Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[Alaska Fowl INC]

Finally we got summer..! 2 weeks ago we had snow and 29 degrees.

Week later no snow..80 degrees the day I decided to process 14 meaties....So it was extreme for an ALASKAN...

.It has been in the 80s for a week straight. Trying to figure out what we did to deserve such great weather...Thank you LORD. Peace my peeps...
Waving a big hand from

Fairbanks ALASKA

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Finally we got summer..! 2 weeks ago we had snow and 29 degrees.

Week later no snow..80 degrees the day I decided to process 14 meaties....So it was extreme for an ALASKAN...

.It has been in the 80s for a week straight. Trying to figure out what we did to deserve such great weather...Thank you LORD. Peace my peeps...
Waving a big hand from

Fairbanks ALASKA

Enjoy it while it lasts!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Hatchery RIR (Meyer, in OH) approx 8 mos old. Got too big for his britches.

Weight is 4lbs 12oz, neck, no giblets. Sorry bout the bag, forgot about a pic til he'd been in the fridge a couple hours.

YAY!!! Rip Big Guy!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Finally we got summer..! 2 weeks ago we had snow and 29 degrees.

Week later no snow..80 degrees the day I decided to process 14 meaties....So it was extreme for an ALASKAN...

.It has been in the 80s for a week straight. Trying to figure out what we did to deserve such great weather...Thank you LORD. Peace my peeps...
Waving a big hand from

Fairbanks ALASKA

AWESOME!

 

[chicksooner]

Yup. He struck out.

 

[fisherlady]

Well, plan is to finish the last few meaties Tuesday evening... and probably 4 young roos that have overstretched their attitudes, so to speak. Hoping the weather cooperates.
If anyone has requests for pics of particular steps please let me know and I'll try to accomodate as much as possible. Will be glad to have everything finished off and into the freezer, fishing season is here and we want to get out on the lake to start getting our freezer supply of walleye and perch for the year.

 

[Alaska Fowl INC]

Well, plan is to finish the last few meaties Tuesday evening... and probably 4 young roos that have overstretched their attitudes, so to speak. Hoping the weather cooperates.
If anyone has requests for pics of particular steps please let me know and I'll try to accomodate as much as possible. Will be glad to have everything finished off and into the freezer, fishing season is here and we want to get out on the lake to start getting our freezer supply of walleye and perch for the year.

Same here on the fishing,, I got to get my winter supply of Copper River Red salmon,,,

,Highly sought after,,,,,I got 14 Cornish

to finish next Sunday...
It been such a great and easy process that I went and got 15 more and I got 5 dark Cornish from a friend.
I am gonna do a comparison in pics,,to show the difference in breed for all the newbies that want to know the growth rate.

Peace My PEEP,,,,,

 

[fisherlady]

Same here on the fishing,, I got to get my winter supply of Copper River Red salmon,,,

,Highly sought after,,,,,I got 14 Cornish

to finish next Sunday...
It been such a great and easy process that I went and got 15 more and I got 5 dark Cornish from a friend.
I am gonna do a comparison in pics,,to show the difference in breed for all the newbies that want to know the growth rate.

Peace My PEEP,,,,,

I would love to get another 20 Cornish X, but it will have to wait till fall, the weather is too warm for them to be comfortable through the summer. Since the weather heated up it seems that their growth rate has actually slowed. They like to lounge around outside in their run and aren't eating nearly as much. I haven't gotten technical about keeping track of weights though. I would have to put marker bands on them with #s and weigh them weekly to get better detail, and I need to find a better scale to do that.

 

[annie82005]

Okay so I'm very new to chickens. Like just got my first girls in March. I am not looking to eat those ones as they are my egg layers. Where do I start as far as what birds I get and when to process and so forth? Any help would be awesome! Thanks!

 

[Elke Beck]

Okay so I'm very new to chickens. Like just got my first girls in March. I am not looking to eat those ones as they are my egg layers. Where do I start as far as what birds I get and when to process and so forth? Any help would be awesome! Thanks!

Annie, start by reading as much as you can in the Meat Birds ETC forum. I can guarantee that if you think to ask it, it has been answered. But to get you started, here are some questions that only you can answer:

1. What are you looking for in meat birds? Fast growing? Longer growing, but better flavor and survivability? Heritage birds that will grow slow, but have history behind them and usually are the tastiest?

2. How much space do you have to raise the birds? Cornish X's don't move around a lot and are pretty passive, so they do not need as much space as Freedom Rangers/Red Rangers/other slow growing broilers that are active and tend to fight with each other. Dual purpose and heritage chickens need enough space to move around, or they can become aggressive and even cannibalistic.

3. What is your goal for putting meat on your table? Do you want a chicken dinner every week? If so, the calculation of how many to raise is pretty easy - 52! Do you have enough freezer space to store 50 chickens? Or do you need to split it up and raise 2 or more batches in a year? Are you looking for clean, healthy meat? Are you looking for the old-fashioned taste of chicken that has lived more than 6 weeks? Are you looking for a more humane approach to meat than the factory farms?

4. How comfortable are you with killing, blood, stink, and sticking your hand inside a hot bird's body cavity to pull out the guts? Most of us started out squeamish and faint-hearted about killing our chickens, so it is definitely something people can and do get past, but some people don't ever feel comfortable with the whole process.

5. Will your family eat home grown meat? There are a lot of stories about people carefully raising and harvesting their own meat only to have their family refuse to touch it.

6. Do you think it will be cheaper to raise your own? Because the answer is a definite, loud 'NO!' Some people can get close to raising their birds for what it costs to buy chicken in the stores, but most of us do it because it is a better quality product and the conditions that they use to raise and process commerical chickens is revolting. My aim is for my chickens to live a happy, healthy life and then have one bad day.

One thing that I have come to understand is that homegrown meat is very personal, and each person has to develop their own way. There are many different motivations and emotions all mixed up in this.