I think you are on to something and I know if I were in your area I would be a customer. I absolutely HATE buying chicken in the store. I prefer dark meat when I have chicken but only buy the frozen breasts because all other is so mushy and mealy that it ruins the meal. I can't stand the thought of those cornish crosses because I know if they are disgusting in life, I will not be able to eat them once they hit the freezer. Some people have had very good luck with them but just the thought of it deters from the meal, ya know? I would pay for good chicken, butchered humanely and fed good food. Good luck to you! Lori

Thanks, we have a few commercial poultry operations around us also and the inhumane way they are raised, to me , is an outrage.
The selective breeding that has gone into creating the cornish cross has created a mutant that is realy no more a chicken. Then to top it off they are fed small amounts of arsenic in the food and water, some how it stimulates them to eat more, then the antibiotics in thier feed and growth stimulants.
We are what we eat, what effects do these modern farm practices have on us. Is it me or has anyone else noticed how large our children are now, and the early onset of puberty?
josh

Like I said, I know many here have had really good results with the CC but with some effort and excellent care. I have just heard too many horror stories and saw them at the feed store last year...pitiful. The chicks were large but had missing feathers and poop splattered all over them. The other chicks of different breeds were not like that. I'm new to butchering and had a hard time dressing a roo last year then eating it. I want some meat birds and know I would get the hang of things but I do know myself in that I could never eat something that looked so disgusting in life. Defeats the purpose, I think. My hens eat layer feed, cracked corn or fancy scratch and eat all of our non-meat scraps from the table. In the summer they eat green grass and forage as well. That makes for great eggs so I assume their meat would reflect that as well.
Good for you, I hope you get off to a great start. Do you have any committed customers yet? My MIL also has chickens and we have talked about the same thing...much smaller scale. She has people asking about chicken meat but thus far it has only been an idea. I have the space, she has the know-how. Lori

Josh
IÂve raised the CC before. Strictly grain fed and the only supplement I gave was Biotin to prevent bone breakage from the faster growth. The first time I didnÂt use the Biotin and had bones snapping everywhere at 6 weeks. It took about 12 weeks to get a 4-5 lbs carcass that way. But I found the meat to be sweeter tasting and no huge squishy blood vessels in the dark meat. Can you tell me a little more about the Freedom Ranger Broilers. Do they have the biotin deficiency problem as well?

Go to J.M.Hatchery.com for Freedom Range Broilers, they were developed in France for the Lable Rouge poultry program.
josh

Thank you Josh. Do you have to give biotin to them to support bone growth?

No, no supplements other than a balanced feed ration, they grow a little slower than the cornish 10-12 weeks rather than 6-10. But they taste better, forage better, and are healthier, we need to get the word out to other pasture raisers, because weve already lost two chick producers because of the lack of a large enough market for these wonderful pasture broilers.
josh

I checked out the website. They look like a nice bird. I'm not sure if I could pasture them though. Everybody and their brother drops cats off here (dairy farming seems to invite that) so outside they'd be chicken dinner before they made it to the oven. Not to mention the other predators we have here. I may try a few and see how large they get. If they get large enough to range soon enough to discourage the cats from thinking about dinner I'd love that because I've always hated that the meat chickens are penned and the others all roam. It's so much healthier and natural for them. I've not raise meat birds for a while. I'm waiting on a walk in freezer. Between the beef, pork, veggies, fruit and misc other items I get too much of a work out moving baskets around in the 3 freezers trying to find dinner now without adding 50 chicken. LOL Maybe I could run them in a chicken tractor in the garden paths. ItÂs wheat and clover the whole growing season. Then I wouldnÂt have to mow the paths. Yep, I might try a few. Thanks again Josh.
Mike

Thats what I do, raise them in movable pens. !0'x12' holds 25 - 30 birds, I move it once aday.
Disney ideals havent yet made it to the real world LOL
josh

What would your profit margin per chicken be on a small operation like this be?

Its different from farm to farm, mine runs about 30-40 percent profit.
josh