Slightly disappointed....

[mamaboyd]

Alright, seeing that this the first time we have raised chickens for meat, we didn't think there would be much of a difference weight wise before and after processing. Most of our birds went in weighing over 6 lbs, and came back just over 4lbs.

Is there that much weight in feathers,feet and inerds etc that would make such a difference? Also, the lady at the processing plant told us that we should have used white rock meat birds that would have weighed more because ours had more energy and wore it off running around. Next year I guess we will try the others. Anyways, the 2 smallest birds are in the oven for dinner, looking forward to seeing how they taste.

 

[greyfields]

Yes that is about the right ammount of "loss" from live weight to dressed. If 33% sounds bad, I get only 35-40 lbs of meat from a 110lb lamb. :|

Regarding breeds, there are as many opinions as people out there. By white rocks, she probably meant Cornish Cross. Commercial strains grow very large, are very indolent, drop dead spontaneously and do nothing but eat.

 

[mamaboyd]

Thanks Greyfields, for the info. Yes, she meant the cornish cross breed. That's exactly why we opted for the type of meat bird that we got in the first place. They do drop dead easily and don't move around much and eat lots. We didn't want our first chicken experience to be a big loss because of all the stories we have heard about that breed. I guess maybe we'll try the cornish cross in the spring earlier this time since we have the whole setup already now, and maybe in a smaller amount to see how they do. I hate to see birds grow so fast and not be able to move around though. We only lost 2 of our chicks in the the first 2 weeks of getting them which to us seemed like a pretty good overall outcome.

Anyhow, our dinner was delicious tonite, I've never had farm fresh chicken before, only the ones from the grocery store, and I can tell you that I defenitly won't be buying store bought again unless we run out of ours!!!

 

[J.R. Richards]

Hey Mamaboyd,

We just butchered some roosters this weekend and only did Rhode Island Reds. They were 22 weeks old and weighed 6lbs before and just a hair over 4 lbs ready for the freezer. So you are right on with the difference in weight.

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

What breed of birds were they?


Jean

 

[mamaboyd]

Jean, our chickens were a special breed called:Frey's Special Dual Purpose birds. They came from Frey's Hatchery here in Ontario. www.freyshatchery.com
They took alot longer to grow compared to cornish crosses, but they stayed much healthier.

Trish

 

[silkiechicken]

I do pretty well with my cornish x's with only one lost bird so far in the 10 year's I've had them. BUT, the thing is I only do 4-6 max at a time and in early spring when weather is cool. Maybe you can try those freedom rangers instead of the cornish x's. I get a 75% yield on my birds usually, but keep in mind we eat the feet, gizzard, liver, and heart so that adds to the yield. Just the head and feathers is discarded... sometimes the skin is not counted either... I also count the initial weight after they have been restricted from food for 12 hours minimum. I think chickens are some of the higher yielding meats out there too. I know once I did a old RIR hen and she was only 50% meat!!! That's after using the heart, liver, gizzard, ovaries, and eggs!!!

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

I went to their website & looked.

Sounds like what you got were sex link chickens. They are a dual purpose bird, but don't have the amount of meat that the White Rock or the Cornish Cross(which is the really heavy birds)

It was a good choice for first time raising. You got your feet wet now, so go for the chunky Cornish Cross next time. They will mature so much quicker. You will just have to get them to the processor before they get too heavy. And you will have to limit their feed. They are eating machines!

Jean