Our order of baby chicks just came in from McMurray Hatchery. We ordered 50 meat birds, 6 Buff Orpingtons, and they put one extra mystery bird in the box that we won't find out what kind it is until it grows up.We raise the meat birds, which are called Jumbo Cornish X Rock hens, in a separate coop and feed them an all natural diet. After eight weeks they're ready to be butchered. All though they look cute and fuzzy now, in eight weeks they won't look like anything you want to wrap your arms around and hug.
We ordered some Buff Orpingtons to offset the age of the rest of the flock and add a little different color to it. The first chickens we ever ordered had a couple of buffs in it, and one of them who was named Buttercup turned out to be my wife's favorite. We're excited to see if these girls have the same temperament as Buttercup, and one of them looks different from the others meaning we might have a rooster. We never had a rooster before, so we'll see what everyone thinks of the crowing sound if she turns out to be a he. It would also mean that we would be able to incubate our own chicks.
The mystery chick could turn out to be any breed or any sex. It's something fun that the hatchery does to each of their orders. The chick stands out from the rest of the flock, it's the only one with a strip down its head.
How cute! The striped chick looks very similar to the Americauna chick we hatched recently, so you might have one that lays green/blue eggs. I am glad they all came to you alive and healthy.
ReplyDeleteAre you selling roasters or are the 50 meat birds for your table? Do you slaughter yourself? Where do you keep them when they are ready for your freezer? We have been interested in buying some meat birds, but not sure how they would keep.
We did 25 last year and ran out after 6 months, so we are try a little bit more this year. I might sell a couple to friends and neigbors but the cost to rasie them is about 8$ before butchering. Thats the irony of the whole thing is it cost more to do it yourself. I plan to butcher them myself this year and I'm working on making a plucker. We had them the freezer last year and the last one tasted as good as the first one. They do taste a lot better then the ones you get at the store. They're very easy to raise, they like to eat, grow, and make fertilzer. They're don't need a lot of room because they don't move around much and are happy to just sit in front of the feeder.
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