Any folks on here raising their own meat chickens?

[StaceyinLA]

If so, let's talk about what you're raising, what you're feeding, and, in general, your process from beginning to end.

 

Thanks!!

[GWOB]

If so, let's talk about what you're raising, what you're feeding, and, in general, your process from beginning to end.

 

Thanks!!

 

Theoretically, yes. Are we actually going to kill these chickens? Who knows? We purchased a straight run of 7 chickens from some random guy with whom my lovely dh works. We ended up with 5 roosters and only 2 hens. Lovely, wonderful dh (yes I am being somewhat sarcastic) decided we would eat these roosters. Now, how they get from being alive to being fit to cook is none of this city-girl's business.

 

BTW, we feed them corn and let them free-range on our 8 acres. Wonderful dh went and picked corn after harvest, so we have tons and tons of corn. Our mutt chickens love it.

[StaceyinLA]

the 30 I have coming next week are ALL roosters, and meat ones at that, so they won't be able to hang around much past d-day. Hubby has said he'll do the dirty deed. I know it won't be pleasant to do, but we can do it as humanely as possible, and they'll have a decent life (albeit fairly short).

 

I did pick a breed that will range, but we'll have to feed a broiler feed. I know I want no drugs or animal products in my feed. I'm just looking for some others' experiences. Thanks for yours!! And good luck with that!

[GWOB]

the 30 I have coming next week are ALL roosters, and meat ones at that, so they won't be able to hang around much past d-day. Hubby has said he'll do the dirty deed. I know it won't be pleasant to do, but we can do it as humanely as possible, and they'll have a decent life (albeit fairly short).

 

I did pick a breed that will range, but we'll have to feed a broiler feed. I know I want no drugs or animal products in my feed. I'm just looking for some others' experiences. Thanks for yours!! And good luck with that!

 

We (meaning I) wanted chickens for eggs. BTW, I grew up in Lafayette, LA. I'm wondering where you are located. I know absolutely nothing about chickens. I thought having chickens for eggs would be an easy intro. to chicken raining. Lovely, wonderful, sweet dh had other ideas.. Wow! 30 roosters! I bet they won't live long. Ours are about 6 months old and are getting to the point of not liking each other. Something will have to be done about that, but that is dh's problem. This Cajun girl only chases chickens for a Mardi Gras gumbo.

[Aggie]

Not this year, but hopefully next!

 

A couple of years ago, a friend bought 100 and let them free-range on her land. We bought 25 of them from her and at axe time, her family, my dh and older dd had an assembly line of duties. I'm squeamish so I didn't ask particulars, but all the chickens/roosters wound up in paper in the freezer. And only a very few feathers made it to the crock-pot!:lol:

 

I'll be listening for your stories.:bigear:

[TexasRachel]

This was our situation, although I think we only started with 10-12. We're down to 6 now. DH, my father, & my brother kill a couple every week. They should all be gone this weekend. DF was raised on a farm so he knew what to do, but DH found a website (sorry, don't know what) and some videos on you-tube that explain how to butcher chickens. They chop their heads off. We decided to just skin them because we don't use the skin when cooking anyways.

 

And of course, all "we" in the previous paragraph = DH. :)

 

Ours our in an old goat pen at my parents' place. We have to keep them fenced because of our dog and coyotes. We plan on getting some more chickens, probably next year. We need to build a coop on our property first.

[katemary63]

We have done this - ONCE. We ordered 25 day old cornish rock crosses. You feed them for 5 weeks and then butcher. We fed a chick grower from our local feed mill. We kept ours in a large horse stall. I don't recommend free rangeing meat chickens. You really don't let chickens that young out anyway, and your chicken meat will be tougher. Ours were not packed tight, the stall is 12 X 16, but they didn't have romping space either.

 

Our problem was that DH just did not like butchering the chickens. Not the problem of killing them - I did that. But the whole gutting, boiling and plucking was JUST NOT WORTH IT. The chicken tasted fine - but really no better then store bought, and you don't save money doing this, the feed and birds cost more then $3 each which is what I can get a ready to bake, packaged bird for at walmart on sale. My DH nearly fainted one day when he saw how cheap the chickens were at the store after all the effort he put into it. His words, "Never again."

 

We do raise our own rabbit meat. Rabbits are EASY to breed, raise and butcher, much easier then chickens. The meat is delicious - our kids have to ask, "Chicken or rabbit?" if it's deboned. They can't tell. Rabbit is nutritious, low fat, all white meat, no skin, and a better deal for the money then chicken when you do it your self.

[GWOB]

We do raise our own rabbit meat. Rabbits are EASY to breed, raise and butcher, much easier then chickens. The meat is delicious - our kids have to ask, "Chicken or rabbit?" if it's deboned. They can't tell. Rabbit is nutritious, low fat, all white meat, no skin, and a better deal for the money then chicken when you do it your self.

 

Rabbits? Really? Do you have any good resources you could share? I've had rabbit meant and liked it, so that seems like a good idea. Although, my dc are huge animal lovers and would probably faint at the idea of eating rabbits. They are already begging us not to kill a certain rooster, though we told them from the start we were eating these guys. Oh the joys of country living!

[katemary63]

Rabbits? Really? Do you have any good resources you could share? I've had rabbit meant and liked it, so that seems like a good idea. Although, my dc are huge animal lovers and would probably faint at the idea of eating rabbits. They are already begging us not to kill a certain rooster, though we told them from the start we were eating these guys. Oh the joys of country living!

 

Resouces? Not really. We just bought some Californian meat rabbits at the county fair from some other 4-Hers and bred them. When the first kits were old enough to butcher, I went over to a 4-H friend's house and she showed me how to do it. To raise them, you just need a wire cage with some sort of wind/ rain protection and a nest box.

 

Our kids know from the start which animals are "pets" and which are for eating. We also raise Lionhead rabbits for pet and show and we don't eat those. The meat rabbits are for meat. My DD helps with the butchering, she was 5 the first time. She finds the intestines fascinating in a scientific sort of way. "Oh look, there's the heart. What is that yellow thing? What does it do? Do we have those in our bodies?" It is actually quite terrific IMHO.

 

Join 4-H! All kids should be in 4-H IMHO! Especially those with animals. There is probably a rabbit club in your county and you would learn all kinds of great things!

[Jean in Wisc]

If so, let's talk about what you're raising, what you're feeding, and, in general, your process from beginning to end.

 

Thanks!!

 

Beef cattle (hay, grass, salt--towards the end we give them corn to "finish" them) Take them to the butcher shop

 

Turkeys (starter/finisher poultry feed, corn) Borrow a plucker and butcher them--get them in June, butcher about 20 weeks later

 

Blog post on butchering Turkeys here.

 

Chickens (starter/finisher poultry feed, corn) Butcher them by skinning them--get them next month--butcher them in 7 to 8 weeks

 

There is just a tidbit on my blog about butchering the chickens.

 

Venison (they eat our corn in the field, right? LOL! I s'pose we don't really raise them, but...)

 

Jean

[Tracy in Ky]

We raise meat chickens. There is a picture on my pitiful blog of the automatic chicken plucker that dh built...

 

http://providencefarmblog.blogspot.com/

 

As far as cost, Dh tried to keep up with our receipts for the most recent batch of meat chickens that we raised and butchered, and assuming we didn't misplace a feed receipt, it cost us approximately $7.00 per bird to buy and feed them. (That is just straight cost, not counting the electricity for the warming lights, the litter, and the equipment).

 

We try to raise and butcher enough over the summer to get us through the whole year--we figure about 1 bird per week. They can get really big--one bird will do us 2-3 meals if I am careful. And of course, after we eat the meat, I boil the bones and make stock and/or broth, which make the bird go even further. After boiling the carcas, I give the cats and/or dogs the spent skin and meat. We really stretch those birds!! :lol:

 

Blessings,

Tracy

[cjzimmer1]

My dad did when I was growing up. He had a coop with warmer lights and an automatic water trough. Then there was the fenced area which I'm guessing was about 1/2 acre. (he actually had 3 areas as he raised alot of them) During the day, the birds were let out to roam. They were fed corn in the coop but I don't remember if that was once or twice a day. He also got expired produce from the grocery stores managers in town and fed them that plus any scraps or spoiled stuff we had at home (my parents sold produce for a living so there was always lots of extras). At night or whenever there was an approaching storm, we would chase the birds back in their coop. They got pretty good about follow the leader so getting them inside in a hurry wasn't difficult. He got them in the spring and butchered in October/November sometimes even till December.

 

Unlike Kate Mary I found them to be MUCH tastier than the stuff from the grocery store. I would love to buy free range chickens but it's just not in the budget right now.

 

Butchering itself wasn't that bad, I just couldn't bring myself to actually kill them. My dad and grandpa did that. They just slit the throat and threw them into field and let them flop till they were dead. They had a steel barrel of water over a big fire. The kids would run and get the birds after they were dead and then my dad would dip them in the boiling water and lay them on a saw horse to cool. Then strip the feathers. Then they hung them by their necks (which is why they didn't actually cut the whole head off) and singed the remaining feathers and hairs off the bird. Next was cleaning up the bird and washing with lots of water. Then they brought them inside (in the basement) and we would all sit around and pick pinfeathers. Then they went and wrapped them and sold them.

 

The did upwards of 200 birds a fall (chickens, ducks, geese, turkey) so I had lots of practice with the parts the kids got to help with. The biggest drawbacks was the birds got quite big and did have a pretty good layer of fat on them. It makes the best soup that way but for roasting it works better to pull some off before cooking.

[StaceyinLA]

I appreciate all the info.

 

I am free-ranging mine for a couple of reasons. One is to help with the costs of feed and another is for health reasons. Free-range meat has more fatty acids, and, if I'm going to raise it myself, I want some added benefit. Of course, we won't be using medicated feeds either so that's a plus.

 

I absolutely think we'll notice a difference in taste. I've had farm-raised birds and the meat just has a "fresh" taste. Since we're skinning ours, I'm mainly planning on using them in stew-y type recipes (mostly how we eat chicken anyway). I may try boning out a few breasts for boneless, skinless breasts which we use for our fajita wraps and stuff. We won't do too many of those the first time.

 

I've already planned to give my dogs the necks and stuff. I'm just gonna keep a big bag of them in the freezer and offer them to the dogs once/week or so until they are gone - same with the backs. I know my big dogs will LOVE the goodies!!

 

As far as rabbits go, I LOVE rabbit meat (well, we've only had wild cuz dh hunts), but I just do not know if I could kill (or allow hubby to kill) a young bunny we had raised. Roosters are different. I love my chickens, but roosters get mean. Bunnies are sweet and precious always! I'd love to have the meat, but I just don't know if we could do it.

 

Anyway, I got my feed today for the chicks. They're due Thursday or Friday.

[Jean in Wisc]

I appreciate all the info.

 

I am free-ranging mine for a couple of reasons. One is to help with the costs of feed and another is for health reasons. Free-range meat has more fatty acids, and, if I'm going to raise it myself, I want some added benefit. Of course, we won't be using medicated feeds either so that's a plus.

 

I absolutely think we'll notice a difference in taste. I've had farm-raised birds and the meat just has a "fresh" taste. Since we're skinning ours, I'm mainly planning on using them in stew-y type recipes (mostly how we eat chicken anyway). I may try boning out a few breasts for boneless, skinless breasts which we use for our fajita wraps and stuff. We won't do too many of those the first time.

 

I've already planned to give my dogs the necks and stuff. I'm just gonna keep a big bag of them in the freezer and offer them to the dogs once/week or so until they are gone - same with the backs. I know my big dogs will LOVE the goodies!!

 

As far as rabbits go, I LOVE rabbit meat (well, we've only had wild cuz dh hunts), but I just do not know if I could kill (or allow hubby to kill) a young bunny we had raised. Roosters are different. I love my chickens, but roosters get mean. Bunnies are sweet and precious always! I'd love to have the meat, but I just don't know if we could do it.

 

Anyway, I got my feed today for the chicks. They're due Thursday or Friday.

 

LOL! When I read the Q I saw "meat" not "meat chickens"--you got more than you asked for. :) Jean