Chronicles of Raising Meat Birds - Modern Broilers, Heritage and Hybrids

[igorsMistress]

Thanks for the update and the pics. My goodness, look at those legs and feet on the Imperials, they're huge!

 

[jolenesdad]

Oh! Also for those interested in the Delawares.

this is my 22 week old cockerel. Oregon Delawares line... based off the über slow growing Bonham line. Should mature closer to 30 weeks. Filling out now, at almost 6 months! I never thought it would happen, but it is.


he is a super resourceful bird, but I’m officially going to look for a home for him or process him because the growth rate has been so dang slow. will be interesting to see how the Dawnridge farm stacks up. They’re supposed to have good meat at 13 weeks, but I am sure the breast on even those won’t come in until closer to 16-20.

 

[aliciaplus3]

Oh! Also for those interested in the Delawares.

this is my 22 week old cockerel. Oregon Delawares line... based off the über slow growing Bonham line. Should mature closer to 30 weeks. Filling out now, at almost 6 months! I never thought it would happen, but it is.


he is a super resourceful bird, but I’m officially going to look for a home for him or process him because the growth rate has been so dang slow. will be interesting to see how the Dawnridge farm stacks up. They’re supposed to have good meat at 13 weeks, but I am sure the breast on even those won’t come in until closer to 16-20.
View attachment 1925197

I am drooling over here....he can come play at my house

 

[Compost King]

I have never seen anyone with a Delaware with such nice tail barring. Usually they are very faded and sloppy. Not that I care about such things. I just care about how fast they get to processing size and how little feed it takes to get there. Or I care about how well they lay on how little feed. To me SOP = Standard of Production. Might be why I just breed pet quality birds for poor folks or utility birds for hungry folks.

 

[Newyorkrita]

He really is a very pretty bird.

I have found this thread fascinating from the very beginning. Now that you have moved to the heritage Delawares and the Moyers Imperials I am really, really extra interested in the pictures and updates.

Great stuff!!

 

[jolenesdad]

ARGH, I have been found! I've got a Harris Hawk that has found me, and, for the last three days, is spending a majority of its day on top of my meat bird brooder.


On Sunday or Saturday he got a young 6 week old chicken that was with its broody mama. Yesterday, it sounded like a hawk festival outside, constant, constant hawk calls. Im wondering, since this kind of hawk hunts in groups, if I am really hosed here, and there's multiples.

I have enough space to keep my 20 layers fully enclosed, as well as a pen for the Robust White holdovers. (Although, I cannot imagine a hawk even attempting them.) I don't have enough space for these meat birds. I am thinking of moving them for a week to my horse barn so they can have some more space, hoping this hawk is passing through. I doubt it, since it's been here three days. I'm also nervous that my buffet of 50 littles would attract even a not-so-hungry non-migrating local. This is the annual anniversary of when I lost 4 or 5 birds to hawks, but haven't lost any to hawks since, so I am hopeful hungry hawks are not local to here.... None of the birds are bothered at ALL being locked up right now, I think because the hawk is sitting on top of their pens, and they seem to be well aware what it is. With ALL the screaming from the hawk or hawks yesterday, literally in their faces, I am HOPEFUL that I am really teaching those locked up what the heck that sound means. (Maybe a positive to this dreary week?)

Im about to get the house on the market, so I really don't have many options. My horse barn is in a very open, completely different part of the property, so I am hopeful that if I can't get this hawk to leave us alone, they could be okay over there.

Also, I may just make them a larger pen, and since we have a few weeks of outside work to get the place on the market, maybe just let them out of their larger pen in the afternoons when we are using equipment, cutting down trees, etc. Either way, ARGH. I'll be getting two livestock guardian dogs when we move for the free range production operation, but what a bummer right now!

 

[aart]

This is the annual anniversary

Migration time.

 

[Molpet]

ARGH, I have been found! I've got a Harris Hawk that has found me, and, for the last three days, is spending a majority of its day on top of my meat bird brooder.


On Sunday or Saturday he got a young 6 week old chicken that was with its broody mama. Yesterday, it sounded like a hawk festival outside, constant, constant hawk calls. Im wondering, since this kind of hawk hunts in groups, if I am really hosed here, and there's multiples.

I have enough space to keep my 20 layers fully enclosed, as well as a pen for the Robust White holdovers. (Although, I cannot imagine a hawk even attempting them.) I don't have enough space for these meat birds. I am thinking of moving them for a week to my horse barn so they can have some more space, hoping this hawk is passing through. I doubt it, since it's been here three days. I'm also nervous that my buffet of 50 littles would attract even a not-so-hungry non-migrating local. This is the annual anniversary of when I lost 4 or 5 birds to hawks, but haven't lost any to hawks since, so I am hopeful hungry hawks are not local to here.... None of the birds are bothered at ALL being locked up right now, I think because the hawk is sitting on top of their pens, and they seem to be well aware what it is. With ALL the screaming from the hawk or hawks yesterday, literally in their faces, I am HOPEFUL that I am really teaching those locked up what the heck that sound means. (Maybe a positive to this dreary week?)

Im about to get the house on the market, so I really don't have many options. My horse barn is in a very open, completely different part of the property, so I am hopeful that if I can't get this hawk to leave us alone, they could be okay over there.

Also, I may just make them a larger pen, and since we have a few weeks of outside work to get the place on the market, maybe just let them out of their larger pen in the afternoons when we are using equipment, cutting down trees, etc. Either way, ARGH. I'll be getting two livestock guardian dogs when we move for the free range production operation, but what a bummer right now!

Hawks are migrating. 20 or so miles south of me 35 broad wing Hawks were spotted.
2 years ago, this month, I had a hawk attack when I was out in the yard.

 

[jolenesdad]

Migration time.

I hope I hope I Hope. I’m not going to stress until next week. They’re just 3.5 weeks old now, they can stay in the pen.

 

[Newyorkrita]

So sorry about those hawks targeting your birds.