When my second son was a baby, we had meat chickens. It was a spur of the moment decision (which we rarely do) in order to help someone have a minimum for butchering (thankfully our processor no longer requires a minimum number of birds). That first experience was so bad, I vowed never to do it again!

But, time can change things and, with the world in the state that it is in, I wanted to be more certain of what I was feeding our family. Raising our own chickens meant knowing exactly what they ate and how they were treated. So, 3 years ago now I asked my Sweet Husband if he thought it would be ok and he said I could go forward with it… trying again!

Yet again, not the best experience, though better! I got our chicks later in the year and so they did not grow as fast as they should have. It got cold and into mid-October before our butchering date. The majority of the birds ended up very small. However, I have since learned that many rotisserie chickens or those I have seen for sale at the meat market are around 3 pounds.

Last year, I decided to try a roaster bird versus a Cornish Cross. These roasters are definitely meat birds, but they have different benefits: they are more likely to eat pastured area than the Cornish Cross; they don’t grow as quickly and run the risk of broken legs; and they can continue to live on as hens (laying eggs etc). Down sides: they take longer to grow, meaning more feed; and they cost more up front. NOTE: Cornish Cross birds are bred for rapid weight gain and butchering times. They cannot be kept on as pets or layers. They are not genetically modified as some have suspected. But, you cannot reproduce them on a small scale and so they must be purchased from a hatchery.

We ended up with some large roosters! Our largest was right at 5 1/2 pounds dressed weight- I was thrilled! Some of the hens weren’t as large, the smallest being around 3 1/4 pounds. All in all after seeking to keep records, I was around the $3.50/lb mark last year. Considering store prices for cage free, non-GMO birds, I was well below! But, I wasn’t convinced that Cornish Cross weren’t just as good in the taste department and still less expensive to grow.

So! Here we are in year 3, raising Cornish Cross again. We ordered 50 birds this go round. The hatchery sent 51, I’m sure a normal percent increase due to mortality in transit. However, we did not lose any during the shipping process. These birds seem very healthy and growing happily. We have lost two birds so far, which is not abnormal. Our birds have plenty of room to roam and so those two deaths were not caused by pecking order etc. Most likely weak early on.

We purchase our feed locally from an Amish mill where it is ground. It is not organic, but it is non-GMO. The chicks we also purchased through the mill, though they had them shipped in. I continue to keep records of our purchases so that I can figure a grand total at the end of processing. I will update you on that!

Our meat birds are started in a brooder with bedding, feed, water, and heat lamps. At between 3-4 weeks, they get their feathers and can go outside. Spring can still be quite chilly here in central IL! Last year, my sons and I built our own chicken tractor. If you aren’t familiar with a chicken tractor, it is a small moveable shelter to raise your birds in that utilizes grazing and fresh grass, being moved 1-2 times daily. We used it and it worked fine, but my Sweet Husband said he could help with some improvements, now that we have given it a trial run and know its weaknesses. We won’t need it this spring because our coop was sitting vacant and chicken-less. It is the first year since our marriage that we have had zero chickens! Because of that, we could stagger raising our meat birds first and then our layers so the tractor wouldn’t be necessary this season.

We plan to get our laying hen chicks toward the end of April and have them in brooder totes (large Rubbermaid totes with chicken wire on top) until they are around 6 weeks old. We hope to get between 15-20 for the amount of space we have. By the time they are ready to go into the coop at 6 weeks, the meat birds will go to the butcher. We can clean out the coop and prepare it for the layers.

Having our own chickens is such a pleasure for me! I love the fresh eggs, I love the homegrown meat, and I love the personalities of the birds themselves. Chickens are not very demanding. Though, it does take some set up and up-keep, they are overall hardy birds if you get the breeds that are accustomed to your zone and climate. We tend to get cold hardy breeds because our winters can be cold. But, I know we are the mid-west and those up north have much colder temps on average. Confession: being from the south, Illinois is definitely the north to me.

There are, of course, predators around us! Last year, our entire flock was eventually wiped out due to skunks. Who knew? We’ve also had hawks, stray cats, and racoons kill them. We always keep rope zigzagged across the top of the fencing to deter hawks and it has worked a large percent of the time. This year, we plan to zip tie some barbed wire along the fencing, near the top, to keep climbing predators out. My Sweet Husband also purchased a motion activated siren that goes off when something (or someone!) is too close. It can get annoying when it gets dark early and we go out to check on the chickens. Ha! The chicken tractor worked for keeping predators at bay once we got chicken wire small enough along the bottom. Early on last year, we lost several to a raccoon family. Even cayenne pepper spray along the ground didn’t deter them. NOTE: the brick-o-blocks on the corners are an anchor due to these prairie winds we get.

With Cornish Cross chickens, you can raise them between 8-12 weeks from chick to butcher. That is not a very long time considering it is a meat source. Hens take longer to get to butcher weight and are smaller. I have read that these birds can be between 4.5-6.5 pounds dressed weight. We definitely feed ours broiler feed after the first 2 weeks or so. It is what we are raising them for and we want them a good size. But, we also have them on grass and give them veggie scraps to encourage a well rounded diet. Bugs will be out soon, chicks! Eat them up!

Eventually, it is my goal to know how to butcher my own birds. However, with a processor so close, it makes sense at present to take them there. My brother and I are both raising meat chickens this year and I hope to help him when it comes butchering time for his birds! He is raising Buff Orpingtons, a dual purpose breed. The dual purpose breeds do take longer to get to full size (approximately 4 months), but you can raise your own, incubate them, and keep a cycle of birds going and growing! He and his wife welcomed 13 chicks via incubator last night. So exciting!

Each processor (home or business) will have different options for packaging the chickens. It is least expensive at our processor to have them packaged whole with necks and organs inside. I always have mine packaged this way, but I do plan to have some cut up this year and test that option out.

Most often, I thaw and cook an entire chicken in the crock pot. It’s always moist and tender! However, I do hope to try my hand at cutting up whole chickens and cooking pieces specifically. Learning something all the time!

I hope to keep updating with blog posts as we progress with our meat birds. Stay tuned!

What questions do you have? Any tips for me from your experience? There are always many ways to do things, but when I hear things from others about their favorite methods, I can take those to heart and seek to further my own knowledge.