How many broilers to start with
Jan 2, 2018 23:48:21 GMT -5
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2stormeyseas, grammagrace, and 4 more like this
Post by mommasquilts on Jan 2, 2018 23:48:21 GMT -5
I would like to strongly suggest that you do not plan to brood those birds in your basement unless you want a quarter of an inch of poultry dust on every horizontal surface—you will still be cleaning the aforementioned dust 3 years from now. Ask me how I know. Ask my husband how many times I did birds in the garage before he banned me from ever using that location again... for chickens, ducks, geese....
I have done Cornish cross in lots of different places and ways. One year we thought we’d do red broilers and really hated their personality, performance, and scrawny carcasses. They had huge bones but not the meat I was hoping for.
Some lessons I learned along the way:
—bears, eagles, and dogs think chicken is delicious
—Cornish crosses poop more than you can imagine and then sit in it...but the yard looks great if you like bright green striped yards
—fall is a much nicer time of year to raise Cornish crosses since it is cooler when they are at their heaviest
—starting them on gamebird feed (high protein) really gets them going well (fewer leg issues)
—they really do have a personality
—a whiz bang chicken plucker is worth its weight in gold, platinum, or any other precious metal you can think of...and it is a fun thing to build
—there are worse things than feeding your birds conventional feed...like Walmart chicken for instance. I have access to wonderful organic feed for my broilers, but when I started I didn’t. Do the best you can and they will still taste great.
—people who didn’t lift a finger to help pay for or raise them will be very interested in eating them
—kids have an amazing capacity to understand where their food comes from without becoming emotionally invested...the emotions are generally projected by the adults who think it is weird to name our food.
—there are lots of ways to find free or low cost bedding (find a sawmill and offer to clean their dust bin)
—the last bird eaten usually occurs 3 months or more before you can restock
—you will always find something new to learn
—the work to raise 35 vs 50 is exactly the same. Feed costs more, but that is a given.
—no matter how prepared you are, something unexpected will pop up...no big deal. Just keep doing the best you can with what you’ve got.
Let the adventures begin!!
I have done Cornish cross in lots of different places and ways. One year we thought we’d do red broilers and really hated their personality, performance, and scrawny carcasses. They had huge bones but not the meat I was hoping for.
Some lessons I learned along the way:
—bears, eagles, and dogs think chicken is delicious
—Cornish crosses poop more than you can imagine and then sit in it...but the yard looks great if you like bright green striped yards
—fall is a much nicer time of year to raise Cornish crosses since it is cooler when they are at their heaviest
—starting them on gamebird feed (high protein) really gets them going well (fewer leg issues)
—they really do have a personality
—a whiz bang chicken plucker is worth its weight in gold, platinum, or any other precious metal you can think of...and it is a fun thing to build
—there are worse things than feeding your birds conventional feed...like Walmart chicken for instance. I have access to wonderful organic feed for my broilers, but when I started I didn’t. Do the best you can and they will still taste great.
—people who didn’t lift a finger to help pay for or raise them will be very interested in eating them
—kids have an amazing capacity to understand where their food comes from without becoming emotionally invested...the emotions are generally projected by the adults who think it is weird to name our food.
—there are lots of ways to find free or low cost bedding (find a sawmill and offer to clean their dust bin)
—the last bird eaten usually occurs 3 months or more before you can restock
—you will always find something new to learn
—the work to raise 35 vs 50 is exactly the same. Feed costs more, but that is a given.
—no matter how prepared you are, something unexpected will pop up...no big deal. Just keep doing the best you can with what you’ve got.
Let the adventures begin!!