Raising Chickens For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 16

Raising and Butchering Meat Birds

IN THIS CHAPTER

Caring for meat birds

Knowing when to butcher

Deciding how to butcher your birds

Killing and cleaning a chicken

Not everyone is interested in raising animals for meat. But if you’re interested in producing some of your own meat, raising meat chickens is a good way to start. Chickens are small and easy to handle — the average person who has a little space can successfully raise all the chickens he and his family want to eat in a year. You can be eating fried homegrown chicken 10 weeks after you get the chicks, or even sooner — so, unlike raising a steer or pigs, you can raise your own meat in less than 3 months and see whether you like it. Plus, chickens don’t require large, upfront outlays of cash and time.

Meat birds are managed a bit differently from chickens kept for other reasons, though. In this chapter, we give you the information you need to properly raise meat chickens. We also explain the process of butchering the chickens you’ve raised — whether you hire someone for the job or you decide to do it yourself.