This year we bought 20 Cornish Cross chickens. They are big, fat, heavy birds that are raised for their big, fat, heaviness. Currently, we have 18 birds, two chicks died within the first couple days we had them and I was worried that this experiment would be a huge failure. I say experiment because this is the first time we’ve raised birds with the sole intention of butchering them. We thought we’d give it a try and if we failed then we could chalk it up to one less thing we will do in the future at Coal Creek Farm.
I’ve never experienced chickens like these. I’m not sure I would recommend them. They never stop eating, but it only takes ten weeks to get them to this size, the size to eat them. I’m not sure how I feel about how they have been bred to eat and eat and eat and eat, it just seems a little….um, not right. I can appreciate the efficiency and I’m sure if I were in the meat bird bidnezz, then I would love these birds for their rapid growth rate.
The other thing I don’t particularly care for is how much they poop. I mean they are eating all the time, so of course, they are pooping ALL THE TIME! Their pen is a mess the minute after I clean it.
I took all the above photos a couple weeks ago when I had originally scheduled to butcher them, but the weather was bad and then the kids had sports and we couldn’t set enough time aside to get it done.
Today we butchered 18 birds. One of the birds was not doing well so we killed her, but did not process her to eat. Which brings me to another reason I don’t care for these birds. If you don’t get around to butchering them on time they start to get too big and then they have heart problems and leg problems. Luckily we just had the one hen start to fail.
I’m not convinced that we will work with these birds again, but oh my, you should see all the beautiful meat I have now. We’ll be grilling chicken tonight, if it tastes as good as it looks, then all the problems these birds bring might be overlooked next year.
Stay tuned, if I have any energy left I’ll post some pictures from today’s festivities. Who’s scared of blood and guts? Don’t worry, I’ll put a big disclaimer at the top of the post to warn you. Okay?
Need a Chicken Doctor?
Contact 
My 70 “Fatboys” chicks arrived yesterday morning. I’ve already had to change the papers in their tubs twice because of all the poop.
Eat, drink, poop…..eat, drink, poop….yep, that’s pretty much their life. But they are sweet birds while they are around…as long as you can stand the poop smell and be sure to bring food!
What I really want to know is if they run around once their heads are chopped off.
Do share all the gory details. Maybe people will eat less chicken and more beef……..
Dave and I were just talking about this yesterday. We are raising 11 hens for eggs right now, and we were discussing whether or not we felt like we could do this very thing. I am not sure how I feel about them lol I would LOVE to see the pictures though because we don’t know how to butcher and process. I can’t believe you did all 18 at once!
Lisa
I love that you view it all as an experiment. That’s the same attitude we try to take about all of our “farming” endeavors. Each time we add to our menagerie I fear failure but, so far so good! We’re going to try turkeys this year, talk about eating a lot, man alive!
i didn’t know that you were raising the cornish X too. we are raising 100 this year, in 2 batches of 50. and you’re right- they sure are different than the “regular” chickens. they litterally just sit around and eat. (and poop) no wonder they get so fat… but there is nothing so good as fresh farm chicken! our 50 chickens only have 5 more weeks to go, then it’s butchering day for us, too. hope your grilled chicken was delicoiuls!
They are bred to eat like that?! Wow. That is a little weird. They basically eat until they get too fat and die. Nice.
That first photo is kind of freaky. That last photo is awesome!
I love that you’re raising your own chickens to eat though. Very organic. Enjoy your chicken dinner!!
I always love to eat the chicken the night we butcher because freshly butchered chicken is out of this world for tenderness and moistness. My kids always complain about eating it the same day though. They don’t have an appetite for it after all that stinky plucking and gutting.
It’s gets easier the more years you do it and you get used to the freakiness of the breed and the great amount of meat you get!
This year we’re going to try ours in a chicken tractor to see if it’s better and there’ll be a lot less poop to clean that way too!
There are heirlooms breeds that are good meat birds if you decide against the franken-birds. Some people swear that heirlooms just taste better. Check it out here, if you are so inclined: http://www.albc-usa.org/
We did 175 cornish last year and butchered all of them ourselves over a 2 week time – WHEW what a job! We split them all up between family and I ended up just keeping 30 for us… We are only ordering 60 this year ,,, that should be a breeze right?
Please do share pictures our Cornish Rocks come June 8th!! Our first try. We have chickens we raise for eggs but the first for their meat!!
Thanks!! Super Bog!!
I don’t know….that just doesn’t sound right. Like eating things that are not “natural”. Genetically weird.
We used to butcher chickens when I was a kid. I love chicken now, but was not so crazy to eat what we raised and butchered and smelled the pin feather’s and the wet feathers and the innards…..blech.
Enjoyed reading your chicken raising adventure. Please share pictures of the finished product and let us know how they taste. I’m a city girl that grew up in the country. I remember my grandmother ringing and dipping and cleaning. Love your blog.
Oh,Honey I’ve got to hand it to you to want to grill chicken after butchering! We want to raise chickens for meat again but it’s been years since we raised a flock of layers and meat birds…..our eldest was 5 yrs. old at the time and she learned to eviserate helping her daddy and loving every minute of it. We butchered 50 Indian Rivers…..who were so fat they waddled like an over due pregnant lady. But I tell you there was no way, absolutely no way I would have grilled any chicken that day nor the next. After all the freezing some and canning a lot of chicken meat……I could not even succomb to eating chicken for at least 2 months. The SMELL can really get to you. So 3 Cheers for grilling!
April! Yes, PUHLEEZ, a disclaimer would really be appreciated!! hahahahah
Good you, though, you guys are on a ROLL at Coal Creek Farm!
I’m a city girl that dreams of country life. Is raising your own chickens cheaper than buying chicken at the grocery store?
I’m not scared. Just two years ago I helped my friend butcher her “meat birds”. They might have been the same kind, they started to grow OUT of their skin at a certain age, and it really was a mercy killing. My friend was good at cleaning them, her dad was good at catching them, and I had fun (yeah, i’m a little kookoo) butchering them. I have hens now, for eggs and can not imagine butchering them. They’re my sweeties!
Back to the butchering day, I remember my kids did NOT want their good night kiss, they said I smelled bad. Did you have any of that dead chicken smell stuck to you today?
Paige
I have the same question as Paula, did this end of being any cheaper then buying them at the store? I know it may not be the reason for raising them yourself but I’m just curious. And please post the pictures. If it’s anything like the bee adventures it should be informative AND entertaining! Which reminds me. How are the bees doing?
We do this too! It is disconcerting that these birds just eat and poop and they have to be butchered before they get too fat, but boy oh boy, are they tasty! The first year we raised chickens this way, we butchered them ourselves -well, my husband and brother did. I was conveniently pregnant and used it as an excuse as to why I couldn’t help. Last year, we had a local turkey farmer butcher and dress the birds for $2 a bird. It was worth it to us to pay to have them done. I can’t say enough about having your own farm raised meat in your freezer, waiting to cook at any time. To answer one of the questions posed about the cost of this meat – it isn’t as cheap as you can get at grocery stores from commercial companies, but the meat is so much better and your local farmer can tell you exactly what the bird has been eating. We are lucky in that we have a local feed mill to mix all of our feed for us so that helps us keep feeding costs down. Here in PA, farm raised “freezer” chickens can sell anywhere from $6 – $25 a bird, depending on the size, breed (heirloom birds sell for more), etc. It is definitely worth exploring because the meat can’t be beat. I have a great feta-lemon chicken recipe that is fabulous with these birds – especially on the grill. My mouth waters thinking of it! Thanks for sharing, April.
First, PLEASE do post the warning when you are going to post any kind of chicken butchering! I could not eat meat for about 1 1/2 years when I was in Jr. High eons ago. I have just decided to take up that habit again. My mind is just too sensitive to it. Crazy? I don’t feel that way. So all you chicken lovers out there can have my share! Enjoy!
Neat! I cant wait to see the whole thing. I figure if I cant stomach it on your blog, then there is no hope for our future as homesteaders!
I really admire you for doing this, but I like the suggestion of heirloom chickens. That weird genetic thing of eat-all-the-time kinda freaks me out.
And I doubly admire you for being able to butcher them & eat them. I don’t think I could intentionally kill anything.
Being a city kid…It is just too hard to contemplate eating something that I took care of. I cna’t eat somthing that I have seen alive. I know it is weird but that is just me!!
I am glad that there are people that can do this! Thank you farmers, ranchers, and growers of all the animals that I eat!!
http://myliterarylife-literarysnob.blogspot.com/
In the yard where I grew up, two of our chores involved chickens. We had to gather eggs every morning. And when it was time for dinner we had to go out and get one or two chickens, whack it’s/their head(s) off, remove the feathers and take it/them into Mom for another unforgettable fried chicken dinner.
Pigeons, doves, and quail, too. We didn’t have any money, but we sure ate good. And this was in town, too.
Please publish the pics. We are interested in grow chickens to eat but need to know how much work is involved and if it is worth doing.
If you’d like to try some homegrown fresh chicken, buy some at your county fair auction from a 4-H kid. They’ll come to you already dressed. Sure they cost more, but it’s for a good cause. When I was a 4-H poultry leader, one of my kids chose to keep, rather than kill, 6 of the birds he raised. Three of them actually survived and lurched around their yard for several years. They were HUGE! People need to know that meat birds are not the result of genetic alteration, though. It’s just selective breeding.
Oh, do I miss that farm fresh chicken (and beef and pork). And yes, I also sort of miss butchering. I was (am) always fascinated by seeing the anatomy and how everything fits together and works, uh, worked.
In the latest issue of Mother Earth News there was an article about raising chickens for meat and it was the same breed of chicken. The author recommended butchering at about 8 weeks because hers got too big too and were winded and miserable trying to get around. Can’t wait to see the pictures! Someday I want to raise chickens too.
Your chickens brought back memories for me. My parents (both raised in Detroit) thought it would be great for me to raise chickens and sell the eggs. (A way for me to learn responsibility.) The local hardware store was giving away chicks. So, dad came home with 24 chicks for me. Well, they got huge so quick and were becoming crippled because of their weight. Plus, they were not producing eggs. Needless to say, the retired farmer down the road had a good laugh at our expense. He told us those are NOT laying chickens, those are broilers. Yeah, city boy dad had to help slaughter the chickens.
Wow, I can’t believe they get so big so quickly! Let us know how they taste! I, for one, would like to see pictures of the butchering process. I’m a country girl… I ain’t scared!
I would love to get chickens for this very purpose. Duly noted, eat and poop. I want to know how they taste. And I think the salad sounds fantastic!
OK, this is why I can never raise chicken meat again. From cradle to grave in 8 weeks! But the pooop!!! The never ending supply of poooooop! Oh, and the scary way they grow. Here is the capper. My son kept two production roosters that came with the chicks, or the ‘roasters’ as we liked to say. It happens. He raised them in a separate coop. We named them Chuck and Bob and never intended to slaughter them, just sort of an evil 4-H experiment to see how big they’d get, and they kept growing! They were BIGGER THAN TURKEYS when they died. Well, one exploded (his heart) after almost 2 years and one got a bad maggot infestation and we put him down. NO lie – they probably went 20-25 pounds. I’m scarred now. I only want pretty, fancy pants egg layers.
We started with 25 meat birds this year and my DH thought it would be good to add more. We actually have them processed for $2 a bird and I think is well worth the fee. While I love the meat I am not sure I could handle the processing part.
You said you had them 10 weeks? That seems like a long time. I know we went that long the first time and the meat was not very tender. The second time around we cut them off at 7 weeks – the meat was out of this world. I am curious to know what you think of the meat. We have about 4 more weeks on our birds right now.
We would love to raise chickens in our backyard but it is only an acre and law says you have to have two. I could do eggs but I wouldn’t be able to kill them. I know….I do buy the meat in the store.
BLOOD AND GUTS!
Feeling very light headed…
Please excuse me while I faint
I am glad you decided to have salad instead. We raise all our own meat, beef, pigs, goats, rabbit and yes chickens. We have found that if you let freshly butchered meat rest in the refridgerator for at least 12 hours, it is much more tender and less stringy. I used to raise cornish cross, but wasnt happy with the health issues involved either. I switched to white rocks, they grow as big, a little slower, but are great meat chickens, and they breed true, so i can use them for egg laying all year and incubate my own meat chickens every summer. We alternate them with our rabbits, which i like even better, to raise, no incubating or brooding momma does all the work, and so much easier to butcher. They are ready to eat in 12 weeks.
We raised chickens when I was a kid.
Let me just tell you, you never look at your mother the same way after you’ve seen her chop off a chickens head with a butcher knife!
(And yes, they do “Jump around like a chicken with it’s head cut off”)
I remember mom holding them by the feet, dipping them in scalding hot water, and then we kids got to pluck the feathers.
One year she rented a fancy automated chicken plucker, which was basically a little wheel with rubber fingers on it that spun around really fast.
Boy, those feathers just went flying! It gave us kids more time to “peel” the gizzards. (Which, now that I think about it, is soooo gross!!)
Thanks for the memories!! (I think) ;0)
Great ideas on this site, thanks. I honestly took the plunge and got me some chickens last week! Now I have more eggs than I know what to do with!. You might be interested in these egg recipes.