50 Broilers
October 11, 2008
Written by: Katie
Look at my little peeps. I now am the proud owner of 50 little fuzzy cute white fuzz balls that will grow in 8 weeks time into large, juice, yummy chickens that are ready for the dinner plate. Unless you are from Missouri (or anywhere in the Midwest I imagine) and then it would be supper. But I would imagine you could also make a savory chicken burrito for breakfast.
You’ve got yer chicken soup and yer chicken pot pie and yer chicken casserole and yer chicken ala king. Actually I don’t even know what ala King means.
But these chickens are eating machines. We feed them twice a day and take up their food at night. The hatchery people told us to do that. I imagine because they would rather eat than sleep? Are they really that insane? I don’t know. I just know we follow directions and take the food up.
These cutie chicks (which I think have doubled in size in the last week) are now living in the chicken tractor. We tried to kick out the birds that were living there but as you can see in this picture the heritage birds told me to go jump in a lake and take my fuzzy friend with me because that chick starter is mighty good and they will do anything in their power to get in there and eat it while warming themselves under the heat lamp that was intended for the chicks as well. I replied "Well, ok…I mean, I guess." What else could I say? It’s not like I’m going to sleep in the barn and spend all night shooing these birds away from the tractor. Plus they are sneaky and fast. And there are quite a few of them. They would surely end up back in the tractor and there is nothing I can do about it so I just pretend it was all my idea to begin with.
"Welcome in you cute chickens. You are my favorite chickens and I am so glad to have found you here in the tractor knocking over baby peeps and eating all their food. That makes me so happy and brings joy to my heart." Then they cluck in response. We understand each other that way.
It was my idea to put the chicks in the tractor because they were outgrowing the brooder. Really they never did all fit well in the brooder. 50 is a big number. And when the those 50 double in size each day well, that becomes a bit overwhelming. I mentioned that they are eating machines, right?
It was NOT my idea to put flammable material in the tractor directly under the heat lamp. That was my ever charming and tender hearted children. Thankfully they tractor did not go up in a ball of fire taking the chicks and barn with it. That would have been a sad day indeed.
October 11th, 2008 at 5:31 am
hmmmm how did you do that?? get those big en’s not to peck the chicks to DEATH (litterally)!?!
October 11th, 2008 at 5:34 am
Cool… 50 broilers. We put 20 in the freezer this year. It was not nearly the awful experience that others tried to make me believe it was going to be.
I am happy for you guys!
Oh and also… we Georgians say supper too. ;) Unless it is Sunday and then you have Sunday dinner at lunch time. :D weird huh? :D
Love,
Chas
October 11th, 2008 at 7:13 am
We go to an Amish farm and they had about 100 broilers…They kept them in a 15 foot area that had plastic hanging from ceiling to floor to keep the “steam in” I remember watching them go as we got our milk each week…then they were gone. They honestly made sure they didn’t have much exercise. Anyway…thought I would share…and yes all they did was sit and eat!
October 11th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Good timing … you want to do your butchering in the chill of fall. :)
My mama is from West Virgina and my daddy was born and raised in Kansas. So that last meal of the day is dinner OR supper to me. I don’t understand dinner being lunch. How weird!
Anyway, I’m trying to talk my mama into raising broilers in the spring. I’m the main butcherer, and she gives me some. I’m pretty much out of chicken . . . :(
October 11th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Seems you’ll be doing this soon: http://cultivatinghome.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-butcher-chicken-easy-way.html
Ours took longer than the wks the hatchery said it would. Not sure why. We butchered the roosters a good month before the hens were ready to be butchered.
Nothing tastes better though…
October 12th, 2008 at 11:15 am
We just learned how to butcher chickens last week. I had tears in my eyes by the time we butchered the second chicken. When we got to the ninth we were all pros. I’m still not crazy about the process.
From now on I think I’ll let Ed and the kids do the butchering and I’ll cook them up. :)
October 12th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
OH great! You guys are really going for it….yep we are coveting again :)
Once you eat these, you will be a “chicken” snob. Even store bought turkey will taste like card board.
We butcher ours starting at 9 weeks up through 12. We have 50 now and they are 8 weeks.
These birds make more compost then those layers do…eeewww