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

[ShrekDawg]

Do you guys get the vaccines with the broilers or not because they’re going to be eaten so soon??? Is it even safe to eat vaccinated birds??

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hi All, I have a weird question for this group... DD wanted to raise some meat birds at the beginning of COVID-19 grocery store outages. We have hens and roosters so she didn’t want to look for heavies but hatch our own. So, we have black cooper marans and olive eggers (BCM x Ameraucana) eggs about to hatch. Plan is to process at 4 mo. We might be able to add some of the pullets to the flock, but not all of them. We’ve butchered excess layer cockerels in the past, so I guess we are kind of used to that, but what about excess layer pullets? Is that weird to consider butchering 4 mo old pullets of these dual purpose breeds that I think of as more layer than meat birds? BTW, we have Marek’s so can’t sell the excess pullets. Thanks for any insights!

 

[FortCluck]

https://www.welphatchery.com/june-rock-sale/

https://www.welphatchery.com/june-rock-sale/cornish-rock-broiler-straight-run/

Almost the same price that I paid at TSC. I still can't believe I got 53

 

[ShrekDawg]

Almost the same price that I paid at TSC. I still can't believe I got 53

That was a great price!! This is the cheapest I’ve seen from a hatchery I think, especially with the free shipping. And I can’t believe it either!! LOL

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is that weird to consider butchering 4 mo old pullets of these dual purpose breeds that I think of as more layer than meat birds?

I keep a few replacement layers from my pullets and eat the rest. I typically butcher my pullets at 8 months, after I've evaluated them for laying. You won't get a lot of meat but it will be more tender than a cockerel that age. I typically butcher my cockerels at 23 weeks.

Some people are so obsessed with size that yes, they will think you are weird. I grew up on a farm where we ate the chickens we hatched. Sounds really natural to me.

 

[FortCluck]

Is that weird to consider butchering 4 mo old pullets of these dual purpose breeds that I think of as more layer than meat birds?

I keep a few replacement layers from my pullets and eat the rest. I typically butcher my pullets at 8 months, after I've evaluated them for laying. You won't get a lot of meat but it will be more tender than a cockerel that age. I typically butcher my cockerels at 23 weeks.

Some people are so obsessed with size that yes, they will think you are weird. I grew up on a farm where we ate the chickens we hatched. Sounds really natural to me.

I honestly wait until about 16-20 weeks and that is a good size for our family. Usually the breast meat is pretty good at that point.

I haven't butchered a pullet yet because I haven't been able to even keep any chicks from what I hatch. Hopefully I can do one at some point to see if my family notices the difference.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Welp hatchery has a special on Straight Run CX for the month of June, I have mine ordered already

I had seen that and if I didn't already have Red Ranger types coming in June I would have caved instantly. That's a great price!

Hi All, I have a weird question for this group... DD wanted to raise some meat birds at the beginning of COVID-19 grocery store outages. We have hens and roosters so she didn’t want to look for heavies but hatch our own. So, we have black cooper marans and olive eggers (BCM x Ameraucana) eggs about to hatch. Plan is to process at 4 mo. We might be able to add some of the pullets to the flock, but not all of them. We’ve butchered excess layer cockerels in the past, so I guess we are kind of used to that, but what about excess layer pullets? Is that weird to consider butchering 4 mo old pullets of these dual purpose breeds that I think of as more layer than meat birds? BTW, we have Marek’s so can’t sell the excess pullets. Thanks for any insights!

It isn't any weirder than doing female meat breeds, like the CX, at 8 weeks. From what I've read, butchering after they have started laying is harder than doing it before.

 

[RUNuts]

I butcher the pullets and they taste great. No, even the show bird people have to do something with the birds that aren't show quality. Don't waste food. I'm about to butcher some older hens and then a couple pullets that aren't doing well. Have one cracking the eggs and one laying paper shelled ones. Makes a mess in the nest.

 

[Compost King]

https://www.welphatchery.com/june-rock-sale/

https://www.welphatchery.com/june-rock-sale/cornish-rock-broiler-straight-run/

The price is straight up, free shipping, no taxes unless you are in their state (Iowa maybe?) But I was bumped from Week 1 to 2 or 3 (June) which tells me they are struggling to fill their orders. Minimum 25, I got 25 and selling 10 chicks to a local lady who bought chickens from me in the past. Likely I will process them as Cornish Game Hens and see if I can buy more. After that I might get Red Rangers because I can breed them but that depends on how bad the meat shortage becomes. They aren't cost effective for meat production however if meat prices are high enough my attitude can change.

 

[Compost King]

I had seen that and if I didn't already have Red Ranger types coming in June I would have caved instantly. That's a great price!

I am wondering if I should have just spent more and bought Red Rangers, CX is better for good fiscal meat production especially for someone like me who prefers very tender low flavored white meat. Red Rangers are so much better for perpetual meat production because they are easy to breed without reducing feed intake. Even if you just have female Red Rangers you can just but a large framed Heritage Rooster over the female and get decent meat results.