Raising our 1st set of CX meaties

[Angelicisi]

Shipped on a Wednesday for Friday arrival makes them 2 weeks today. They average 8 ounces.
Crook is literally half that. :/ but 1st at the feeder, top of the chain...could this Not be a CX chick? I'd think at this point if somethin was wrong she'd have died...maybe not and just slower genes? She seem healthy and bossy but tiny and still yellow.
Well none of them are clean at the moment a shower messed up their sunning so they played in the mud. Lol

See these leaves...I have acres of these. I have 50 so huge black bags filled with them already to compost leaf mold.
Can I rake up and use as bedding for the CX? I regularly dump a few crates in the layer coop, they LOVE a pile of leaves lol. But would it be safe for the chicks? They're already outdoors in them so I'd think its ok but figured I should runvit by others in case there's a hidden danger. They like hay but it molds fast. The leaves get composted n e ways.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Could she have been one of the slower growing Cornish? Or maybe she just wants to be a pet.....????

 

[Angelicisi]

Lol @ pet! Nana nana boo boo I'm too small to eat! If she lays and egg before reaching a good slaughter weight i'll keep her lol
If its a her. Last batch and this batch have a small number of roos lol I started to be able to tell at about 3 weeks.

Rain for a few days but warm in the forecast (high 60s/70s)

 

[BCMaraniac]

Lol @ pet! Nana nana boo boo I'm too small to eat! If she lays and egg before reaching a good slaughter weight i'll keep her lol
If its a her. Last batch and this batch have a small number of roos lol I started to be able to tell at about 3 weeks.

Rain for a few days but warm in the forecast (high 60s/70s)

She hasn't heard about Cornish hens(AKA "little chickens" by my kids when they were younger)??

 

[Angelicisi]

Lol...funny u say that, I was just thinking I wanna maybe process 4 that size. Have them on hand for a fancy pants dinner or somethin lol. Could of had the 1st batch for birthday dinner! Doh. Maybe new years dinner
Still wondering how to gut one that small. :/ my hands are sorta big for a girl lol

She hasn't heard about Cornish hens(AKA "little chickens" by my kids when they were younger)??

 

[BCMaraniac]

Lol...funny u say that, I was just thinking I wanna maybe process 4 that size. Have them on hand for a fancy pants dinner or somethin lol. Could of had the 1st batch for birthday dinner! Doh. Maybe new years dinner

Still wondering how to gut one that small.

my hands are sorta big for a girl lol

It is a bit of a challenge. I had one with a bad leg that I babied until I got it big enough to butcher. I have really big hands for a girl....but I don't remember how I did it. It seems like everything came out really easily. I know I made sure I loosened everything I could from the top, and cut the neck off as far down as I could.

 

[Angelicisi]

Ya I had visions of holding it and shaking it out...doh.
Don't know til I try I guess lol
Should I put the processing we do in this thread too? I'd like to keep it all together for my own quick reference. I assume most people visiting a thread on CX know that they're for eating.

 

[foreverlearning]

Yes you should, it's all part of the process. I had one that didn't grow, I called her lil bit. She is now in my layer flock waiting to either grow big enough or drop an egg. After I processed the others she started eating like a normal chicken. I kept her because she had good traits and foraged really well.

 

[Angelicisi]

Thanks. Ya, if crook stays fit she'll live with the layers until its time lol if she lays before my wheatans I just might eat them!

Yes you should, it's all part of the process. I had one that didn't grow, I called her lil bit. She is now in my layer flock waiting to either grow big enough or drop an egg. After I processed the others she started eating like a normal chicken. I kept her because she had good traits and foraged really well.

 

[pipemum]

I did 6 as Cornish game hens and it's not that difficult to butcher them. Of course, I have small hands, so... Definitely cut and loosen the neck first and pull everything through the bottom slit and it's easy peasy. Oh, I almost forgot---the lungs are a real ****** to get out. A lung scraper tool might come in handy. I imagine having large hands would make it even more difficult.