We do two batches of between 50 and 100 Cornish Rocks per year. We start the first batch early in the spring so that they finish before the heat of summer. We do the second batch late in the year so that we can take advantage of the late summer heat and they finish after it starts to cool down.
We use 250W heat lamps and 200W Cozy Coop panels to keep the littles warm. We generally have a very low loss rate.
This year our abattoir started two weeks later than usual so we ended up having our spring batch for two weeks longer than anticipated. Our largest bird finished at 4.5 Kg (10 lb).
We generally process around half of the birds ourselves for our freezer and have the other half processed at a licensed abattoir so that we can sell them off farm.
I think that people often go into things like chickens (or pot belly pigs!) with romantic notions about what it’s going to be like. Sometimes they may get chickens because they are struggling and want a source of fresh eggs other than the grocery store. Then they find out that they have to house and feed and water those chickens and that it costs money. It’s good that you helped to find those chickens somewhere else to live.
Our neighbors on both sides have chickens. We occasionally get visits from their chickens and every now and they one will move into our flock. Our birds almost all have nylon ties on their legs that we use to indicate their age (the year they came) and variety or group. We can tell when we have someone who doesn’t belong because they don’t have any bands. A couple of times neighbors have come over looking for their birds and we’ve gone into our flock looking for interlopers and sent them home.
Welll, turns out, that petting zoo wasn’t a good place. The neighbor was talking about it this morning, and I asked if they could get the damn bird back.
So, guess who now has a three month old “silky”, whatever that means lol. She’s a sweet, pretty little bird though. I’m an idiot and a sucker.
We’ve never had one because ours are all working birds but I know people who have.
Silkies are black all the way through. You can sometimes find them at Chinese grocery sites.