two birds carrying a recessive trait are crossed, it can show up in the offspring. RF is using ancestor color in BCMs as an example of something that shows up from time to time.

 

[dutchbunny83]

A throwback just means they are carrying a trait from their ancestors that hasn't been visible in their parents. If two birds carrying a recessive trait are crossed, it can show up in the offspring. RF is using ancestor color in BCMs as an example of something that shows up from time to time.

Okay, thanks so much for explaining it to me!

 

[ramirezframing]

Quote:
My DH has said a time or two "I could buy all the eggs and chicken we eat for a fraction of what it cost to have them". I reply to him " It doesn't taste the same and I would not be as happy without my chickens (I have been doing chickens for over 20 years)" The birds are still here

 

[dutchbunny83]

Okay thanks.
I have never actually eaten a farm fresh chicken. Ever.
I have two young roosters brining in the fridge so after the initial shock of the processing, I am really excited to see what it tastes like.

And I HATED eggs my whole life until we had chickens. Now they're one of my favorite foods. The flavor doesn't begin to compare, so I'm hoping the FR's are the same way!

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Okay thanks.
I have never actually eaten a farm fresh chicken. Ever.
I have two young roosters brining in the fridge so after the initial shock of the processing, I am really excited to see what it tastes like.

And I HATED eggs my whole life until we had chickens. Now they're one of my favorite foods. The flavor doesn't begin to compare, so I'm hoping the FR's are the same way!

why are you brining the roos?
personally I don't want the added salt to it but that's just me

 

[Fireantz iceman]

Cost of meat raising would be less if you has acreage for ranging and natural and or supplemented food plots
Limited resources unfortunately raise production costs.

I am trying to go organic in the nursery and in so my production costs will be more however the chickens and bees plus my family will fare better including all of my customers.

Plus side my customers will get blueberry ans blackberry plants chemical free!

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Cost of meat raising would be less if you has acreage for ranging and natural and or supplemented food plots
Limited resources unfortunately raise production costs.

I am trying to go organic in the nursery and in so my production costs will be more however the chickens and bees plus my family will fare better including all of my customers.

Plus side my customers will get blueberry ans blackberry plants chemical free!

Ya know..............we need to get together as I have an abundance
of organic fertilizer/dirt that needs a new home