I have 14 so far, David ... I have even posted pics of them in this thread ...lol. As far as a year .... that is when I first started investigating and gathering data ... then deer hunting prep took over in September ...so anyway ... I will post more.pics soon ... Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk
Coop is pretty much done ... just gotta hang the window, clean up, put down the pine shavings and PDZ on the poop boards, insert chickens when they are old enough .. To the run construction I go .... Opening is covered by hardware cloth Floor repair complete ... now a good cleaning is needed ..... ANDREW!!! :D
LOL, Well, not so much you guys as this guy . My wife is getting more involved in that part though, Helps things go a lot faster. The last time I was dipping, plucking (we have a plucker now) and getting them in to her and she was butchering. After I finished I went in to help Butcher. She is getting faster but it takes some time to get the process and cuts down. We are going to start when the chickens are about 4-5 weeks old for some smaller "roasters" and then do some every few days or so. As they get bigger then we will start cutting them into parts. we need to keep an eye on the best ones and keep those alive as these are the broilers for Carolyn's 4H broiler project. She'll select 5 and then the best 3 of those get entered into the Spring show in May along with her records. She is selling some to friends and family but not that many.
You should put up some pics! I wanna do the Cornish X next year or maybe in a few months ... the thought of butchering 25 birds (that's what I want to get) is a bit overwhelming
They just left the other county and we are heading out to go wait, says my daughter LOL. The butchering is fairly easy, it's the plucking that made me crazy.
Bruce, where'd you order the broilers from? I haven't put in any orders so far. I did have a Fed show up at the 'farm' today. You know those government lists the tinfoil hat brigade talks about. Apparently, there's one for people who produce food. ...and I'm on it. ....sigh... Oh, well. The guy was nice enough, and I think he wanted to talk more about hunting than federal regulations. :D Tony, don't butcher them all at once. Butcher five the first day. Ten a week or two later. The rest another week later. Freezer space is usually a bigger issue than butchering 25 chickens.
No problem with freezer space here! We got a big mamma jamma in the basement for all the fruit and veggies we do in the garden Bruce .... I shoulda said the plucking that intimidates me ... I hope they pluck easier than pheasants ...
We ordered them through 4H as part of the broiler project my daughter does for the spring show. We got them for .45 cents ea, no shipping. Big difference than when ordering from a hatchery ($2.00 ea + shipping). Three county's 4H offices order them so the quantity and 4H discount bring the price way down. Got beaks dipped in water and food, they are wandering about drinking and eating. If you use thin rubber gloves when plucking it isn't so bad, the feathers come out fairly easy but it just takes time. The plucker really speeds things up. We did 75 broilers last year, we had the plucker for the last 50. I was happy. I have pics I just need to get them on my other computer and I'll post them.
You pluck pheasants? I have only done that a hand full of times out of the 1000s we've killed. We typically just breast them out. Optionally with their head removed you can put one foot on each wing pinning them to the ground, grab their legs and pull. It brings a entire new meaning to "Like socks on a rooster". Same goes for the chickens.
Yeah, we got the tractor all gussied up the past couple of days. You'll see it in the pics. They're loading now.
We start plucking the first birds :D then we end up breasting the rest when we get sick of plucking :D
I used to pluck thousands of birds a year... but there was a commercial scalder and large picker/plucker. (the kind where you hold the bird over the spinning drum) Sure made it easier. Scalding temp is the key to easy plucking. If you get the temp and timing right, you can about wipe the feathers off. Rubber gloves definitely help... and they keep your hands from smelling like wet chicken for the next day or two.
What's your weather like Bruce? I'm pretty sure that if I tried housing my chicks outside in a tractor from day one.. the driving rainstorms would kill them off in short order.
It's not so bad, low 70's now but avg is normally low 60's. The pics are a little deceiving. We cover the whole thing with a big blue tarp at night or inclement weather. It keeps the heat in and stops the wind/bad weather. We used to keep the chicks in the house in a small pool but with 50 we are trying something that isn't so labor intensive and smelly. The last 50 broilers last year we used the tractor but it wasn't so early in the year so the avg temps were higher. I have two big heat lamps in there now and we'll see how they do tonight. Supposed to be 50 tonight and a little cooler as the week goes on. Was 34 last night. Here's hoping I haven't made a grievous miscalculation.
I hear you about keeping chicks inside. We were starting them in the basement. But even tho' it's creepy farm basement and with air filters, it got dusty quick. So we raised the last batch of 100+ in the garage (really a 30 x 40' pole barn). The chicks were in a fenced in area in the center of the garage...and again, dust.... everywhere. So next time it will be in a designated chicken raising area only. Good luck with your broilers! I really need to get some ordered.
