Hi,
This morning, we processed 8 of our 24 broiler chickens. They were 44 days old.
We started with 25 day old chicks.
I've attached the before and after shots for your interest.
Gary
Hi,
This morning, we processed 8 of our 24 broiler chickens. They were 44 days old.
We started with 25 day old chicks.
I've attached the before and after shots for your interest.
Gary
Gary D,
I can't believe how quickly those chickens have grown. Is that the 25 day figure added to the 44 days = 69 days old chickens ?
That is fantastic. What do you feed them on, and what do you estimate the costs to be per chicken?
How heavy is that dressed chicken in the photo ?
Are they hard to look after ?
Sorry , I have so many questions. I had no idea that this could be done in such a time frame with such apparently great results.
Jimmie.
Hi Jimmie,
Perhaps I should have been a little clearer with my post.
The chickens that we processed yesterday were 44 days old....in total.
We had originally bought 25 of them at one day old - we lost one at about 14 days.
The 8 chickens that we processed yielded a total of 11kg.....with a top end weight of 1.7kg and a low end weight of 1.7kg.....for an average of $1.37kg.
We'll probably process another eight of the birds in a couple of weeks and the final eight a week or two after that.
We start the chickens on a proprietary broiler starter diet and, at three weeks we change them to a broiler finisher ration. From this point on, we also feed them cracked corn.
Based on our last batch, they work at to about $4.00kg dressed weight. While this is about the same price as you'd pay for ordinary chicken in the supermarket, you have to remember that these are free range, corn-fed chickens......a premium product.
In future, we plan to experiment with home-made rations.....to reduce the cost and so that we can take total control of their diet.
Gary
Hi Gary,
Congrats on your batch of chickens. You will find that chickens brought up on your own mix of food will not grow as quickly as those on bought rations, but will taste a lot better. We have found over the years that chickens grown on commercial rations grow incredibly quickly but don't have good muscle tone and have a sickly white fat layer. Our chickens, hatched by ourselves and grown on our own rations take longer to grow but taste better, don't have black bones and are a lovely golden colour including the fat. If you are interested in organic food for your chickens or yourself, get in touch with Kialla foods, they are at Greenmount near Toowoomba and have a range of grains and flours.
We have grown our own (free range) meat and most of our veges for years and my children would rather eat home cooked meals than take aways. I haven't bought chicken or pork for years and loathe eating either when eating out. I reckon I can taste the chemicals they have been grown on. I don't think I'm a nut but like good food, and believe most of the health problems today are caused by eating "bad" food. Food that is grown far removed from the way nature intended. Oh dear, starting to preach to the converted, sorry about that.
Good luck with your chickens, Ann.
Keep on prechin sister !!!
I have not raised my own meat chickens but am very interested now that I have seen what Gary has done. I will have to build a decent chook house first. I tried 4 x laying hens a few months ago but my dogs got them...love my dogs, but the mungrel things got the chooks. I can't tell you how mad I was.....
Anyway, I must duck over to Gary's place and take a look at his chooks.
How about some pix of your chooks etc annefish ?
The supplier you speak of "Kialla foods" do they have pre mixed chook food, or do you buy the various ingredients and mix your own ?
Muzza.
Hi Ann,
Like you, we've been rearing meat chickens for some time.
This batch (and a couple of others that preceded it) are part of a data-gathering exercise that will contribute to a long-term writing project that I have underway.
I'd like to follow up that organic grain supplier in Toowoomba. Do you have any contact details?
Gary
Can you clarify those fiugures please GaryOriginally Posted by GaryD
Hi Gary,
Kialla is at www.kiallafoods.com, they have a good range of grains and flours as well as poultry foods. Will send photos when I replace my camera. It died during one of our adventures. I will relate the story, as I think many of you will appreciate it.
We had a pen of chooks to be dispatched but between my husband working nights and me working days, they were getting on a bit. So one morning I cracked a wobbly and nicely asked my husbandto do the deed and I would finish the rest with the kids. All was going nicely, 3 chooks were in the freezer, when my mother rang to say a cow was in the dam. So off I went asking the kids to keep cleaning while I went to see how bad she was.
It was my favourite cow up to her belly in mud at the edge of the dam. I dug and pushed for a while then ran the kids to come and help. I told them to put the chooks in the fridge or freezer wherever they whould fit and I would finish them later. Much digging and pushing later I decided to ring friends of ours who have a towing business to bring their tilt tray truck and try to get her out with it.
While waiiting I thought I'd get some of the chooks done. My darling children had put 8 chooks into the freezer in assorted states of undress mostly fully feathered and with legs still attached. The sky turned blue with me praising my darling children. I thougt how to get feathers off partly frozen chickens - in the end I skinned them (not to gently) and processed them all in record time. We had crumbed chicken for dinner.
We did get the cow out but haad to lift her for two weeks before she could get up by herself. Happily she is now fully recovered. Welcome to my world, you never know what is going to happen. Ann.
Hi Damien
The low end weight should have read 1.2kg. When the individual weights were totalled, the average weight was 1.37kg. Sorry 'bout the typo.The 8 chickens that we processed yielded a total of 11kg.....with a top end weight of 1.7kg and a low end weight of 1.7kg.....for an average of $1.37kg.
Ann......thanks for the Kialla Foods link. I've emailed them to determine if they have a Brisbane distributor for their poultry feeds.....otherwise it looks like we'll be doing a run to Toowoomba in the not-too-distant future.
Gary
Hi,
For those who are interested:
We buy the meat bird chicks as day olds. They are housed in the Quail Palace.....a two tier pen which we built to house our Quail breeders until they are four week old. We then move them into an outside pen where they have access to a large run during the day......and, at night, they are housed in a tiny hut.
For the first three weeks, they have to be provided with supplementary heat. We use these spun aluminium brooders fitted with a UV heater lamp.
Gary
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