Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of time. Many wouldn't live through winter anyway, because their bodies are so out
of shape. Anatomically disfigured from their enlarged breasts, they don't function well
once they reach adulthood and are clearly best suited for slaughter at eight weeks. If you
have raised only chickens designed for commercial sales, however, and you switch to
rearing heritage birds, you may find the butchering timeline confusing.
Heritage chickens are usually not ready to butcher at eight weeks. They are still
small and may only dress out at around 2 pounds (1 kg). Developing hardy bodies for
long-term survival, they take longer to grow; usually you'll have a normal, reasonably
sized bird at about sixteen weeks.
You know it's time to butcher heritage breeds when the male birds start showing
sexual maturity and an interest in the hens. Once they begin to crow and chase after
the young pullets, wanting to mate, the meat will begin to firm up rather quickly. Al-
though they will continue to get bigger, their meat will be too tough to eat if you wait
for them to get any bigger. They won't be the 6- to 8-pound (2.5-3.5 kg) whoppers that
you may have been expecting, but you will still get a decent-size, 3- to 5-pound (1.5-2
kg) bird.(Some are smaller, depending upon the breed that you are raising.)
Waterfowl
It's much more difficult to try to pin down butchering time for ducks and geese. Because
they have a considerable number of pinfeathers — hard-to-remove, nasty little feathers
that can make one never want to raise ducks or geese again — it's very awkward and
cumbersome to slaughter them too early.
A Typical Two-Year Cycle with Chickens
To better understand the timing involved in raising chickens, let's track the month-to-
month flow of the planning and work. The following “calendar” provides a rough out-
line of a two-year cycle.
YEAR 1, January. Plan your poultry needs. Think about how many chicks you want
to raise. Choose your breed(s). Decide if you want to order “straight run” chicks — a
batch that hatches into a mix of pullets and cockerels. If you want only future layers,
then plan to purchase pullets. Order your birds. Plan their arrival based upon several is-
sues: the typical weather in your area at the arrival time; when you want meat or eggs;
and how much heat you want to afford them.
Once you have ordered and made arrangements for the chicks' arrival, it's time to
get the facilities ready. Make sure you have all of your “nursery” items ready. Waterers,
 
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