On Wednesday we took our meat chickens to the local processor. I was thankful we weren’t rained on the entire time, but they were fairly soaked when we got there. No harm done- it’s summer!

Here is a brief update so that perhaps it will help you if you are on the fence about raising your own chicken!

We ended up with 48 meat birds. We never get a correct count until we are transferring them into the crates at the processor. They are so hard to keep track of when they’re moving. We thought we had 47- surprise! We had 48. This year, as mentioned in a previous post, I decided to get a portion of our birds cut up and on trays. This is more expensive than birds packaged whole and the minimum at which you can do this is 15, but the overall price change wasn’t significant. We ended up with 18 this way.

Weights:

• largest chicken=6.61 lb
• smallest chicken=4.64 lb
• average weight=5.46 lb

We were very pleased with the weights we received from the Cornish Cross this year. You may remember that last year we raised a Broiler from Murray McMurray Hatchery. They were good birds and both breeds have pros and cons. But, we decided to try the Cornish Cross again this go-round.

Birds: Going through our local mill, we ordered 50 Cornish Cross meat birds at $2.96 each. You can definitely find some prices more or less expensive. After having many birds die due to a list of causes, including predators, it isn’t cheap to lose a large percentage. However, you also do not want to go with the cheapest bird because it is the cheapest. Reputable sellers will always be the way to go. Online prices can change due to: sex, date ordered, company, etc.

Feed: Over the weeks we had these approximately 50 birds, they ate 15 fifty lb bags of grain, starting with chick starter and moving to meat bird crumbles.

Bedding: we only used 3 bags of pine shaving bedding this year because we had some straw in the barn to use. Since these birds were not in a tractor, we had to clean the coop at least once per week- gross! That is definitely a large benefit to using a moving shelter.

Totals: After totaling our feed, purchase of birds, bedding, and processing fees, the cost was $2.86/lb for 2024. I was happy with this number! Disclosure: we did have to opt for 5 bags of GMO feed in a pinch, which I am sad about. But, in the end, it was not a large portion of what they ate over the 9 1/2 weeks. However, if I were to purchase conventionally processed chicken, I might not be able to get as good a price much less pasture raised, nonGMO! Our freezer now holds about 262 lb of chicken for the year.

Excuse my stained thumb- we’ve been cherry picking and processing this week! I have the feet packaged so we can use them for bone broth! Don’t tell Sweet Husband…

It truly is a blessing to be able to know what we are eating. I am thankful we can raise a happy, healthy flock that grazes and finds bugs and grass along with a high protein feed diet. These birds grow and gain weight fast- one of the pros if they are taken care of properly!

Thanks for checking back with us and seeing how we faired with our chicken for the next year! It was a long day of running errands, visiting a friend, and waiting on our birds to be processed and ready for the freezer, but I am very glad we did it and that this chapter is closed for another year.

Menu: tonight-chicken and rice tomorrow-chicken salad