Last year we tried our luck at doing meat birds. Things didn’t go so well. We’re at it for take two. If things go well, we’ll be raising 24 birds for ourselves over the course of the season, along with birds of a few friends and family.
We’re currently attempting to find a butcher to use. Once we get the numbers for the cost of butchering, we’ll be able to figure out roughly the cost per bird. This will be a flat rate cost, not per pound. We’re hoping to have final details – including if this is definitely a go or not – and a limit to how many birds out homestead can take by the middle of March.
We can’t call these birds “organic” as the feed we’re using isn’t technically organic. But they will be FREE RANGE, NO HORMONES, HUMANELY treated animals.
Right now it looks like we’ll be going with Murray McMurray for our chicks as they have a great heavy birds assortment that includes Black Australorps; Lt. Brahmas; Dark Cornish; Black and White Giants; Buff and White Orpingtons; New Hampshire, Rhode Island Reds, Barred, White, Partridge, Buff Rocks; Sussex, Turkens; White, Silver Laced, & Columbian Wyandottes, Red Star and Black Stars. We could go with the Cornish X mixes, but the idea of raising an overly breed hybrid doesn’t really strike me as necessary.
If all goes well, we’ll be up to our ears in roasters for the winter!
