Anyone know--- How long for ISA Browns for meat?????

Someone just gave me 20 ISA Brown Pullets (just starting to feather at the wingtips)
I know they are dual-purpose, so are gonna sort em out by temperment over the next couple weeks-- keep 6 for Layers and fatten the rest for the freezer...

HOWEVER:

We've never raised any meaties before--
how long from Chick to" ready for the freezer" with this breed of chicken?

And for meat birds-- do I feed them more????

Thanks in advance!

Dual purpose means more meat than leghorn. They will be just like any other average layer type bird, figure butcher the boys at 14 weeks or so, to get a bird about half the size of what you'll get at the store. You can't "fatten" them per se, just give high protein feed and they will grow a bit faster.

What I'd do if you want meat is raise all the pullets, sell the extra, and use that money to buy cornish x to raise for meat if you want anything close to what you find in the store.

Okay, I feel sheepish asking but, I have never heard of an Ida Red chicken breed. I've eaten Ida Red apples, but not chickens. I googled thinking I'd missed a new hybrid dual purpose or something but didn't turn anything up. Anybody have a link to this elusive breed? Are they commonly known by another name?

LMAO! Sorry-- My Mistake-- ISA BROWNS not Ida Reds-- I was thinking apples too I guess- since we spent most of the weekend shopping for fruit trees! LOL!

..thank you!!..started my Monday/week with a nice laugh!!!

You won't ever 'fatten up' a dual purpose layer to what you expect from a grocery store/ commercially raised chicken.

Most people don't realize the differences in chickens for meat. Not every chicken is the same when it comes to cooking intent. The big meaty chickens most often found in the grocery meat case with the large plump breast is a broiler chicken.

This is a cornish cross 'broiler'. This is the bird you find in the meat case at your market.




For frying you choose another type chicken - with a thinner breast - like the leghorn or one of the dual purpose breeds who will give you eggs and a little more meat when the egg laying is over.

This is a leghorn but could also be any other type dual purpose. This is most often the bird you find in the meat case cut up and labeled 'fryer'.




Don't expect a bird like the second to ever develop into a bird like the first one. It won't happen.

You will have a thin breasted bird with very little meat to bone ratio.

If you are sure you have all pullets I suggest raising them and then selling them as point of lay pullets for $10 - $15 each.

Take that money and then invest in the broiler cornish cross chicks. Raise them 6 - 8 weeks then butcher for your freezer. You will get the birds like that one show in the first picture.

I butchered 5 ISA brown roosters at 16 weeks. They are not worth the time and effort if you are interested in meat. Meat was stringy, not a lot of flavor. I would raise them and sell them live to someone who wants an egg layer ready to go. I sold some pullets that way.

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OMG! That is too funny! I'm just glad that, for once, it wasn't me losing my mind.


I wouldn't bother butchering ISAs personally. I never have, but I have some ISAs and I cannot even begin to imagine the carcass would be worth the work (or money if you pay someone else to do it). I didn't know they were considered a dual purpose bird, I'm thinking whoever made that classification needs to rethink. They're awesome layers. But they're skinny minnies.

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"Dual" means more meat than a leghorn. Before the conrish x was developed, anything that wasn't as small as a leghorn was considered "dual". Adult leghorn is like 3-4 lbs, adult "dual" bird is often 5-8lbs.

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"Dual" means more meat than a leghorn.

According to whom? Any modern definition I have ever seen and been able to agree with in good conscience refers not to the weight of the chicken at maturity but the body type since it gives a better indication of bone to meat ratio. Which for obvious reasons is more important than live weight in birds meant for butcher.

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The Cornish X was the primary commercial broiler long before ISA Browns were ever developed. Makes little sense to judge a bird on the merits of a standard that was out dated before the first of them ever hatched.