They have arrived

[paridisefarm2009]

If you wanna see the gutting processing 5 min

 

[daviechik]

great videos, very informative... im glad i have help doing the actual bleeding out part.

 

[Mingming]

great videos, very informative... im glad i have help doing the actual bleeding out part.

Agreed! Thanks for the great info!!

So here's my latest question .... 3 of my boys are about 6 lbs live weight. They're about 7 weeks old, and they're FRs. I was going to let them go to 11 weeks - but as each day goes by is it getting to be a better and better chance that they'll "flip"? And if they do - is it still okay to process them? thanks!

 

[paridisefarm2009]

I would say yes as long as you do it right away.
I am going to possibly do more of mine this week Because I really don't want to go buy more feed,
I know selfish LOL But I have 27 more to do and the cost keeps going up for this batch I may wait til next week We will see how I am feeling If I wait I will have to go buy more feed tomorrow morning I am finishing mine off with just layer pellets fermented Because those are 50 # bags apposed to a 40 # bag for same price this way if there is any left I have feed for my regular chickens , I will be posting more pics and videos of the next process days to come

 

[paridisefarm2009]

Update , so far I have gotten 140.83 Lbs Of chicken and still have 7 birds out side to Process .
I have figured that you really need to let them grow to 9 or 10 weeks if you want a 5 lb or over bird Because I rushed to do most at 8 weeks and got measly 3 and 4 lb small birds

few snaps

 

[paridisefarm2009]

oops mufasa's pic uploaded also MEOW

 

[daviechik]

i love it!!!!!

such great pictures, i was thinking my month old cornish x were quite small to consider sending them to butcher in even two weeks. i have a lot more feed to buy if thats the case :/

have you thought about hosing them down when they are still alive and kicking? they are really messy and their feathers are dirty from playing in the dirt outside, seeing as they are such hot bodies i thought they would dry pretty quick but thought id run it by those seasoned meat chicken keepers first...

 

[paridisefarm2009]

Well I have a procedure when I process mine Because I am Just worried about germs and all after I kill the bird I Dunk it and wash it all over I smoosh out any poop left in its area and wash it more Then I scald it , then I pluck it then It gets washed more before gutting and after gutting To make sure no poop is left any where , But I am all finished up today and now we have a grand total of 176.57 Lbs Of chicken I know it would have been about 200 if I didn't loose those 10 Birds in the start .And Boy am I tired !! I know next time I will Just plan on haveing them til 10 weeks So My weights would be more .

 

[daviechik]

Good job!!!! Thats a lot of meat, a shame you lost so many though. thank you for all your information.

 

[Mingming]

That's an average of over 3 lbs each. I think that's pretty good! I'm bringing my boys in next wednesday - hopefully they can all wait for another week and then the girls will get another 2 weeks or so - I'll see how they do without all the boy-piggies hogging up the feeders. I need to figure out a better feeding system so everyone can eat at the same time next time 'round. We had a few days with some pretty good heat (mid/high 80s here) and I can see that those temps when they're older like this wasn't good for them. Thankfully it was just 2 days, and now it's back down to the 60's so they should be okay. So I don't think I'll do another set until August or so - and then by the time they're bigger, the weather will have turned cold and they'll be okay until processing in mid-November.

If anyone is new and thinking about doing this, I would definately recommend it! It really only takes about 10 minutes to set them up each morning, and then I spent a bit more time with them in the evenings when I come home from work. That was one thing I was concerned about - that I wouldn't have enough time to take care of them in the mornings, but there's not that much to it!