Preparation and Planning

Well, last week we received our second batch of broiler chicks, and they are already sold!  They will be finished and ready to go on June 29, but already they have all been spoken for.  We are by no means a large scale operation (the big boys do in an hour what we do on two dates).  Nonetheless, for our small operation, we will finish off 500 birds this year with all but 60 sold as of today.  We order our birds well in advance of our processing dates.  March, to be exact.  Therefore an incredible amount of planning goes into the processing days.  We plan processing dates for every three weeks throughout the summer.  We then have to order our chicks on a three week interval as well.  We start our birds inside under heat lamps then move them outside to our mobile coops where they will forage in our pastures for 4-5 weeks before processing at 8 weeks of age.  A lot of times consumers do not realize the pre-planning that needs to go into developing these products.  I have turned away at least 150 bird orders because they were not made in advance.  We cannot afford to take the risk of over-ordering.  While I am 90% positive the birds will all get sold, we have a lot invested in them.  To be sitting on them in a freezer is difficult.  It is crucial to our operation that we get pre-orders in time for ordering.  I tried to order June 29 chickens (which arrived last week) in early April to provide for a large party, but the birds were already gone.