newbie egg maker mama....looking at meat for next year

[Molpet]

Ok, so I went through the article on fermenting. This is something I'd been thinking about for a while, but hadn't actually jumped into yet. I do have a question (assuming you ferment, since you had the link). The article says feed 1/2 to 1 cup 2x/day (watching for it to be gone in 30 min). Is that per bird? I'm excited to try this, but just want to make sure I have a handle on it. Thanks!

That's per bird, but I just put out 4 to 12 gallons of FF for up to 80 adult chickens, a bunch of chicks and 26 adult turkey,a bunch of poults. Depends on how much forage is available and how old and amount of young.. So I don't know exactly how much they eat a piece .

 

[Newchickmom2023]

We all have different goals, preferences, and experiences and we have heard different things so we will make different decisions. The CX are the most cost efficient on a cost per pound of meat basis. They have certain requirements. They have to eat a lot daily to reach those growth rates so they poop a lot. Yeah, that can be considered gross and needs to be accounted for in how you raise them. The Ranger types retain some of the benefits of CX but the slower growth rate makes them a little easier than the CX. You can raise dual purpose chickens for meat in a lot of different ways, feeding them specifically for meat all the way to just making them a part of your egg laying flock. Morrigan is right that CX, Rangers, and dual purpose are different things and each if those can be raised and managed in different ways.

I like the idea of trying different things. We are each so different with our wants, desires, and conditions that what works well for some of us does not work well for others. There can be a big learning curve. You often find out that what you thought was important to you really isn't.


While Buff Orps are known to go broody often, my two never did. RIR's are known to not go broody at all but they can. If you want to count on hatching your hens' eggs you may need to get an incubator. At least that way you can hatch them when you want to.

I plan on eating one chicken each week. I hatch around 20 chicks in February and raise them to eat. Usually none of my hens go broody until April or May and it takes a few months to raise the chicks to butcher age. Most years I can use broody hens to hatch the rest of the chickens I'll eat that year and early the next year but some years I have to use the incubator a second time so I can eat one chicken a week. And I now have hens that go broody quite often, just not until April or May.


Until the 1950's or so the Delaware, New Hampshire, and some strains of White Rock were the main meat birds, but then the Cornish Cross, Cornish Rock, CX (whatever you call them) were developed and took over. The Ranger types were developed later. It did not take long for hatcheries to breed those three breeds as much for eggs as meat birds so they lost that edge. You can find some exceptions, you can always find exceptions, but for the most part hatchery Delaware, New Hampshire and White Rock are bred more for egg laying than meat now. Don't get me wrong. The Delaware, New Hampshire, and White Rock are about as good of a dual purpose meat bird as you will find, they are just not as great as they were in the 1950's or so when they were special.

Wow! Thanks for taking the time to answer in such detail. I guess it's a good thing I didn't decide to try meat this year. Lots to think and pray about. I ordered a frozen cornish cross from a local farmer to try for dinner....but it sounds like all the different varieties can taste quite different, so if I go another route, that may not tell me much.