Broiler Chickens

[FeyWind]

Processed 3 chickens on Wednesday at 9 weeks old. I'd forgotten what a smelly messy business it was - am resolving to try to make a chicken plucker out of an old electric mower motor and a blue barrel - surely I can work that out. The weights were 1.75, 1.75 and 1.8kg. A little disappointing considering the amount of food put into them (20kg bag + 1/2 a 30kg bag between 6 chickens = 6.8kg per bird) If I had a 2:1 feed to weight ratio, this should be 3.4kg birds. Now to work out what to do with livers and kidneys.

[FeyWind]

Processed 3 chickens on Wednesday at 9 weeks old. I'd forgotten what a smelly messy business it was - am resolving to try to make a chicken plucker out of an old electric mower motor and a blue barrel - surely I can work that out. The weights were 1.75, 1.75 and 1.8kg. A little disappointing considering the amount of food put into them (20kg bag + 1/2 a 30kg bag between 6 chickens = 6.8kg per bird) If I had a 2:1 feed to weight ratio, this should be 3.4kg birds. Now to work out what to do with livers and kidneys.

Whoops - 5.8kg per bird = 2.9kg birds if feed to meat ratio is 2:1 and 1.93kg at a 3:1 ratio.

[GaryD]

Hi Feywind,

You will struggle to achieve a feed conversion ratio of 2:1. That's what a commercial shed might expect but they have absolute control over the conditions in their sheds and they can access feed formulations that you can't......and they will engage in some other husbandry practices that you wouldn't even want to know about.

You, however, will produce healthier birds (both the birds and for you) and a little over 3:1 is still a good outcome.

Did you scald your chickens prior to removing the feathers? If so, was it easy? Precise scald temperatures are fairly critical.

While you will have resolved the question by now, we cook the hearts and livers in a little butter and serve them on toast. If we have plenty of them, Jan makes a mean pate. At the very least, they can be chopped up and incorporated in the stuffing for roast chicken.

Gary

[FeyWind]

Do you have the recipe for that pate?.... pate at christmas sounds good. I scalded the chickens, but for too long, the skin came away and ripped with the feathers. I returned the pot to the kitchen to reboil with each chicken so that it would be hot enough.

[GaryD]

Hi,

We have the water at 65 degrees C (148 degrees F) and dip the bird into the water.....agitating it to make sure that the hot water gets under the wings and every else. When the flight feathers (the ones right at the tip if the wings) come away easily, the scald is complete.

We use a 20 litre stainless steel bucket (a cheap one) and replace it (directly out of the hot water tap) once we've done each two or three birds. This ensures that the water is hot enough (it's the right temperature as it comes out of the tap) and so that we are working with clean water.......in the interests of clean meat.

I'll get Jan to give you the chicken liver pate recipe.

Gary

[FeyWind]

Dispatched the last three chooks today - cut up into wings, drumsticks, thighs and breast. Carcasses put aside for stock. The weights were 1.4 (chook crippled early on in life), 1.95 and 2.0kg. Feed in this time was about 12kg. 4kg per chook. For a 100-200g difference, the time and money (about $1 per kg feed) seems excessive - I understand why the factories do them so early. I think next time 9 weeks may be the go for slaughter date. How do you keep them growing so well Gary?

[Bear]

Hi Feywind

Gary is really busy on a special project at the moment, he should be just about finished by the end of next week hopefully.

We had kept our meat birds in their pen throughout their growing life in the past. We then started to do what my Grandmother used to do on the farm.

We opened the gate on the last 3 or 4 batches and let them go out in the back of our block to free range, it doesn`t matter how long it takes them to grow when you do this, they eat a lot less commercial food and lots more grass and bugs.

They build up muscle, and for some reason get over the walk and flop down stage very quickly. They actually run around.

We have very good animal husbandry practices, clean drinkers and plenty of clean water every day. Clean straw for bedding. The feeders are always full. Scratch grain fed every morning and soaked grain and pollard with vegetable scraps every night.

Of course once they get to the point where they weigh around 5kg live weight we have to process them.These chickens are not bred to have long lives and do eventually get too heavy for their legs to carry. Not to mention the cockerels start to crow, which is not condusive to good neighbourly relations. We have 3/4 acre but are still in the middle of the burbs.

The meat is totally different in texture, no more white soft meat, but more like game in colour.

Unfortunately the big broiler sheds pack so many chickens into a given space that the birds have no choice but to stand in the one spot and eat and drink all day every day, seems the market prefers size 10 or 12 chooks so they have to get them to that stage asap.Hence the crowding.

We are currently growing out Plymouth Rock cockerels to use for meat. They just live with the layers and get to roam at will every day.

I have resisted the urge to read stories to the chooks, I get into enough trouble for talking to them .

Jan