Chickens, the recap

We're so pleased with how the great chicken raising experiment turned out.  Overall, a very enjoyable experience and since the butchering wasn't too bad we'll be doing it again, maybe as early as the end of this summer. 

Here's our list of things to remember and thoughts for next time:

• We loved Jenks Hatchery and would definitely order from them again.  Their service was outstanding, the chicks arrived in amazing shape and the mortality rate of our mob was very low.  At butchering time we found our birds to be robust with very thick and healthy feathers.  They breed a good product.
• We were satisfied with the Cornish Rock Cross and would choose this bird again.  We got a straight run and while the hens were on average a little smaller, it was not enough to be noticeable.  Jenks also offers monthly hatches of the visually stunning Red Ranger and the Heritage White breeds which would be interesting to try since they are both good foragers and have good feed conversion.  After another flock of Cornish Rock X, my vote would be for the Heritage White.
• The deep liter method for chicks worked really well.  Also loved using a hover brooder as it kept our electrical usage down and provided a very warm and protected environment for the chicks.  It might be worth considering going without warming bulbs if we do another flock at the end of summer, depending on temperature.
• Need to purchase at least one chick feeder and chick waterer bases.
• Remember to use the leftover electrolyte mix with the next flock of chicks, especially if the weather is warm.
• It's been reported that Cornish Rock X do not make good foragers; we did not find this to be the case probably because we trained them to look for food on the ground by scattering feed while they were in nursery (do this again).
• Since we have 30+ birds in the freezer, see if someone would like to go in with us on a chicken order in August.
• The chicken feed we got from Patriot Farm was outstanding.  Next time, we need to actually buy enough.  Our chickens definitely preferred it to the big name pressed crumble-style feed from the local feed store.  Plan at least 10-15 pounds of feed per bird.
• In terms of feeding, next time we'll feed on demand for the first week or so and then go a 12 hours on, 12 hours off feeding cycle.  We fed this first mob way too much to begin with and went through more food then we needed to in the beginning.  It didn't translate into more meat, though it did produce more (expensive) fertilizer. 
• When we set up the chicken tractor next time, it might be good to pull it between the vibrant green tracks from the past flock in an effort to make our lawn less "stripe-y" looking.
• As butchering nears, plan the tractor route to end closer to the proposed butchering site.  Rearrange the butchering stations so they are closer together.  Be sure to have a first aid station available.
• More ice at butchering.  Start setting aside ice early.