Friend needs help...

[wolfinator]

Wow! 20 lbs is one humungous chicken!

I'm sorry you guys had a bad experience with meat birds. I had 17 egger chickens for a year before trying meat birds, and no joke, CX made 3x the poop, ate and drank 3x the food and water, etc. It was a boatload of work and I had done a lot of research and thought I knew what I was getting into. Still had some hiccups. Still was sad come processing day. But I love to eat chicken, so they can either have a great life with me and one bad day, or a short life in a commercial chicken grower facility. I think their lives with me will be so much better than anything a commercial grower will provide, so as long as I continue to eat chicken, I will probably continue to try and process my own birds.

Personally, I'm trying some different meat birds this year to see if I can find one that grows slightly slower than CX with almost as much meat. That would lead to a less stressful processing timeline, and lower poop loads.

Growing and processing meat birds is not for everyone. Some folks don't know this until they try it.

If you do change your mind in the future, perhaps investigate dual purpose birds or slow growing broilers. Even though CX is not a good fit for you, another breed of meat bird might be.

I can pretty much speak for both of us in saying we each won't be doing meat birds again. I didn't have as much as her tied up in mine or as long as she did but I still laid out about $500 but I was feeding a premium brand at $28/50# for non-medicated chick feed and $25/40# for meat bird feed.

 

[FunClucks]

I can pretty much speak for both of us in saying we each won't be doing meat birds again. I didn't have as much as her tied up in mine or as long as she did but I still laid out about $500 but I was feeding a premium brand at $28/50# for non-medicated chick feed and $25/40# for meat bird feed.

That's quite a bit, more in line with how I feed my eggers (I sell eggs to reimburse my feed costs). I bought CX chicks for 1.75 ea from Welp (January season start special, normally they're 2.15 for straight run), so it was ~$45 including shipping, and the food was $20-22/bag. Came out as right at or maybe $0.20 over the price per lb for whole chicken in the grocery store.

The chicks were super healthy and did well, and I expected some losses, so losing 4 wasn't unexpected (one was my fault).

Coming out upside down on your investment and having it be a boatload of hassle and hard work you didn't expect? That's for the birds.

 

[wolfinator]

That's quite a bit, more in line with how I feed my eggers (I sell eggs to reimburse my feed costs). I bought CX chicks for 1.75 ea from Welp (January season start special, normally they're 2.15 for straight run), so it was ~$45 including shipping, and the food was $20-22/bag. Came out as right at or maybe $0.20 over the price per lb for whole chicken in the grocery store.

The chicks were super healthy and did well, and I expected some losses, so losing 4 wasn't unexpected (one was my fault).

Coming out upside down on your investment and having it be a boatload of hassle and hard work you didn't expect? That's for the birds.

Well, my friend just called me a few hours ago, she had to dispose of all 13 broilers that she had processed Sunday. She is sooo POed, she could barely talk at first, just cried. It seems the people that came over to help her the other day, who said they knew how to properly process them, didn't. She's had them iced down in coolers until she knew who wanted them frozen first or not. She apparently had about half of them sold. Her one neighbor came over to help her package them and quickly discovered they weren't properly done. He showed her they all still had the neck attached with food on them, there were pieces of organs still attached and something else (can't remember what) plus where it had been 2 days even though packed in ice, he still couldn't trust that the meat didn't have salmonella developing and didn't want anyone to get sick so he suggested to just dispose of them for safety reasons. She said he went back to his place and came back with his backhoe to bury them deep. The neighbor told her if she wanted to, he would process the remaining 4 in exchange for a home cooked fried chicken dinner. At this point, she hasn't decided whether to try and sell them or let the neighbor process them, she said she's too upset to think about it. I asked her if she's going after the ones that "processed" them considering they cost her over $1000, she also bought food to feed everyone there including letting them take home all the leftovers. She said no, it's a hard lesson learned to never trust acquaintances of a friend who claims they know what they're doing without having someone (like her neighbor) to watch and make sure things were done right.

I asked her why she didn't get the neighbor to help to start with, she said he's about 80 years old and not in good health. I really feel so bad for her, she had me crying with her. I told her she should let the neighbor process the remaining ones (he sounds like he won't do her wrong) so it's not a total loss.

I'm telling her story so if someone else gets in her situation, maybe they'll read this thread and it might help them in making decisions.

 

[Paz]

Well, my friend just called me a few hours ago, she had to dispose of all 13 broilers that she had processed Sunday. She is sooo POed, she could barely talk at first, just cried. It seems the people that came over to help her the other day, who said they knew how to properly process them, didn't. She's had them iced down in coolers until she knew who wanted them frozen first or not. She apparently had about half of them sold. Her one neighbor came over to help her package them and quickly discovered they weren't properly done. He showed her they all still had the neck attached with food on them, there were pieces of organs still attached and something else (can't remember what) plus where it had been 2 days even though packed in ice, he still couldn't trust that the meat didn't have salmonella developing and didn't want anyone to get sick so he suggested to just dispose of them for safety reasons. She said he went back to his place and came back with his backhoe to bury them deep. The neighbor told her if she wanted to, he would process the remaining 4 in exchange for a home cooked fried chicken dinner. At this point, she hasn't decided whether to try and sell them or let the neighbor process them, she said she's too upset to think about it. I asked her if she's going after the ones that "processed" them considering they cost her over $1000, she also bought food to feed everyone there including letting them take home all the leftovers. She said no, it's a hard lesson learned to never trust acquaintances of a friend who claims they know what they're doing without having someone (like her neighbor) to watch and make sure things were done right.

I asked her why she didn't get the neighbor to help to start with, she said he's about 80 years old and not in good health. I really feel so bad for her, she had me crying with her. I told her she should let the neighbor process the remaining ones (he sounds like he won't do her wrong) so it's not a total loss.

I'm telling her story so if someone else gets in her situation, maybe they'll read this thread and it might help them in making decisions.

I keep all organs attached except for the colons. I think it’s a waste to throw liver and hearts away. I don’t grow broilers though, just dual purpose birds, so I guess I have less meat therefore I think it’s a waste,

 

[FunClucks]

Well, my friend just called me a few hours ago, she had to dispose of all 13 broilers that she had processed Sunday. She is sooo POed, she could barely talk at first, just cried. It seems the people that came over to help her the other day, who said they knew how to properly process them, didn't. She's had them iced down in coolers until she knew who wanted them frozen first or not. She apparently had about half of them sold. Her one neighbor came over to help her package them and quickly discovered they weren't properly done. He showed her they all still had the neck attached with food on them, there were pieces of organs still attached and something else (can't remember what) plus where it had been 2 days even though packed in ice, he still couldn't trust that the meat didn't have salmonella developing and didn't want anyone to get sick so he suggested to just dispose of them for safety reasons. She said he went back to his place and came back with his backhoe to bury them deep. The neighbor told her if she wanted to, he would process the remaining 4 in exchange for a home cooked fried chicken dinner. At this point, she hasn't decided whether to try and sell them or let the neighbor process them, she said she's too upset to think about it. I asked her if she's going after the ones that "processed" them considering they cost her over $1000, she also bought food to feed everyone there including letting them take home all the leftovers. She said no, it's a hard lesson learned to never trust acquaintances of a friend who claims they know what they're doing without having someone (like her neighbor) to watch and make sure things were done right.

I asked her why she didn't get the neighbor to help to start with, she said he's about 80 years old and not in good health. I really feel so bad for her, she had me crying with her. I told her she should let the neighbor process the remaining ones (he sounds like he won't do her wrong) so it's not a total loss.

I'm telling her story so if someone else gets in her situation, maybe they'll read this thread and it might help them in making decisions.

I'm so sorry that happened to your friend. What a miserable experience.

If I were her, I'd let the neighbor process the last 4, and maybe watch as he does it so she can learn.

Sending her supportive thoughts.

 

[wolfinator]

Update on the surviving broilers: the 4th had passed a few days after I was given them. The remaining 3 are doing pretty good, I'm working on reducing their weight. They share the pen with 21 ducks. When the ducks free range, I often take them out there too. They get their own shade umbrella and a waterer, they love pecking for bugs in the grass. They generally make their own way back to their coop come evening time. For safety, they're separate from the other chickens, especially the rooster but they have 2 older hens with them for company.
At least one is now laying. I thought (as well as many others) it was a rooster but to my surprise a few days ago, SHE laid an egg in front of me but it cracked because she missed the straw,, hitting the bare wooden floor. At least I found out she is one of those laying for the last 2 weeks, I'm getting 2 different shaped eggs on alternating days but every day.

They're waiting for me to feed them. I suspected I had 2 hens and a rooster.

Keeping cooler while free ranging.

Former coop mates, brown hen decided to rejoin rest of hens once broilers were settled in some.

This one fooled everyone thinking it was a rooster with the large comb and wattles... She's the biggest, no health issues so far. She often follows me around.

But... She's been laying for 2 weeks now. I suspected she was and finally saw her plop one out. I was told they lay 100-150 eggs a year but she's already laid 10 to date, 1 every day so far (1st found on 7/5).

 

[wolfinator]

I'm so sorry that happened to your friend. What a miserable experience.

If I were her, I'd let the neighbor process the last 4, and maybe watch as he does it so she can learn.

Sending her supportive thoughts.

I have them now, lost 1 a few days after receiving them due to congestive heart failure. See my other post for their update.