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.
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.