Meat chickens

I killed our first Plymouth Rock rooster 16 June 2012. 

He hatched out 15 November 2011 and was so much smaller than the others that I expected him to die in the first few weeks.  He did not get feathers until very late in his life, weeks after the girls got feathers.  His brother is larger but it is raining hard so I plan to do him another day (or sell him as he is pure bred and a stunning looking bird). 

It is difficult killing something I hatched out, fed, watered, and looked after.  He was a beautiful looking animal with a calm temperament, had I entered him he could easily have won medals in poultry shows.  He lived a calm and happy life, and died an honourable quick death, not at all like the terrible and painful life and death of a commercial meat chicken.

At the age of 7 months he weighed 3.71kg live, when he was ready to go in the freezer he weighed 2.50kg.  That is a dressing percentage of just over 67%, not too bad for the first rooster I have processed in such a long long time.

Unfortunately I did not keep records on the food he ate to reach this size.  If I were to guestimate based on the feed that he has been consuming over the past few weeks I would say it cost about $19 to get this far (which works out to about $7.30 per kg of chicken).  The actual cost must be lower than that as he certainly did not eat this much when he was a week old.  Next time I plan to keep stats and keep the young chickens feed completely separate from all other poultry feed so I can work out accurately how much it costs to feed a chicken from hatching to eating size.

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Meat Chickens and Integrative Pest Management

meat chicken set-up under the walnut tree

We have a serious mob of broilers that weve been raising under the huge English Walnut next to the barn.  Trying out some integrative pest management, our goal is to have the meat chickens scratch and peck all the insects around and under the tree.  This particular walnut has been infected with the walnut husk fly for the last several years.  Each year the tree produces an amazingly prolific amount of fruit which looks healthy and ripe on the outside but on the inside is a black mush.  Our hope is that these ravenous birds will stop the cycle of the husk fly by eating all the larvae which burrow into the ground to pupate.  This season we are raising both Cornish X broilers and heirloom French Freedom Rangers.  It has been interesting comparing the two breeds.  The Rangers are true to their names in that they are better foragers but we have found the Cornish X to be pretty good foragers too, especially when we dont give them free access to layer pellets.  In three-four weeks they have taken waist high grass down to dust.  We feed them once in the morning and let them hunt around for the rest of the day.  Their growth rate is a bit slower this way but the feed bill is much lower and the birds seem healthier.  We have also been mixing in about a gallon of whey each day into their feed making a sort of mash, as well as, feeding sprouted grains such as wheat berries, oats, and milo.  They definitely seem to like the extra protein.   Cant wait to see if we get some viable walnuts this year!

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Our first twins

We had our first twins born, such an exciting day. The perfect twins, one boy for dinner and one girl to replace mum.

They were great at birth, sitting up, walking around not long after. Following mum.

Day 2, not looking as great, wondering if we should catch them and take them off mum. But they are still running after her so would have been hard to catch. We make the decision to wait till the next day and see what is happening.

Day 3, I got to check on the and find the poor mum standing by her dead lambs. Poor little things, poor mummy sheep. It was just heart breaking and I felt terrible for not taking them. But if they didnt need it I dont want to go snatching of the mum.

I am thinking maybe there is something amiss with the genetics of our flock. So we are buying some new ewes and hoping things start working out better for us. Will update with pictures when we get them on the weekend.

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The Meat Chickens

We are pleasantly surprised with our broilers who are now about six weeks old.  All the talk of how freakish the Cornish X are does not really seem to hold true.  Yes, they are ravenous at times and will eat, eat, eat continuously.  And yes, they will plop themselves down in front of the food to just sit, or really lie and eat.  But they are far from the frankenbirds we heard and read about.
They have definitely grown at an alarming rate and are now approximately three times the size of the layer chicks of the same age. And they do start out looking a bit different but once fully feathered they have grown to be pretty normal looking.  Otherwise,  the Cornish X seem to behave just like all the rest of our chickens, exploring and foraging around for food and enjoying dust baths in the sun.  Since we transferred them to the run (which is left open all day to give the flock access to the hillside) the meat chickens are free ranging with the rest of the birds.  There has not been much bullying by the layers either.

We have picked up a couple of tips to give them a better start and to help keep them healthy as they grow.  While they were still in the brooder we started adding apple cider vinegar to their water.  Their energy immediately increased and their stool went from watery yellow to normal looking chicken droppings.  Second, we tried to give them a variety of foods.  In addition to their chick starter we offered them mashed boiled eggs, greens, seaweed, kitchen scraps, and bits of grass.  At first they were only interested in the starter but after a few days they began eating all the different foods including pumpkin, which appears to be a favorite.  Fermenting the feed by soaking overnight and letting sit for a day or so is another tip we are eager to try out soon.

Sunshine Chicken is a website we stumbled across about free ranging, holistically raised meat chickens in the Philippines.  It is loaded with amazing information, videos, and great ideas for fermented supplements and super foods (for livestock) that are easy to make.

It has been interesting so far to learn about the Cornish X birds.  We have been discussing that it would be fun to try out some Freedom Rangers in the spring when the grass is high and there is more wild food to eat. We are also hoping to keep a couple of roosters and some hens to try breeding our own meat stock, therefore avoiding having to order from the hatcheries.  There is no doubt that raising our own meat birds is NOT cheaper than buying from the stores but there is satisfaction in knowing that they grew here from start to finish and that we had our hands in the process them.  (Not to mention that we are on a mission around here to find more sustainable -aka free- ways to feed these animals of ours.)

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