Best way to get meat birds

[Harvest Mint]

I currently have two Cornish Rocks but once they are gone what would be the best way to obtain more? Should I just buy a bunch of chicks every year or would it be better to go with a breed that can multiply over time?

 

[cavemanrich]

You can reproduce your own stock of chicks, but the peeps that developed the top line cornish/rock cross are ahead of the curve. You can try it, and see how your results compare to the broilers from the hatcheries. I personally would opt for chicks from hatchery.

 

[Harvest Mint]

You can reproduce your own stock of chicks, but the peeps that developed the top line cornish/rock cross are ahead of the curve.   You can try it, and see how your results compare to the broilers from the hatcheries.  I personally would opt for chicks from hatchery. 

Ok, so it would probably be better to plan to eat so many chickens and order that amount and then just cull extra roosters when needed.

 

[cavemanrich]

Here is the little trick to keep in mind. If you order broiler meet birds, lets say 25, because smaller quantities are not cost effective, they will be ready to process in about 8 weeks or so. You can keep a few some time longer, but then there will be drawbacks. Broilers will continue getting fat, and will develop health issues. First heart problems, and later broken bones. None live much past one year. The ideal situation is to process them when prime. Have a good size freezer ready.
Other option is to get a mixed batch of chickens. Order 10 broilers and 15 straight run of a dual purpose breed. When those 10 get ready to process you have enough time to eat them at your pace. No need to do them all and freeze. Your remaining dual purpose chickens will mature much slower. so about the time you are licking the drumsticks from your last broiler, you can start processing the other roosters. You will notice a difference in chicken flavor from one to the other. In my opinion, they all taste like chicken.

.. The main difference will be that the broilers are more tender, as well as larger and meatier.
The numbers I suggested is just a relative guideline. You can fine tune your amounts much better.

 

[Harvest Mint]

That seem like a great plan. I just fixed chicken and dumplings except I used left over turkey. I was thinking about how awesome it would be to have that more often.