Meat Production

Animal husbandry is a term that means understanding your animals and knowing how best to provide for their needs.  We believe that your meat/egg production animals provide a great service to your community and families.  In return for this great service, they deserve a happy and stress free life in exchange for what they provide.

Simply put, to understand farming is to understand that when you take an animal from it's natural habitat, you now own the responsibility of providing what nature would have provided them.

There are a few terms that you will need to know to properly manage your production animals.  The better you understand them, the more successful you will be and you will be able to do this in a way that saves you money and puts better quality meat on your table.

Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR):  The amount of feed that an animal consumes and it's relation to the amount of meat it gains (X pounds of feed = X pounds of meat).  Examples below:

Animal / FCR (Rabbit: 1.75 lb of feed = 1.00 lb of meat)

Cornish Cross Meat Chicken / 1.75    Rabbit / 2.75    Pig / 2.90    Laying Chicken / 3.50

Sheep / 5.60    Goat / 7.20    Cow / 6.80

Weight Management:  This refers to the live weight of an animal as apposed to the hanging (butcher) weight.  Examples below:

(Animal / Meat Ration Percentage) (percentages vary by breed)

Chicken / 65%      Rabbit / 60%      Beef / 41%      Pork / 53%      Lamb - 35%