vituperation

Why did they cuff him? Was he drunk?? and Outstanding warrant for your the dude??

I have no idea.

I processed the four Cornish X chicks yesterday. Yes, chicks — they were 45 days old. They produced so much shit that the coop reeked of ammonia, and I felt so bad for them watching them stumble around with feces caked on their featherless rears that I decided to put them out of my misery.

They ended up weighing between 2 pounds 15 ounces and 3 pounds 6 ounces. Not heavy by grocery store standards, but still heavier than almost every other chicken I’ve processed. Had I been feeding them broiler rations, which has a higher protein level than starter/grower rations, they would’ve weighed more.

I think the thing that bothers me most about it is that because of the weather, the chicks only got to go outside a couple of times. Two of them left the coop of their own accord yesterday and were hanging out in the yard with the rest of the chicks when their time came. They were acting like normal chicks, running around and establishing their pecking order. The difference was, when they tried to stop running they fell over, or if they bumped another chick they bowled it over.

Watching the Cornish X chicks run was especially saddening, because they couldn’t control their legs too well due to their immense (relative) size.

However, after I processed the chicks, I have to admit being somewhat torn. They produced a huge amount of meat for such a short time living. Even better, they were completely fat free. Every other chicken I’ve processed has a HUGE fat pad in its gut, a half-pound or more. The Cornish X chicks were just solid little meat bombs.

Further their crops were tiny compared to the other chickens, and much easier to remove. With the exception of the plucking, they were easier to clean than the older chickens. The plucking issue is probably my fault anyway; I left the water on the stove too long and it got too hot. When adding cooler water to lower the temperature, I’m pretty sure I added too much. Colder water doesn’t allow the feathers to release as well.

Finally, it was kind of nice to take an hour and do enough chicken that I don’t need to worry about killing any more for a month or two. I know I could do the same with the big ones, but not nearly as quickly.

So yeah, a little torn. I don’t think I’m torn enough to start raising them, but I better understand why people do.

Most hatcheries offer some slower-growing red broilers, which still get big but take a lot longer to get there. We’re planning to order some with our next batch of chicks in the spring.

On a lighter note, it’s looking like we’ve solved our hawk problem pretty handily. More on that (probably) next week.

The partridge rock chick is turning out to be quite the looker.

You has scratch for us?

The black silkie is purty.

It pains me to watch poor Charlie hobble on those feet, but she seems happy enough.