Should I order 100 meat chickens?

[V-NH]

Fair enough. I guess I won't do 100.

I still wonder how one hatchery can offer them for 86 cents each while virtually all other hatcheries charge over $2 apiece.

 

[happydog]

Is this your first time, or have you raised and processed a batch of meat birds before? 100 is an awful lot of birds. I sure wouldn't make it my first experience.

Another option might be to call your local extension service and ask the livestock agent about splitting an order. Mine orders poultry a couple times a year and I can add my order to his and we get a volume discount. Plus the shipping is less. Some places also give a 4H discount as well. If he doesn't do anything like that he will probably know who in your area is doing chickens and can put you together with them so you can split the costs.

My husband and I processed 30 chickens yesterday. We had a full mobile processing unit with 6 cones, and a scalding vat and plucker. We did 5 chickens at a time. I had to force myself to finish the last 5. I was about half dead when I finally slid into a hot bath. Just thinking of processing one hundred chickens is giving me the shivers.

 

[V-NH]

This is my first time raising and processing meat chickens. Do you mean you were half dead from physical strain?

 

[happydog]

Yes. It was a lot of work. Mostly the eviscerating since we had state of the art equipment to do the scalding and plucking. You're standing on your feet for a lot of hours doing exacting work. It's uses a lot of focused mental energy and stamina. My back felt like hamburger by the end of the day. (I'm going to measure the height of the eviscerating table today. I suspect it's a few inches shorter than optimal.)

But then I'm middle aged and not used to strenuous labor. If you're a young football player in his prime it would probably be a piece of cake.

 

[V-NH]

Hello again everyone,

I just placed an order with Welp Hatchery for 25 cornish x. They had free shipping, so I ended up only paying about $45, which is what I was wanting to spend. Free shipping on live poultry is the best thing since sliced bread.

 

[happydog]

25 is a manageable number. That's what I started with. After you've processed 25 you'll be able to judge better if that's a good number for you or if you feel like you could handle more. You can always do another batch in the fall. I like to do a batch in spring and again in fall. I feel like a smaller batch twice a year works better for me than doing one huge batch.

Welp is a good choice.

 

[BCMaraniac]

25 is a manageable number. That's what I started with. After you've processed 25 you'll be able to judge better if that's a good number for you or if you feel like you could handle more. You can always do another batch in the fall. I like to do a batch in spring and again in fall. I feel like a smaller batch twice a year works better for me than doing one huge batch.

Welp is a good choice.

We started with 20. My husband and I were the processers....and we are middle aged too....lol. We usually only do about 6 at a time. Our first birds were CX, and I now have 20 Red Rangers that are just over 2 weeks old that I am going to grow out over the summer, then process. I figure why not let them free range and take advantage of the foraging, plus it gives us an opportunity to try something different from the CX.

Another consideration with the CX is their risk of congestive heart failure. The heat really bothers them, and some folks have said they will not even get up to get water in the heat, but just sit there and die.....I don't know if that is so, but I think something more tolerant of heat would be better in the summer. Just another opinion.....

 

[bwmichaud]

I'm glad to hear you went with the 25. 100 is a lot more work than 25. Maybe next time you can find some other people to go in on 100 together so you get the better price. I, like a previous poster, slaughter a bunch as cornish game hens. It's really nice to have a roasted chicken dinner in 40 minutes. Now that I've found that they fit in a 7x12 shrink bag, I'm doing even more than before.

If you do decide to do 100 in the future, make sure you either build, buy or rent a plucker. The Featherman website has a listing of companies that rent pluckers. The address is http://www.featherman.net/rentals.html Also, remember that you'll need more than one heat lamp to keep them warm or they'll pile up and the ones on the bottom will suffocate.

 

[V-NH]

I was a little bit concerned about the heat, but I am going to place them in a wooded area and it hasn't really been hot here yet, so it should be okay. It'll get hot later, but it usually doesn't go much above 90 in NH.

 

[bowhunter862]

How much do you think it would cost to take 100 cornish X to eight weeks?  I estimated $400 at $17 a bag, which is what I pay at the local TSC.

You will feed each bird 20 pounds in their 8 week life. 100 birds will eat 2000 pounds of feed. That's 40 bags at $17 per bag or $680 plus the cost of chicks and electric to run the brooder.