Operation Tasty Bird

[suzannevans]

We got our chicks a week before Easter, I went out to check them day before yesterday and one of the Cornish X, which by the way are among the sweetest birds we've got, anyway, she wasn't doing very well at all. She was laying on her side and couldn't really move much at all. When I opened the coop door all the others had formed a circle around her and were just watching her, they looked up at me with an "WE DIDN'T DO IT!!!" expression on their faces (if it hadn't been so upsetting to me that the one was down, that would have been pretty funny!). My luck of course was that I was the only one home and I couldn't just let her suffer until someone else got there. I got the ax and had to put her down myself. It helped a lot that one of my brown leghorns decided she wanted to run out the coop door and wanted to watch and I couldn't get her back inside so I just concentrated on reprimanding the leghorn and just went through the motions with the poor cornish. I know it is going to be harder when they are actually able to move around when I have to butcher them! I swore when we got them I would be responsible for everything about them, feeding, cleaning coop, letting out, in, plucking, cleaning, etc. but I was NOT going to actually do the "deed". So much for that huh! It really wasn't as bad as I thought it was.

And when I say we just got them before Easter, I mean that is the first chicken's we've ever gotten! So I was REALLY new at this!

 

[CoopDeViIIe]

I've been fortunate not to lose any yet, but I hear its is very common. Could have been leg issues if it was laying on its side. I just need mine to last 9 more days for processing. It has been easy not to get emotionally attached to them, because frankly, they are quite ugly. My kids call them the 'ugly birds'. They are dirty, they expand faster than feathers can cover all their skin, and they swarm me like bees when I bring food. They are nice and fat though and will make good eating.

 

[CoopDeViIIe]

Forgot to post the week 7 photo.

 

[suzannevans]

We finished with the other 5 birds yesterday and it was quite an experience to say the leasts, but wasn't quite as bd as I expected.

 

[CoopDeViIIe]

Week 8 photo. I grabbed one of the bigger looking ones and put him on the scale. 7lbs 2oz.

 

[CoopDeViIIe]

Well they went to Freezer Camp yesterday. It was a rough last week as I lost two of the 20 birds before processing. One last tuesday, and the second over saturday night, mere hours from processing. I brought 18 to slaughter at just under 9 weeks old. The biggest dressed at 5lbs 11oz, the smallest at 4lbs 4oz. They averaged at just over 5lbs. I'm going to try red meaties next to see which breed I like better.

 

[hangartnerchix]

Congrats on filling your freezer! And thanks very much for sharing your story.

 

[homeworkin]

My first dozen Cornish are going to the processor tomorrow along with a Red Broiler rooster. The Red is far more aggressive with me than the Cornish. He bit me about half a dozen times while I was feeding them until I got smart and started using a stick to retrieve the food dish. The Cornish only one ever bit me and I think he was mostly after my wedding ring. They go for the sparkle.

So far, have not lost a single Cornish out of 12 at 6-8 weeks old (some were bigger when I got them from the farm store, so they are likely from an earlier shipment) and only one of the 20 at two weeks old. I did lose one Cornish baby that had a sore foot - I suspect my nieces and nephews were playing with the chicks when I was out of the room - despite my dire threats. That chick was limping a bit and was dead by morning. I lost one Welsummer chick that got trampled by the bigger Cornish.

I temporarily housed the Cornish with the layer pullets while I was building another chicken tractor. The pullets decided that white feathers tasted good and they started plucking the Cornish and eating their feathers. By the time I caught them doing it, some of the Cornish had open wounds but they all healed nicely. Sadly, I can't put ANY white birds in with the pullets now or they go for their feathers. So, the Delaware babies I have will have to live in a different coop. I got one that I think is a rooster (has nice speckles between his wings) and two Delaware pullets - so I can start hatching out my own meat chickens at some point.

My 4 year old says we can eat the ugly chickens, just not the cute ones. She is also fine with us eating the "mean" geese and the turkeys. The jury is still out on the Pekin babies. They are so cute I am not sure we can eat them!

My take after raising my first batch of Cornish is that they are not so bad. Sure, they are ugly, but they are not aggressive and they hardly squabble at all amongst themselves. I have had no problems with bad legs or flipping. They are active except during the hottest part of the day. They are doing a better job of cleaning the ground under their chicken tractor than the pullets or turkeys, though the geese are the best weeders. Some of them are HUGE so I expect a nice batch of meat tomorrow. I do have one with a bad upper beak. I first noticed it at about 3-4 weeks. It gets worse every week, but she is still eating well and shoves her way into the melee at feeding time just as fiercely as anyone else. She is definitely small for her age, but still a respectable eating size.

 

[CoopDeViIIe]

What was the size difference between your Red Broiler and the Cornish X? I have my first batch of Red Broilers going right now at 5 weeks old and they are quite noticeably smaller than the Cornish X were at the same age.

 

[homeworkin]

The Red Broiler was definitely smaller. My largest Cornish dressed out at almost 6 pounds. I don't know which one was the Red, but he could not have been more than 4 pounds. He got a little taller than the Cornish, but he was lighter. I could have kept him another month, but he was annoying and I needed the coop for the babies. I did keep the Red hen and she is plumping up nicely. I'll take her in with the current batch of Cornish next month.