2016 Meat Birds at 8 Weeks Old

Tonight is potentially the last weigh-in for most of the Cornish Cross Meat Birds. At eight weeks old under normal circumstances, the Cornish Cross chickens are ready to be processed and put into the freezer.  Our goal is a 6 pound bird.  Tonight we'll see if the Cornish Cross we've been weighing every Thursday night for the last 8 weeks is ready.

Benjamin had a track meet tonight and we got back late.  That's okay.  The lights were shining brightly in the chicken tractor.  I pushed it forward one length and then jumped inside to see if I could located the two birds I marked with zip ties on their legs.  We had a gully washer (2 inch rain) today, so the birds were wet.  I got a little wet myself climbing into the chicken tractor with 50 birds in it.

The Chicken Tractor at night

I put them in my 5 gallon bucket and trudged back to the garage.  Then I place them on top of my workbench for a side by side view.  Yeah, the Cornish Cross is markedly larger than the Red Ranger.

Cornish Cross (left) and Red Ranger (right)

Cornish Cross gets weighed first.  He's pretty heavy.  We'll see if he hit the 6 pound mark...

And....

Yes he did.  Six pounds and 3 ounces to be exact

Tipping the scale at 6 lb. 3 oz.

In looking at the table below, the Cornish Cross gained 5 ounces since last week. Old Boy has been gaining about a pound each week.  This week his weight gain fell off, but he's still a whopping 2 pounds and 1 ounce heavier than last year's birds at this juncture!

It's the Red Ranger's turn to get weighed.  He promptly sits down.

Red Ranger weighs how much?

The Red Ranger weighs 2 pounds 15 ounces this week.

2 pounds and 15 ounces

Let's look at our comparative figures.  Well, this is interesting.  The Red Ranger gained 5 ounces this week.  The same weight gain as the Cornish X and he's 11 ounces heavier than the Red Rangers at this same time last year.

So what does all this mean?  Well, it means that Saturday we'll be butchering most of the Cornish Cross meat birds ~ about 25 of them.  I will weigh them, however, and if any are substantially lighter than 6 pounds, we'll throw 'em back and let 'em grow for a while.  Since the quantity butchered in this batch is low, we'll likely pluck the 25 birds by hand as the Whiz Bang Chicken Plucker is at a friend's house.  The Red Rangers will continue to grow and forage on the pasture for another 3-4 weeks until it's their turn for processing.  Having most of the Cornish Cross meat birds gone will give the Red Rangers more room in the chicken tractor and, most importantly, more room at the feed trough.

We'll show some of the chicken processing pictures from Chicken Butchering Saturday and we'll meet here again next Thursday to weigh the Red Ranger.  By that time all the Cornish Cross meat birds will be frozen solid in the freezer.