Tips for first time meat bird owner

[FunClucks]

just ordered the meat birds tonight and I've already shed a few tears
I think I just need to remember raising birds myself is more ethical than buying from the store...

This is true - I know that I will make my meat birds' lives better than they would have gotten in any commercial chicken raising operation. They will have excellent lives, a quick low/no-stress end, and produce high quality meat for my family. No long stressful truck rides for them, no worries for me about what bacteria the processing plant wasn't careful about, or their processing method. My birds will eat bugs, see sun, eat grass, have a small flock (commercially speaking) and have plenty of fresh air and as much exercise as they will tolerate. They will enjoy the great outdoors and natural day/night cycles, and have fresh bedding regularly.

Do not get attached. They are sweet through processing age, but once fully mature, CX, especially the roosters, can be mean as snakes. They are "dinner chickens" and "dinner chicks". If you need to ID some of them, use numbered zip ties on their legs that are not put on too tightly and checked regularly as they grow.

You are taking responsibility for the meat you consume by making sure the chickens have the best life possible, and a fast, stress-free end. I think that's worthy of respect. I tell you, I've been a lot more mindful of food usage and food waste since I've been growing our own. Their sacrifices to feed my family will NOT be in vain, and we use every possible portion of the chicken.

I look at the chicken in the store now, and I see older meat that's been in the case a while, and I know exactly how old each chicken was when it was processed, now that I know how old CX are at each size. I'll point to a small rotisserie chicken and tell my kids - that chicken was 4 weeks old. They look at me with big eyes, but they remember, because they were there raising them with me. We marvel at how young they all are when processed commercially. Mine get 6-10 weeks of life (or more by accident sometimes), which is double what most in the store get.

When you process chicken yourself, it has to sit in the fridge and age for at least a week (in most cases) till the joints loosen back up, (then you cook or freeze) but it can be in the fridge longer if needed. If you look, I think the USDA states that the commercial requirements are no longer than 10 days from slaughter to sale/consumption. Even 10-12 days in, my chicken smells as fresh in the fridge as when it was first processed. It's such a nice change from the slimy, almost off meat that I would get from the store. And it's totally devoid of seasoning/flavoring (none of that 10% salt or broth solution), which I'd never had before I processed my own.

The processing part is hard. But I like knowing I can feed my family well.

 

[GracePoultry]

This is true - I know that I will make my meat birds' lives better than they would have gotten in any commercial chicken raising operation. They will have excellent lives, a quick low/no-stress end, and produce high quality meat for my family. No long stressful truck rides for them, no worries for me about what bacteria the processing plant wasn't careful about, or their processing method. My birds will eat bugs, see sun, eat grass, have a small flock (commercially speaking) and have plenty of fresh air and as much exercise as they will tolerate. They will enjoy the great outdoors and natural day/night cycles, and have fresh bedding regularly.

Do not get attached. They are sweet through processing age, but once fully mature, CX, especially the roosters, can be mean as snakes. They are "dinner chickens" and "dinner chicks". If you need to ID some of them, use numbered zip ties on their legs that are not put on too tightly and checked regularly as they grow.

You are taking responsibility for the meat you consume by making sure the chickens have the best life possible, and a fast, stress-free end. I think that's worthy of respect. I tell you, I've been a lot more mindful of food usage and food waste since I've been growing our own. Their sacrifices to feed my family will NOT be in vain, and we use every possible portion of the chicken.

I look at the chicken in the store now, and I see older meat that's been in the case a while, and I know exactly how old each chicken was when it was processed, now that I know how old CX are at each size. I'll point to a small rotisserie chicken and tell my kids - that chicken was 4 weeks old. They look at me with big eyes, but they remember, because they were there raising them with me. We marvel at how young they all are when processed commercially. Mine get 6-10 weeks of life (or more by accident sometimes), which is double what most in the store get.

When you process chicken yourself, it has to sit in the fridge and age for at least a week (in most cases) till the joints loosen back up, (then you cook or freeze) but it can be in the fridge longer if needed. If you look, I think the USDA states that the commercial requirements are no longer than 10 days from slaughter to sale/consumption. Even 10-12 days in, my chicken smells as fresh in the fridge as when it was first processed. It's such a nice change from the slimy, almost off meat that I would get from the store. And it's totally devoid of seasoning/flavoring (none of that 10% salt or broth solution), which I'd never had before I processed my own.

The processing part is hard. But I like knowing I can feed my family well.

wow! this helps a lot! tysm!

 

[Floopy]

This is true - I know that I will make my meat birds' lives better than they would have gotten in any commercial chicken raising operation. They will have excellent lives, a quick low/no-stress end, and produce high quality meat for my family. No long stressful truck rides for them, no worries for me about what bacteria the processing plant wasn't careful about, or their processing method. My birds will eat bugs, see sun, eat grass, have a small flock (commercially speaking) and have plenty of fresh air and as much exercise as they will tolerate. They will enjoy the great outdoors and natural day/night cycles, and have fresh bedding regularly.

Do not get attached. They are sweet through processing age, but once fully mature, CX, especially the roosters, can be mean as snakes. They are "dinner chickens" and "dinner chicks". If you need to ID some of them, use numbered zip ties on their legs that are not put on too tightly and checked regularly as they grow.

You are taking responsibility for the meat you consume by making sure the chickens have the best life possible, and a fast, stress-free end. I think that's worthy of respect. I tell you, I've been a lot more mindful of food usage and food waste since I've been growing our own. Their sacrifices to feed my family will NOT be in vain, and we use every possible portion of the chicken.

I look at the chicken in the store now, and I see older meat that's been in the case a while, and I know exactly how old each chicken was when it was processed, now that I know how old CX are at each size. I'll point to a small rotisserie chicken and tell my kids - that chicken was 4 weeks old. They look at me with big eyes, but they remember, because they were there raising them with me. We marvel at how young they all are when processed commercially. Mine get 6-10 weeks of life (or more by accident sometimes), which is double what most in the store get.

When you process chicken yourself, it has to sit in the fridge and age for at least a week (in most cases) till the joints loosen back up, (then you cook or freeze) but it can be in the fridge longer if needed. If you look, I think the USDA states that the commercial requirements are no longer than 10 days from slaughter to sale/consumption. Even 10-12 days in, my chicken smells as fresh in the fridge as when it was first processed. It's such a nice change from the slimy, almost off meat that I would get from the store. And it's totally devoid of seasoning/flavoring (none of that 10% salt or broth solution), which I'd never had before I processed my own.

The processing part is hard. But I like knowing I can feed my family well.

What a great post. Thank you for this great info!

 

[JMcintyre]

The first time is the hardest!
We don’t do “meat birds” per se, just eat extra roos, so no advice on the tractor. You can do it!

I have a question about this! Do you raise your extra Roos with your hens before processing them, or do you house them separately? I’ve been seeing “if they crow, they’re ready to go” which makes me thing it might not be too bad to house multiple cockerels with my hens for that short amount of time, but I’m not sure!

 

[Mountain Roost]

This thread also has some good info.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/best-practices-for-ethical-meat-birds-raising.1661939/

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!

I have a question about this! Do you raise your extra Roos with your hens before processing them, or do you house them separately?

You'll find that we all do things differently. I do different things different years based on what the chickens do. Different batches can be very different.

I’ve been seeing “if they crow, they’re ready to go” which makes me thing it might not be too bad to house multiple cockerels with my hens for that short amount of time, but I’m not sure!

That is a cute phrase but I discount it. Some people have had cockerels start to crow at just a few weeks of age. Some cockerels do not start crowing until they are 4 to 5 months old. I use different criteria such as size and how I want to cook them to determine when I butcher them. I manage them to suit my goals.

For my big hatch every spring (dual purpose chickens) I might have anywhere for 5 to 15 cockerels growing up with the flock, depending on how many and what sexes hatch. I use my incubator and integrate them with the flock at 5 weeks. After 5 weeks the pullets and cockerels are with the adults. When they hit 16 weeks I start butchering the cockerels and finish butchering them by 23 weeks of age.

It can get active down there when they hit puberty. My criteria for that is that no one gets hurt. Cockerels will fight each other and force mate some pullets but it is usually not so rough that anyone gets hurt. Some years it is actually pretty peaceful. Watching that can really upset some people but as long as no one is hurt I'm OK with it. I have a lot of room which cuts down on the violence. If they were shoehorned into a small space it could really be bad.

About once every three or four years it does get too rough down there for me to watch. One or two cockerels have such a strong personality that I'm concerned that someone will get injured. It could be a pullet, it could be a cockerel. Those years I isolate the cockerels in my grow-out area, a coop and run where no pullets are allowed. With no girls to fight over it is usually not that bad and the girls are protected. I've had experience with this, I don't think you have. That doesn't make it any easier for you.

Some people like to separate them so they can feed them different diets. They usually feed the boys a higher protein feed so they grow faster. Some might want to make pets out of the girls but not get attached to the boys. Others have different reasons.

After the first big incubator hatch I have a few smaller broody hen hatches. The broody hens raise all their chicks with the flock. I've never had to separate any of those cockerels out before butcher. Not sure why. There aren't that many of them and they grow up intimidated by the older ones. Each circumstance is different. I basically go by what I see instead of having a set way that I'll follow no matter what.

I will not criticize you if you separate them or not. We all need to find our own way to what works for us.

 

[JMcintyre]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!


You'll find that we all do things differently. I do different things different years based on what the chickens do. Different batches can be very different.


That is a cute phrase but I discount it. Some people have had cockerels start to crow at just a few weeks of age. Some cockerels do not start crowing until they are 4 to 5 months old. I use different criteria such as size and how I want to cook them to determine when I butcher them. I manage them to suit my goals.

For my big hatch every spring (dual purpose chickens) I might have anywhere for 5 to 15 cockerels growing up with the flock, depending on how many and what sexes hatch. I use my incubator and integrate them with the flock at 5 weeks. After 5 weeks the pullets and cockerels are with the adults. When they hit 16 weeks I start butchering the cockerels and finish butchering them by 23 weeks of age.

It can get active down there when they hit puberty. My criteria for that is that no one gets hurt. Cockerels will fight each other and force mate some pullets but it is usually not so rough that anyone gets hurt. Some years it is actually pretty peaceful. Watching that can really upset some people but as long as no one is hurt I'm OK with it. I have a lot of room which cuts down on the violence. If they were shoehorned into a small space it could really be bad.

About once every three or four years it does get too rough down there for me to watch. One or two cockerels have such a strong personality that I'm concerned that someone will get injured. It could be a pullet, it could be a cockerel. Those years I isolate the cockerels in my grow-out area, a coop and run where no pullets are allowed. With no girls to fight over it is usually not that bad and the girls are protected. I've had experience with this, I don't think you have. That doesn't make it any easier for you.

Some people like to separate them so they can feed them different diets. They usually feed the boys a higher protein feed so they grow faster. Some might want to make pets out of the girls but not get attached to the boys. Others have different reasons.

After the first big incubator hatch I have a few smaller broody hen hatches. The broody hens raise all their chicks with the flock. I've never had to separate any of those cockerels out before butcher. Not sure why. There aren't that many of them and they grow up intimidated by the older ones. Each circumstance is different. I basically go by what I see instead of having a set way that I'll follow no matter what.

I will not criticize you if you separate them or not. We all need to find our own way to what works for us.

This is insanely helpful. Thank you! We’ve had layers for about 4 years but decided to hatch out some newbies this year, and we want to give our cockerels the best life we can before they are processed. We have a small flock and a fairly small coop, so based on what you said here, it sounds like housing them separately will be more peaceful for everyone