Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The easiest housing for meat birds is a chicken tractor.
Some breeds of meat birds will forage while in the chicken
tractor, but the broiler crosses will mostly just lay around and
eat feed. So you shouldn't count on forage providing a lot of
their food.
Slaughtering Birds
As a kid, my family raised chickens, and sometimes I got
stuck with plucking them, which seemed to take forever and
was less than pleasant. But then I got older and wiser and
learned of better ways!
Food should be withdrawn from birds destined for slaughter
12 hours before the appointed time, though continuation of
water is advisable. This precaution will make sure no food is
in the upper digestive tract and thus reduce the possibility of
contaminating the meat with digestive contents.
