Yes. The dirty deed is done. Our broilers that we've been raising for the past ten weeks were “put to rest” this past weekend.
And by “put to rest”, I mean they were butchered, chilled, bagged, and frozen.
We've already talked about getting the chicks, our feeding options and first few weeks with them, as well as the butchering plan. There's one final post to deliver on these meat birds: the stats.
For those who are really curious, before I even crunch the numbers, I can already tell you this: there's no way on God's green earth that these chickens were cheaper than any you could find at Safeway, Costco, Publix, etc. But this is an entirely different type of bird, which is exactly what I was looking for.
These birds spent their lives outside in the sunshine, eating grass, bugs, and soaking up sunshine.
These birds were fed an entirely soy and GMO-free diet.
These birds were fed minimal corn.
These birds were fed an entirely organic food.
These birds had access to fresh water, over 25 square feet to graze per bird, and lived a happy and stress free life. They were processed humanly and were air-chilled (most chicken is processed in a chlorine/water bath prior to packaging).
Point being: these birds aren't even available in our area for sale, so it's no fair to compare them to the $5 rotisserie bird you pick up at the grocery store. It's like comparing apples and oranges. But enough jibber-jabber. Let's get to it:
Oh wait. That's my hot homestud. Sorry. I digress.
Where were we? Oh ya. Chicken butchering.
WARNING: I HAVE INCLUDED PHOTOS OF THE KILLING AND BUTCHERING OF LIVE CHICKENS. THERE IS BLOOD. AND STUFF. SO LOOK AWAY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THAT. OVER AND OUT.
The setup. Let's start there.
We used some modified kill cones so that we wouldn't have to purchase any (the one real one that we had was on loan from a friend). The jugs actually worked very well, the only problem was that some of the birds were a little tough to squeeze in.
We traded a roast and some butter for use of this homemade chicken plucker that a reader (and new friend!) let us borrow. WHAT A COOL CONTRAPTION! I may need to make one of these if we decide to do a batch of birds each year…
We used Stuart's brew pot as our scalding tank and a portable propane burner as our heat source for heating the water to the appropriate 145 degrees required for scalding. This set up worked great.
Dad was in charge of the scaling and plucking:
Stuart and my brother-in-law Brandon were in charge of the killing. And yes, we prayed before hand:
The kiddos were in charge of catching the chickens and bringing them to the cones. Thankfully, we had a few extra running around to help! They loved this part:
I worked the evisceration table with our friends Jess and Scott who helped to remove the feet, heads, and inards. The birds were then rinsed (with the help of my sister who bagged and weighed them).
So how did it all work out financially?
Let's take a look:
Costs
Chicks: 149.59/50 chicks
Feed: 891.15
Waterer and shelter: I didn't include because we'll be able to use them for all future batches of birds. I've instead filed these under general farm expenses.
Total: 1040.64
Harvest
Total count of chickens: 43 (loss of 7 birds)
Total weight of chickens: 190 pounds
Cost/chicken: $24.20
Average weight per chicken: 4.5 pounds (range: 3.5 to 6)
Average cost per pound: $5.47
Total weight of feet, heads, fat, necks, and liver: 33.5 pounds
Total cost of all useable pieces per pound: $4.66
I must admit. I'm very pleased with the results! I was pleased that our chickens averaged out at 4.5 pounds, though we could have given them a few more weeks to grow, that obviously would have included a lot more feed. I'm pleased with the overall size and the nice, healthy fat layer that they all had. There was all kinds of good fat up in there. Whoop whoop!
Not only were we able to put 233 pounds of chicken (and parts) in the freezer, but the value that will come from that is even greater! Just think about the gallons and gallons of gelatin, mineral-rich stock that will come from all those odd bits! And think about the rich and succulent liver pate that I'll be able to make for Thanksgiving! Roast chicken. Paprika chicken. Breaded and fried chicken strips (as featured in From Scratch!). Oh the possibilities!!!
These animals were very much a joy to have around and I've already missed their presence on Beatha Fonn. But as the snow approaches and the water lines begin to freeze, it was the perfect time to stock the freezer and eliminate outside chores for the season.
I'm already looking forward to our next batch and couldn't be happier with the results of our first chicken harvest.
Chicken farmer and lover. Over and out.
Angie Konn
November 17, 2013 at 9:28 pmThat one picture you have of the bird, the legs look SO dark! I’d like to do this myself, but I’m currently living with my mom, so that’d be a no. Soon. Enjoy the chicken!
Rachel
November 17, 2013 at 9:37 pmThanks for this post. I’ve been thinking about raising chickens and this info helps a lot. (This “number-nerd” loves to plan, analyze, and crunch numbers, so this was great!)
Kathy
November 17, 2013 at 10:30 pmI started processing my own birds this year as well and there is no comparison to the wonderful taste when they are raised happy and healthy, no grocery store chicken will even come close!!! I use every part of the chicken except the heads, something weird about watching the head floating in a stock pot creeps me out. Congrats on a successful harvest 🙂
Shaye Elliott
November 18, 2013 at 9:01 pmThanks Kathy! Just had our first taste today… it was FANTASTIC!
miranda
November 18, 2013 at 6:21 amin Canada for organic (not pastured or free range) a bird that size is more expensive so I believe you did quite well. My friends sell their pastured birds for 3.00 and 3.50/lb. I’m not sure our feed costs vs U.S etc but it seems to me you did pretty darn well. I’m more impressed with doing all those birds in one day!! What a blessing to have such wonderful family and friends.
Shaye Elliott
November 18, 2013 at 9:00 pmThanks Miranda!
Lorri
November 18, 2013 at 6:24 amMy dad and his sister live in a suburb of Chicago. They are giving me the money to raise 30 birds in Spring for them. They are buying the chicks and the feed, plus paying me for it. I will be able to raise 20 birds at the same time thanks to this arrangement! Plus it gives my dad a reason for an extra visit, which makes me very happy and blessed! This is because I have sung the praises of raising our own meat birds and how yummy they were. My friends who were very freaked out by us “eating” real chickens are asking when we are doing it again, and could they possibly get one 😉
Shaye Elliott
November 18, 2013 at 8:59 pmLove it! Wishing you the best in this endeavor!
Dawn
November 18, 2013 at 6:42 amI raised 25 Freedom Rangers for the first time this past summer (I have had hens for a couple years now for eggs). I took them to a local family who process them at $2 a bird. Mine dressed out at 4.5 to over 6lbs and have got to be the best tasting chickens I ever had and I can’t eait gor next years batch.
Shaye Elliott
November 18, 2013 at 8:56 pmWe are super happy with ours as well! $2 a bird is a great deal!
[email protected]
November 18, 2013 at 7:44 amThanks for sharing all this… I intend to use it to help convince (bully?) my parents or brother into getting chickens next year! 🙂
It looks like a lot of work… but the fun, rewarding kind of work!
Oh, and by the way, I think it takes a special kind of person to look absolutely gorgeous while holding a dead chicken. You go, girl! 🙂
Shaye Elliott
November 18, 2013 at 8:56 pmAww, thanks Christine!
Bee Girl (AKA Melissa)
November 18, 2013 at 9:23 amGorgeous, inspirational, fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Kelly
November 18, 2013 at 10:13 amThank you so much for putting the numbers out there. I have a few egg chickens and wondered about meat birds. 😉
Jennie
November 18, 2013 at 12:55 pmJust AWESOME!
Paula Smith
November 18, 2013 at 4:02 pmI absolutely can not wait to get moved to our country place and get started. right now I live vicariously through you. 3 more years….Lord, three more years! (My husband will be retiring form the school system and ministering full time)
Shaye Elliott
November 18, 2013 at 8:55 pmOur journey here felt like a long wait too Paula – but it’s worth it! 🙂
Bre
November 18, 2013 at 11:17 pmThis is awesome. Thank you for sharing, I want to give it a try!
Sara W
November 18, 2013 at 11:28 pmQuestions- After slaughter did you age the chickens before freezing? I usually will put them in a bucket of water and salt and place in special frig to age 2 days and then freeze. We do the Cornish X. Did 50 this year… whew, lots of work.
Shaye Elliott
December 5, 2013 at 12:11 pmWe bagged ours and put them in the fridge to “air dry” for two days prior to sealing the bags and freezing.
Amber
December 18, 2013 at 8:41 amCan you tell me why you do this? We butchered some chickens last year, and are about to butcher some again in a couple weeks. Just wondering what this does for the chicken and why it’s beneficial?
Thanks!!!
Esther Emery
November 19, 2013 at 4:06 pmYour photos are so beautiful! We have to cull our laying flock within the next couple of weeks. It isn’t our first time, but we aren’t pros at it either. Thanks for the encouragement.
Tara
November 21, 2013 at 5:00 pmAbsolutely invaluable information in this post for a homestead dreamer like me! And holy cow, what a good looking group of people! I’m still in the process of buying property off-grid and I can’t wait to be freaked out at the prospect of butchering chickens, lol…this is such a realistic look at what the homestead life is like, thank you so much. It also helps someone like me prepare finacially for what is ahead if you want REAL pastured organic chickens. 😀
Amanda
November 22, 2013 at 8:57 amMan. Just looking at the photos I can *smell* the butchering process…
Been there, done that. More times than I can count. Tasty!
Courtney
December 15, 2013 at 10:13 amWould you definitely do this breed again? I’ve heard some mixed reviews on them and also that their meat is closer tasting to commercial meat than heritage birds
Nancy
December 15, 2013 at 12:30 pmI see the total cost of your feed. I was wondering how many total pounds of feed you fed. I know it was organic, was it whole grains or pellet/crumbles? Thanks for the photo’s and post I really enjoyed it.
Nihal
January 23, 2014 at 3:09 amGreat article! And it is a great change from all those emotional “oh-how-can-you-talk-about-butchering-they-are-pets” nonsense. I want to keep chickens for both eggs and meat. There are two types of chickens here, broiler and “local”. Local chickens roam streets freely and raised with no fuss. I decided to get locals and let them do their own thing. So we can always butcher the extra.
Ginger D.
May 22, 2014 at 3:25 amOK, I am new to your site, but loving EVER minute of it that I have a chance to read. We are about to kill our 2nd round of Cornish roasters and I saw you put the legs in a bag? What was your plan for them. I hate waste, but I am having a bit of a problem with the thought of the feet that have walked in poo for weeks…LOL!!
Shaye Elliott
May 25, 2014 at 11:29 pmI use them in stock. I boil them for five minutes and then plunge them into ice water. Then, I peel the skin off and clip off the nails – what’s left is nice and clean feet! They’re FANTASTIC in stock – adding so much flavor and gelatin!
ginger
May 27, 2014 at 5:53 pmI will definitely have to try that. It is a new one for me. Thanks for the detail on how to use them properly.
Heather Jackson
May 31, 2014 at 10:02 amI love seeing how others handle processing day! This is much like our operation, right down to praying before hand! We’ve done several batches now, and we finally bit the bullet and ordered a tub-style plucker. Hopefully things will go MUCH faster now, especially since it will be July in Alabama!
Erin
July 15, 2014 at 5:09 pmShaye!!! We are processing our very first batch of 25 Freedom Rangers this weekend! Boy are they huge! We have our next 25 Freedom Ranger Black Broiler chicks already on order! We have friends who think it is sooooo crazy to spend so much on your own chickens… ours cost about $12.00 a piece… You get what you pay for! I trade a lot of comforts to be able to do this… that’s just how I roll…. (on a side note, I love my dairy goats and voted for Danelle!! LOL)
Shaye Elliott
July 16, 2014 at 12:12 pmHappy to have you here anyway, Erin 🙂 I’ll tell Sally Belle to not take it personally. Ha!
Tonni Brill
October 9, 2014 at 8:54 amI am so loving your blogs! Hubby and I decided it was time to buy our retirement home and move closer to the places we love (being the mountains and rivers). We are closing on our 22 acre homestead at the end of this month. Unfortunately, hubby won’t be able to retire until a few more years and we rid ourselves of our Northern Virginia home. Meanwhile, momma (me) will be mostly responsible for starting our new self sustaining lifestyle. We have friends in NC who are giving us goats and bees and a few rabbits. We are so excited to start this part of our life. Reading your stories made me laugh and I felt like I was already there. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and I hope that I can tap into your experiences if I need some advice. Its a little scary at 48 years old to start this venture, but I grew up as a young girl living this way and I know it where I want to be again.
Tonni Anne Brill