Spring/Summer Meaties Almost Done

[bigredfeather]

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The first year I wrote up a info letter and a order form. It had all the information on how we raise them, processing dates, ect Then on a Sunday afternoon in February, we put one in almost every mailbox within a 3 mile radius of our house which was about 35 of them total. It started off a little slow, but once people tried our birds, they told their family and friends, and it has really taken off. We told people that we didn't mind them sharing our information with others as long as they would be willing to do business with that person themselves. We did have one person that repeatly didn't show up and then didn't pay us. The following year they didn't get an order form. Honestly, we could have sold more this year, but I had to turn a few people down because I didn't want to commit myself to more than I could handle. Four hundred was a lot for me to do in 2 months, but I think I could add another 100 next year if the demand is there. It's seems weird having less than 100 of them around right now after having so many. A few years ago, 100 at a time seemed overwhelming.

 

[RoosterGeek]

That's awesome and exactly how I've imagined starting out.

I'm slowly getting better at processing my birds, but they still look a rough at times. I'm assuming you just learned the needed processing skills as you went?

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Yeah, it took some time. The first 6 we ever did took forever and looked pathetic. Neither of us had ever done one or even seen one done. However, slowly but surely we got better at it. Building a plucker was the best move we made, and getting some good knives was the next best advancement. Currently we process them in a canopy tent in the yard. It ends up getting muddy and I have to change locations every week. To combat that, I have the material sitting there to build a 10'x12' enclosure and want to pour a concrete floor so we have a permenant "butchering shanty" so I can leave everything set-up and don't have to worry about the mud. We have been taking baby steps, but each one makes it a little easier and saves a little time.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Curious to see the numbers... how did the high feed prices pan out this summer? I'm keeping an extremely detailed record this batch just to make sure we aren't losing our butts... I never thought I would see $8.00 corn, just 5-8 years ago it was pushing $3.00 for a bushel.

Killed the hopes on expanding at all this year. Basically hanging on for the year and hoping for the best, hopefully price goes down in the fall when turkeys seem to blow through the feed.

Good luck and I understand the much needed rest. Wait until it's full time, winter is heaven on earth for a farmer! LOL.

 

[PotterWatch]

Congrats! I too am ready to have a little break from meat chickens. We will finish our last batch near the end of July and won't get more chicks until mid to late August. This is our first year in business and we are definitely still learning. I really hope to get to the point of being able to do 50 birds in two hours. Right now it takes us about 4 hours to do 25! We really need more kill cones. When we finish the last batch in July we will have raised 300. Even a year ago, I could not have imagined that!

 

[RoosterGeek]

Quote:
The ethanol subsidy is going to end if the Senate bill makes it through the house and hopefully that will bring corn prices down. Big Oil is certainly throwing money behind keeping it though. I strongly feel that ethanol is to blame for a large portion of the corn price hike.