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

[FortCluck]

Is March 7th still your target date for butchering?

Yeah... I just counted the weeks from Halloween and they should be 18 weeks by then. The barred rock jersey giant cockerel is a tank! He's 3/4 Squatches size. The other two are a orpington mix and an Easter Egger mix. I was hoping the other two were pullets I wanted colored eggs from the Easter Egger. Better luck next time I guess.

 

[Morrigan]

Still waiting for a friend to join him or her. This is the pure NN/NN hatchling.

 

[jolenesdad]

Pretty sure these Imperials are eating a HALF POUND OF FOOD A DAY or more right now. They say feed conversion flies out the window after 12-13 weeks. No wonder. I wonder how much feed I actually used to get them so big last time. I think more than a week or two of this high feeding rates at the end would really tip the scales to an inefficient bird.

 

[Morrigan]

Three hatchlings now -- one of each type of hen -- but all three have naked necks! There are 3 more pips that I can see, but the incubator is such a melee now with chicks running amok and broken shells and rolling eggs everywhere.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Been following the convo... good chats.

Yesterday my Bielefelders turned 3 weeks old. I didn't bother weighing them, as they clearly aren't developing as rapidly as CX, despite my first astonishment at their size.

I'm slightly amazed that one has started crowing already at 3 weeks!

They've been having a daytime blast on pasture for the past week at about 50 degrees with the sun shining and already learning how to avoid the older ladies... who ALWAYS love to eat at the chick feeder EVEN though it's the same food.

 

[Molpet]

interesting
"
Consequences for the environment
But it’s worth considering the consequences to the environment. Research has suggested that if a third of broilers in the US were switched to slow-growing breeds, to meet the same demand 1.5 billion more birds would need to be produced, 7.6 million more acres would be required to feed them, another billion gallons of water would be needed to feed them and they would produce 28bn more tonnes of manure. "

Although the way cx poop, I am not too sure about these figures

https://www.poultryworld.net/Meat/A...intcmp=related-content&intcmp=related-content

 

[Morrigan]

interesting
"
Consequences for the environment
But it’s worth considering the consequences to the environment. Research has suggested that if a third of broilers in the US were switched to slow-growing breeds, to meet the same demand 1.5 billion more birds would need to be produced, 7.6 million more acres would be required to feed them, another billion gallons of water would be needed to feed them and they would produce 28bn more tonnes of manure. "

Although the way cx poop, I am not too sure about these figures

https://www.poultryworld.net/Meat/A...intcmp=related-content&intcmp=related-content

Interesting. There is no doubt that it is very difficult to beat CX for feed to weight ratio, and I think about that as I'm trying to breed slower grown alternatives. It does make me realize that raising my own heritage birds is a luxury. On the other hand, I don't eat that much meat and we are scrupulous about not wasting any meat. Feathers, guts and boiled down bones are about the only thing that's not consumed in our house. I suspect we could have better chicken farming practices without an increased impact on the environment, if there was more mindful consumption of meat products and less waste.

 

[Morrigan]

Speaking of alternative meat birds, my hatch is nearly complete. Of the 9 eggs I set, 7 have hatched, another is zipping as I type and I can't tell what is happening with the last egg, as there are too many broken shells around it to see. So far, every single one has a naked neck. I don't know if I've beaten the odds as I understand them, or there is something about the hybrid nature of these broilers that allows the NN gene to always be dominant. When I have them moved out of the incubator, I'll post some pictures.

 

[RUNuts]

On this subject is husbandry and close food concepts. The factory farming was developed and perfected using the CX. No other, what is right word here, genetics(?) would be as efficient.

Therefore, current chicken production methods wouldn't be sustainable for other genetics. Production would change and price would change. You can't put a square peg in a round hole and expect the same results.

Chicken Rancher expects his layers and broilers to forage for most of their feed. His chickens are cheap to produce but require more space to forage. Which is better? BTW he gets 50 CX a year and turns them out to forage for 8 weeks and gets a 3-4 pound carcass. Raised exactly like and beside the layers. They don't sit at the food trough because they would starve.

I found it interesting that he had a mouse problem in the barn until the guinea hens arrived.

Should we talk about monoculture lawns versus pastures?

 

[Kusanar]

I don't know where it has gotten to, but I know they were looking at making naked (scaleless) CX for broiler houses as there is really no need for them to be feathered as they are in climate controlled buildings and not in sunlight, they also do not fly. Plus, not having to scald, pluck, and dispose of the feathers would make the process much more efficient. I imagine they could take them through a "car wash" with hot soapy water and disinfectants to remove the manure from the skin once they were dispatched.

Also, because feathers are protein (mainly) and CX never really stop producing feathers as they are so young when processed, the protein requirements would (should??) go down for growing them out as they are not "wasting" protein on making feathers that will just need to be disposed of in a few weeks.