What Questions should I ask when buying chickens?

[goplayallie]

I was hoping to compile a short list of questions that I should ask the local farmer or breeder, about ordering meat birds. Should I start with where to process the bird? Things to look for in a breeder, or quality?

Fred help?

[Kittikity]

Does it cross the road?

(sorry, I couldn't resist) I know, I'm no help at all..

[gardengirl72]

I would say if it is your first time raising chickens at all you probably shouldn't get a traditional meat bird like a Cornish X or something. They will turn you off chickens right away. They are not "fun" at all. So I would get a dual purpose bird that still has it's "heirloom" instincts- maybe Rhode Island or New Hampshire Red. They will do well in tractors and free range.

If you have raised birds before than for meat, nothing beats the Cornish X. It was what we are used to from the factory farms.

If you have a local hatchery or breeder work with the one that is most local. If not I get my birds from Murray McMurrary hatchery with nothing but great results.

Very funny Kitty!

[Fred's Fine Fowl]

Patti has some very good points...

I need more info regarding your end purpose with the chickens and on what scale you plan to rear/slaughter them?

Ok, so I'll assume that you want these chickens purely for the fridge and want to cut back on your expenses...

When scoping out a breed, as Patti mentioned the Cornish Crosses are going to be what's offered., but some questions to ask are:

When do the birds reach market weight? (normally 5-6 weeks)

What is this breed's normal weight at 6 weeks?

What is their feed to flesh conversion rate? lbs feed/lbs flesh ($$$$$)

What is the recommended feed (meat maker?)

What is the normal cost to get a bird to market weight?

What's the minimum purchase quantity?

Are you dressing them yourself, or will you be using a service? The service will pick up, or do you need to deliver them? Do you have a vehicle that can get messy? Do you have cages to transport the birds in? Do you have others going in with you who will share in the costs and provide freezer space when the birds are ready?

5-6 weeks arrives in a blink! If you got all excited and purchased say two hundred chicks, in six weeks, you'll be hauling (potentially) ONE THOUSAND pounds of feathery friends to market.

Have your facilities (brooder and growout shelter) all ready before the chicks arrive.... including heat, water and feed.

Have your date for slaughter (if you are having someone else do it) pre-arranged before you get your chicks.

Plan for the dressed out chickens, as in freezer/fridge space.

Minimum mail order will generally be 25 chicks... some hatcheries offer specials. Patti is also correct in that you should seek out local hatcheries... your Dept. of Ag. will have a complete list of those which are registered. They can also tell you if that hatchery has ever had disease or sanitation problems in the past.

Last, check with customers who purchased the same chicks you are considering, from the same hatchery... ask them if the feed conversion estimates were accurate and if there were any problems with the stock.. such as mortality rates being high.

Also.. this is NOT the chicken experience, this is the growing and harvesting of food.

If you would like to provide more information as to your short and long term plans with chickens, we can certainly help get you going in the correct direction and fill in the blanks for you.

Sorry I was late in responding... very busy time of year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day!

Fred

[gardengirl72]

Fred well said! This is not the chicken experience Cornish X is the raising of food and a lot of food, very quickly. I raised 50 at once at it was a nightmare, I never do more than 10 per "clutch", starting a new batch every week for 5-6 weeks. My feed store allows us to pre order exact numbers.

But the time I did fifty, just transporting them was a dissaster. I finally figured out how to get it into scale with my lifestyle.

[JudyH]

Just wondering..... first of all, I know that I couldn't dress a chicken out. There's just no way LOL But when you make an appointment with someone to dress out your chickens, how do they usually price their services? Is it $/lb processed, $/bird, etc.... Also, is there usually a minimum number they want to process per order?

Thanks!
Judy

[gardengirl72]

Well Judy, my guy charges per bird. Around $3.00 for my Oven birds. It is probably cheaper down there in the south. Nice to see you here by the way, wait till you see these vids I shot with Mel. Super cool. Basically it is Mel talking and me nodding my head. Garden Talk.

[goplayallie]

I am so thankful to Fred and Patti... great question to start off my education in raising meat birds.

I was going to start off small with about 10-12 birds. I will have to be discreet in my neighborhood. That is why I wanted to start off with meat birds to have a shorter grow period. I will have to see if that will be enough for processing/ dressing at a plant?

I hope this helped others too!

P.S - No worries Fred about the timeline of the post. I love that I can come drop in at anytime... I am often out playing and having fun all day and can do work and research at night.

go out and play,
allie
http://clarksplayground.com/index.php/category/podcast/

[JudyH]

Well Judy, my guy charges per bird. Around $3.00 for my Oven birds. It is probably cheaper down there in the south. Nice to see you here by the way, wait till you see these vids I shot with Mel. Super cool. Basically it is Mel talking and me nodding my head. Garden Talk.

I'm going to have to check out some processing places around here where I live... what I'm thinking about doing is getting 6 or 7 chicks that will be my laying hens and then fill the rest of the order (24 minimum) with meat birds that will finish out in about 6 weeks. I'm going to be posting to this forum alot! LOL

I read about you filming with Mel! I cannot wait to see the videos. I bet you had a blast :-) How awesome it would be to just get to met the man :D And you got to spend time with him, talk with him and film with him.... that's just too cool!