Raised a lot of birds. 125-250 at a time. Also killed them in those big batches. Haven’t raised any for a few years though. Some good advice here, some not(same time to feed 15 as 500? Lol). Far and away my biggest problem was death loss. From predators to heat. I could right a book! But only experience will tell you about your particular area and how to negate problems. Best part is raising your own protein. The best best part is if you have kids. This is a wonderful and amazing experience for youngsters. From start to finish they can be involved and handle dang near every aspect of it. No fear of large animals, safety etc. to worry about. Born and raised on a real livestock farm. No hobby bs here. Cattle pigs and chickens. Why did I stop? The hassle of marketing the birds. I live far away from rich folks who’ll pay $15-$20 a bird. To sell at farmers markets here, the birds have to be killed in a federally inspected facility. I did on farm kill and could legally sell thousands so long as they sold straight off farm. Got wore out on that. Also keeping my kill crew became a hassle. Some knowledge is required to cleanly butcher a chicken for package and sell. Most we ever did was around 250 in a day. That was a KILLING CREW! We put all the birds in a livestock trailer and set the kill line from there. Youngsters to catch and kill. Scald , pluck, butcher for those with more experience, into the chill tank and then dry rack and bag. I think I had 9 pairs of hands on the big kill. No need to go all in either. You can do as little or as many as you want. It’s a great experience and I recommend it to everyone.
