Raising our 1st set of CX meaties

[MamaKitty913]

You are going to be soooooo busy. Good luck to you.

Thanks LindaB you know it! Im working on putting them outside, Whew! Glad I have family to help me

 

[Angelicisi]

I've been hiding under a rock for a while so I haven't been on here for a while.

*Absolutely refuses to admit I added 20 new layers and 40 meaties to the brooder because our local Ag shoppe had a 1/2 price sale*

I saw something a few pages back about possibly growing out the slow growers to cross with a roo. I don't recommend it, as I just ended that experiment myself. I just butchered my last two slow growers, which were purchased last July. They were 8 months old and by evidence in their viscera they were no where near laying eggs. There were no developing eggs larger than 1/8 inch. Both had muscle death in their breast tenders and would probably not have lived much longer. They were huge, 11.5 pounds dressed. I portioned each breasts into 6 portions. Each bone in leg/thigh piece was 14-18 ounces. I will try my hardest to avoid slow growers in the future. I butchered in the evening (I had to dang it, the DH was ticked I just brought home 60 more chicks!) and each of them had a pound of feed in their crop, A POUND! I can't justify a bird in my pen that eats that much and isn't giving me an egg a day.

 

[Angelicisi]

Ug. And sometimes they win. Dang it. Lost a grown CX today. This is all I see. Lines of feathers. Only one bird missing from count tho.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Ug. And sometimes they win. Dang it. Lost a grown CX today. This is all I see. Lines of feathers. Only one bird missing from count tho.

That burns me up when I see that. PREDATORS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So sorry to hear that. Poor bird.

Do you all have cameras? If not, you may want to invest in a camera surveillance system. You would be surprised at what you can catch on camera. That's how I caught my neighbor's dog killing my turkey and duck.

I hope that you are able to process them before the predator comes back for more dinner.

 

[Angelicisi]

We put cams on driveways and woods and motion sensors near pens and property lines near house but not on animals. Might be looking for more cams soon

 

[kuntrygirl]

We put cams on driveways and woods and motion sensors near pens and property lines near house but not on animals. Might be looking for more cams soon

That sounds like a good idea. When I bought my camera system, I bought one that only had 4 cameras and unable to add more cameras. If I would have known then what I know now, I would have bought a system where you can add more cameras. There is a system that that I want that has 4 cameras and you can add 4 more cameras. I wish I would have bought that one because I need 4 more cameras. I need cameras EVERYWHERE !!!!!!!!! :/

 

[Angelicisi]

We processed 10 CX today. It went well
Only issue was the plucker broke one :/
It's for our own dinner so works out ok tho

 

[kuntrygirl]

We processed 10 CX today. It went well
Only issue was the plucker broke one :/
It's for our own dinner so works out ok tho

They look VERY good. You all did a great job!!!

 

[Debs55]

Hey everyone! I just started reading the thread because I am also doing Cornish X for the first time. I have 8 that are 6 weeks old and I am picking up 6 more that are 8 weeks old tonight. I have been researching about processing but do any of you have any tips?

 

[Angelicisi]

Don't forget to cut of the oil gland above the tail nub when butchering, don't have a heart attack if the cluck with no head hmmmmm...cones with a bucket underneath for processing keep blood and mess pretty well contained
Let them rest a day or three before eating (gets more tender Mmmmm) I have a ton of things I wish I'd known and now know and can't remember lol

Hey everyone! I just started reading the thread because I am also doing Cornish X for the first time. I have 8 that are 6 weeks old and I am picking up 6 more that are 8 weeks old tonight. I have been researching about processing but do any of you have any tips?