Raised 25 Jumbo Rocks. 13 Died While Waiting To Process. WHY WHY WHY??

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
There's the problem, the birds were too big/old. Plus the cages were probably packed too tight.

The Commercial Broiler is designed to be butchered in the 6 to 8 weeks of age window, 4.5 to 8 lb. From our experience getting older than that makes breasts that are too large and legs that resemble turkey legs with too many tendons for a good eating experience.

Jim

 

[jodief100]

Heat, plain and simple. Meat brids have large hearts and a lower surface area to body weight ratio. They take in oxygen at a much faster rate to compensate. Because of this they are much more prone to overheating. I don't recomend raising meat birds in the summer.

They don't run around much because they physically can't. Thier bodies get too big for thier legs.

I suspect they didn't process them for liability reasons.

 

[bigstack]

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Exactly my thoughts! If the processer didn't kill them, then they could be liable for any sickness that could be blamed on the meat. Even if it wasn't tainted! If it were me....I would have done it myself ( the dead ones) if I could have gotten them home quick enough! But " To each their own!"

God Bless!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

They were left sitting in the sun for a couple of hours with no access to water; I am missing why there is a question that half your birds died. Sure they could have had heart attacks but it was brought on by heat stroke.
You raised healthy birds, you delivered healthy alive birds, your processors negligence killed them. You would be remiss to use that place again no matter who tells you they have a good reputation. Heck the old lady told you she had seen it happen before.
Just for contrast at both of the processors in my area; you are given a time to arrive, you wait in the shade with your birds, they go in within 15 minutes tops, you run an errand or two, come back and put them on ice.

 

[eKo_birdies]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

Quote:
There's the problem, the birds were too big/old. Plus the cages were probably packed too tight.

The Commercial Broiler is designed to be butchered in the 6 to 8 weeks of age window, 4.5 to 8 lb. From our experience getting older than that makes breasts that are too large and legs that resemble turkey legs with too many tendons for a good eating experience.

Jim

the birds were only 9 weeks old...

and i completely agree w/ Katy on the processor's negligence. what a shame.. i am truly sorry maihlet.​

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Who left the birds in the sun?

 

[eKo_birdies]

it sounds like the processor, from what i am gathering.

ETA maybe the OP can clear this up for us?

i guess i assumed the processor is the one that left them in the sun based on the OP saying "there were others already there" or whatever... leads me to believe the processor was very booked for the day and neglected the birds in waiting.

 

[augustmomx2]

I don't have much more to add, but I raised my first meaties this Spring. Ordered 15 from Ideal, 13 made it to the freezer. The largest weight my meaties got to was around 7.5lbs and that's in exactly 8wks. I watched one have a heart attack and die right in front of me, when my dh spooked the flock with the lawn mower. It flipped over on its back (big top, small bottom) and died right there.

It seems that at 8wks they are on the verge of a heart attack and since I am a person, who like you, take our meaties to a processor, that's an unfortunate chance we have to take

Plus, those birds go thru a TON of water in the Spring, I can only imagine how much water they would consume in the Summer heat. Not having water, the heat and the type of bird, were just an unfortunate "perfect storm" for all of those deaths (imho). That stinks...sorry

 

[Beekissed]

I agree with the others that state your processor is at fault....never should have left them in the sun. They owe you money. That's a big loss to take over stupidity.

 

[Marshmallow Man]

I had the same situation. I had 27 in 4 cages and took them in on a sunny morning. When I took them out of my van they were breathing kind of hard. There were 2 people in front of me even though I was there 1/2 hour before they opened. The other people had all roos of different breeds. I was the only one with jumbos. When the guy opened the door he saw the way my birds were looking and rushed them in. Two died from the heat. The temp was about 80 and the humidity was around 25%. If I do meaties again I will split them up and take them over 2 weeks. They were delicious though.

We processed ours at 6 weeks, around 6 lbs or so. It was mid April. One thing about the taste. The breast was delicious. The dark meat tasted a little gamier like turkey. Not real gamey just a little bit. Is that normal? They were raised on meat bird feed.