Out of the coop and into the frying pan

[Brunty_Farms]

7 weeks? Wow.... those things are huge for 7 weeks. I was shooting for 3.5-4 lbs in 7 weeks. Where did you get your CX's from?

 

[Michele S]

Quote:
I got them from McMurray's. That is just ONE bird in the bowl. But, remember, I was not pasturing them like you. I was just feeding them Flockraiser and grass clippings from our regular suburban fescue lawn and whatever salad stuff from the kitchen. I switched them to IFA broiler finisher a week ago. They have eaten 425 pounds of feed so far. Honestly, they are looking like turkeys. I don't even want them to get any bigger. I have two quick vacation trips planned for this week since it's spring break or I would like to get them killed right away before they start dropping dead. I did not even let them have continous feed during the 12 hours of daylight either. I just fed them once in the morning and once in the afternoon. They absolutely ran out in between.

 

[CARS]

Is that fat under the skin??? My chicken looks nothing like that.

congrats on your successful processing!!!

 

[Michele S]

Quote:
No, there is no fat. It's all meat. And it's really, really meatie. Not just the breasts. The whole bird is meatie. Do yours eat grass? How do they look different? Mine got very little grass. I could have had a Monsanto executive feeding them because they really just got the feed, which is just corn and soybean, right? I wish we could grow them on grass and bugs, I just can't afford the water bill because we are on city water and you get penalized in tiers for usage.

 

[CARS]

Quote:
No, there is no fat. It's all meat. And it's really, really meatie. Not just the breasts. The whole bird is meatie. Do yours eat grass? How do they look different? Mine got very little grass. I could have had a Monsanto executive feeding them because they really just got the feed, which is just corn and soybean, right? I wish we could grow them on grass and bugs, I just can't afford the water bill because we are on city water and you get penalized in tiers for usage.

I was referring to the white color of the breast meat. Maybe it was scalded too long??? I've also never seen my skin come loose like that before.
Hey, what does it matter if your family loved it!! I never bother to take pics of my meat birds. Whether they are day old or till they are in the frying pan/roster... never had the urge to take pictures of them. (I could care less if the local fast food joint had pics of their chicken sandwich either, i'll still order it

)

I do graze mine in either a grass fenced in pasture or a tractor. But they still eat mostly feed.

 

[Michele S]

Quote:
I think my photoediting software made the meat look whiter. I notice on some of the unedited pictures I have, the meat looks darker.

 

[Michele S]

Oh, yeah. It probably was overscalded. I didn't think of that. I was like, "Boil the poop off." ACK.

 

[bills]

I am really tempted to get some meat birds and give it a shot, as I do love chicken!

The 425 lbs of feed for 24 chickens made me pause though. I realise they are big eaters but that is a lot of feed $$. Did you ever calculate what the cost per bird is?

I have no idea what the feed for meat birds are, but am currently paying 12$ for 20 kilos (about 44lbs) of laying feed. Based on that, it works out to $4.83 per bird. The cost of litter should be taken into account, as I understand the meat birds poop like crazy. How many bags of shavings would one use for them in 7 weeks, a bag a week? Shavings locally sell for about $10 per bag, so say I add another $70. that adds another $2.91 per bird to the cost for a cost per bird of $7.74

I suppose that's still not bad for home grown chicken, which I know tastes far better than the industrial farmed chickens. Perhaps I should start with half as many, and see how it goes..

 

[jaku]

Quote:
It's not as much as it sounds. My birds run about $6.50/bird total. Buy the feed in bulk (500 pounds) ground and bagged at the mill and you save about 1/2 from buying feed at TSC or any other prebagged. You also wouldn't want to raise them on litter. I keep mine in the brooder 2-3 weeks, then out in a tractor. It's much cleaner, healthier, and more pleasant on your nose.

 

[Michele S]

Quote:
My birds cost a fortune. Them thar are Beverly Hillbillly birds, growing up behind the tennis courts. I would say that by the time I paid for feed, litter, and all the other equipment stuff, plus the birds themselves, I've spent close to $400. Let's just say I've been highjacking the bills before the hubby sees them. Sounds like you can do it for less though. It was fun and totally worth the money for the experience.