Our final batch of broilers for the year are growing up to be nice and plump.
We prefer to raise meat birds during the spring and summer months when it’s nice and warm outside so the chickens don’t get too cold at night, but broilers have been selling so well for us that Jake wanted to squeeze in one more batch to be processed at the end of the month — just in time for the onset of winter when home grown, pasture raised birds are in short(er) supply.
Jake moved the birds out of the brooder onto fresh grass a week ago (chickens love to peck the ground for grass and insects!). I was a little worried about them because it’s been so cold at night, but they seem to be doing fine.
I’ll be honest, I’m sorta dreading this final processing day at the end of this month. Butchering chickens requires a lot of fresh water and ice baths and cold fingers. It’s gonna feel like taking a dip in the Bering Sea come end of October! I might have to wear a dry suit and neoprene face mask.
June loves to help feed the chickens. (Well, she really likes playing with their feed more than anything….)
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instead of a dry suit – go with neoprene pants and top http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product_list.asp?deptid=1148
… teaching her where her food comes from. …that’s wonderful!
I live in Vermont and keep chickens all winter long without any source of heat in their coop. As long as the chickens have a place to get out of the wind and stay dry they will not be cold. Despite having food and water in their coop they will be out scratching in the snow on below zero days like it is nothing. I don’t even put a lamp my chicks and they grow up nice and hearty with just the warmth of each other and a hot water bottle on really cold nights.
You can wear a pair of white cotton gloves under rubber/latex gloves and that will keep your hands a little warmer
Just curious what a home grown chicken sells for? Also, do you vacuum seal them or just wrap ‘em up?
We have raised turkeys the last few years for friends and family to have at Thanksgiving. It is a lot of fun as they come to do their own butchering. We make a weekend out of it with shifts on Saturday and Sunday before the holiday. We powered out 25 last year. The toms get a little big, some as much as 35 lbs when processed. My wife debreasted one and each breast was 6 lbs. It is such great meat…succulent! We have charged $75 each, but honestly I don’t think we even break even.
You might have fun trying this next year. They are a huge hit with everyone. The birds are beautiful too.
hi will: we sell our broilers for $3.50 per pound. we had to bump up the price from $3.25 because the cost of feed is getting so expensive and we’re growing a heritage breed that takes much longer to make weight. we’ve talked about turkeys. maybe one of these years we’ll give it a go. home grown turkey is THE BEST.
You can keep your hands warm by volunteering for de-gutting duty. Bwaa-ha. Seriously, the supermarket chickens hatch, live and die without ever feeling a ray of sunshine. However brief, yours have a good life. No wonder they are so tasty.
We just processed our meat chickens this past weekend. We did 121 birds in about 6 hours with 7 total people helping. The best part is the gathering of friends and family for the event and the “harvest feast” the day after to sample our “crop”. Last spring was our first time and we did 95 Red Ranger chickens. This time we used the Cornish Cross chickens due to unforseen circumstances and they turned out great.
We sell about half to friends and family, and that covers most of the cost for the half that we save and split between all the people that chipped in during the processing and raising. We sell ours for $4/pound and we sold out in two days once we let people know we had them ready.
We are located between Charlottesville, VA and Richmond and did a spring batch that processed on Memorial Day and this fall batch we processed last weekend.
Great learning experience for all of us. Can’t wait to do a spring flock next year.
Nice, Doug! 121 birds in 6 hours is quite a feat. I assume you didn’t pluck by hand?