Our FIRST Broiler Adventure :)

[Lambingfamily]

Well we did it.

We took the plunge and ordered 50 FR. They all arrived safe and healthy. Needless to say, I was very impressed. We have been raising chickens for a few years now, thanks to a school project. I must say our entire family is hooked on chickens.

My husband has been wanting to raise meat chickens for our family for a while now but I am just such a softy.

Yep, I was the last one to jump on this adventure wagon but I promised I would give it a try. My 7 year old daughter, better known as the "Chicken Girl" assured me that we could do this. Nothing like a little arm twisting.

My son built us a great pen for them and now he is going to build a couple of tractors. He is such a creative 13 year old. I love to watch his creative juices flow. I think I am his biggest fan!

Here are a few pics. I will try to continue to document our adventure over the next few weeks.

Feel free to send words of encouragement. I am sure I will need them as the weeks progress.

Just picked up our 50 FR from the Post Office

Our Broiler pen that was designed and built by my very talented 13 yr. old

Chicken Girl doing what she loves to do

 

[ImportTheBest]

Very talented 13yr old indeed, and good luck on your adventure!

 

[MonsterClucker]

I just love smart creative kids!

My Nephew moved with me to rural California from the city, he was the biggest inspiration behind us getting chickens. Kids live stuff like this! I wish I could have grown up around farm animals and country life lol.

Thanks for sharing with we should have our first batch of 15 jumbo Cornish x on the 13th! Looking forward to seeing your journey also!

 

[Lambingfamily]

Good morning all BYC peepsters. Our broilers celebrated the 4th by turning a week old. My dh said we can pick a couple that will be allowed to dodge the blade

My dd was so excited that she found one that had green feet and looks a lot like an Americana in the face. Needless to say, that one has been dubbed "Lucky" and of course she found a second one that she is naming "June", hence the month she was born in. I just wanted to say again how impressed I am with the birds. They are very hardy! We received them the day before the big storm hit us here in VA on Friday and needless to say,the high winds and rain soaked them. We also lost power to our generator at the barn so at 2am my dh and ds gathered the chicks and put them in a large dog crate and moved them up near our motor home where they weathered the storm for the rest of the night with a nice warm light. Two days old and we didn't loose a single one. I will try to post their week old pics this afternoon. Stay tuned. As mentioned, this a new adventure for us and we hope to make it a successful one

 

[chicken pickin]

Im glad you are sharing your adventure with us. I also took that plunge since I am also the softy in the fam but I got online and ordered 25 broilers (I think I shocked my husband). They are due to arrive in 2 weeks. I am a little nervous to lose some due to the heat of the summer (fingers crossed that they all make it). And very nervous come processing day

lol. I think Ill be fine though im ready for it. I am also the one that brought home the BBW turkeys(thanksgiving and christmas dinner) a few weeks back (again I think I shocked hubby). I think I ready for this. I will be following your adventure so share what you learn and post some pics. Oh and your son did a fantastic job building that pen and your daughter is the cutest.

 

[erinchelsea]

Looks like fun! How great your kids love to help, and that is so cool about your 13 year old doing the tractors. I am excited for when my kids get a bit older and can help more.

I'm a softie, too- I make my DH do the killing and I am standing right there but I have to look away while he kills them. After that they are just meat and it doesn't bother me.

 

[what did I do]

I'm looking g forward to your adventure I to meat birds. We just finished with 50 of them. This was our second time growing out CX.

We sat up chairs next to the coop so we could watch the the chickens as they grew. The chairs are still near the laying hens but they aren't like watching the CX.

My children wouldn't eat the first batch ot CX we raised but they have no problem eating the second. When it comes time to butcher you might want to not have your dd around.

Oh, when the chicks get stressed they can get a dirty but that you might want to clean off. If their but is dirty they may not be able to poop. No poop, they die.

 

[Lambingfamily]

I have started a blog and one of the pages is dedicated to our Broiler Adventure. I think it will be easier for me so I don't have to post pics in two different locations. If you are interested, please follow us there. Please let me know what you think. We are novices at this

http://quadlfarmandhomeschool.blogspot.com/

 

[chicken pickin]

I couldnt post on your blog., but i read today about the new hens you brought in and how they were sick, so sorry to hear that. Fr a respitory infection you could try to treat them with Tylan 50 which can be purchased at tractor supply. If you decide to treat you could possible save your flock. I hope the rest are doing well and I wish you luck with them.

 

[Lambingfamily]

Sorry Chicken Pickin! I think I fixed it now. Were you able to see the page about the broilers? Today is their three week birthday so I will be posting more pics today or tomorrow. Oh and thanks for the info about the Tylon 50. I did read about that. Does it have to be injected? I hate needles!! Lol! For now, we are not going to use it because my husband wants to let nature take its course. We did cull the gurgling hens. I am aware that others may be carriers but just like us, we are carriers of many different things. We are firm believers in letting the natural immune system fight back. We do this with our own family with great success as well as our animals. Antibiotics are tabu around our place. Lol!