Raising a variety of meat breeds

[OrganicFarmWife]

We are now at week 3. I am going to try combining the first batch of chicks with the second batch into the broiler pen tomorrow.
Most of the first batch are made up of layers. So they are not much bigger then my younger cross meat birds. My three surviving red ranger however are huge. They are big enough to be out of the pen. But there are only 3 of them and I know my adult Barr Rocks will not tolerate the three Red Ranger birds well. So it really isn't worth the grief of letting the larger birds out yet. I will keep an eye on them tomorrow and hopefully everyone happily gets along.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

First up are the Dixie Rainbow. They now weigh an average of 394 grams. Over the week they gained 164 grams.

Next up are the Red Ranger. They now weigh an average of 378 grams. Over the week they gained 152 grams.

Finally the Jersey Giants. They now weigh an average of 205 grams. Over the week they gained 80 grams.

The layers now weigh an average of 212 grams. They gained 84 grams.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

It is difficult to see from the pictures but the Dixie Rainbow and Red Ranger chicks are now easily identifiable. The Rainbow Dixie have multiple colors, including red, yellow and black. The Red Ranger are red.

 

[Dave C]

The birds are really taking shape now and looking good

Do you know which breeds you are looking to keep to breed from yet ?

I'm doing a similar project looking to cross slow broiler, medium broiler and pure breed Dark Cornish, Ixworth & Buff Rocks.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I like that your reporting the layers too. It keeps everything in perspective. Your going to find the Jersey Giants are very slow to mature. Gargantuan birds typically are. Surprisingly enough your dual purpose birds that only reach 7lbs adult weight are faster to gain weight at younger age than much larger breeds. Look at the Buckeye and New Hampshire for good examples of this the on the other extreme you've got the Jersey Giant and Brahma types that are slow and steady.

I hope you keep up with the reporting. Dates of weigh in and average weights are great. At 6 weeks the largest birds, both largest pullet and largest cockerel, will be you prime candidates for future breeding. The Buckeye conservation reports confirm that your fastest maturing, largest at young age, are those from 6 weeks on. Also those birds are likely not to be your largest one year old birds. There is folly to breeders only using largest adult cocks. Sure the final bird is large but why would you want that much stew quality meat? Lose a 1/2 pound or more in final weight yet gaining more weight at grill, fryer and roaster age is a much better trade off in my mind.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

The birds are really taking shape now and looking good

Do you know which breeds you are looking to keep to breed from yet ?

I'm doing a similar project looking to cross slow broiler, medium broiler and pure breed Dark Cornish, Ixworth & Buff Rocks.

I had strongly considered the dark Cornish, and might still get some for meat. At this point I was going to pick my best Jersey Giant for a Rooster. I have toddlers and the general consensus was Jersey Giants are one of the more gentle breeds. I also have a couple female of each of the meat cross birds. (I keep their weights separate from my cockerels). I figured I would keep them and try to raise them as layers.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I like that your reporting the layers too. It keeps everything in perspective. Your going to find the Jersey Giants are very slow to mature. Gargantuan birds typically are. Surprisingly enough your dual purpose birds that only reach 7lbs adult weight are faster to gain weight at younger age than much larger breeds. Look at the Buckeye and New Hampshire for good examples of this the on the other extreme you've got the Jersey Giant and Brahma types that are slow and steady.

I hope you keep up with the reporting. Dates of weigh in and average weights are great. At 6 weeks the largest birds, both largest pullet and largest cockerel, will be you prime candidates for future breeding. The Buckeye conservation reports confirm that your fastest maturing, largest at young age, are those from 6 weeks on. Also those birds are likely not to be your largest one year old birds. There is folly to breeders only using largest adult cocks. Sure the final bird is large but why would you want that much stew quality meat? Lose a 1/2 pound or more in final weight yet gaining more weight at grill, fryer and roaster age is a much better trade off in my mind.

You are right, faster growing would be great. I will try to mark my largest cockerel and try to use him for my Rooster. I know the Jerseys are very slow growing, I thought that would maybe make a healthier Rooster and their temperament was recommended. I figured I would just butcher them as I needed the meat, or have room, and not worry to much about the fact that I was not getting a full grown bird.
I did have New Hampshire on my list to look at. My first batch losses kind of set me back a bit.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The Jersey may very well be a good choice for making hybrids. Just look back to the 50's meat industry and what was done. Plymouth Rocks are medium to slow to mature. They may get large early but is generally all frame with little meat. The New Hampshire being a specifically bred strain of RIR for fast maturity was the key. This made for a good hybrid meat bird. The sire being Plymouth Rock and dam New Hampshire. The fast maturing meat growth is put on a larger frame. This combined with what is called hybrid vigor produced excellent meat birds. You in essence are doing the same. Using a large framed Jersey as sire and ? (Dixie Rainbow?) as the fast maturing. Being that the Dixie is already a hybrid I'm unsure if you'll obtain that hybrid vigor where the offspring is actually larger than both parents. Probably not but I don't know. And with this type of cross it's a one off as in only that F1 are effected. And again you can look to the 50's and find yields of that cross for industry then look at what was developed from sports into the Delaware as a sustainable breed. The Delaware does not compare to that hybrid made and doesn't even compare to the New Hampshire which is half it's ancestry. That I believe is due to poor breeding as soon after it's making the CornishX was making it's debut. Emphasis moves to laying and coloring not meat and here we are 60+ years later.

A small side project I had in mind, but no local feed stores were getting Dixie so put that whim aside, was to breed only the Dixie Rainbow. The project would be fun as there are two sides to it: First and foremost selection of breeders and moving them forward to see what it can do as a stable line of bird in two or three years. Second part of that is see what can be done with the color genetics from those best producing birds. With all that genetic material in the Dixie makes for near unlimited direction for a destination. I mean how cool would it be to get a stable line of dual purpose bird that was lemon base and red shoulders and hackles that cockerels would dress at 4 lbs in 14 weeks? It would be a fun project for sure. I've my irons in too many fires at this time to make a hatchery purchase of many birds. It's a good thing the local stores don't carry them as I really don't have the set up even for a few birds to join me at this time. It gets my mind racing with the possibilities though.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

There are a few on here who raise the Dixies, they were the ones who told me to try them. I agree, I am looking forward to learning what I can get mixing my breeds a bit. I will keep some Jersey females too. But mutts interest me
I figure no matter what I get they are unlikely to be as bad as the Cornish Cross. I will get a few, but I really dislike the breed, trying to find a good happy medium.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Week 4
The chicks now spend most of the day outside in the broiler pen

The Rainbow Dixies
They are currently an average of 583 grams or 1.29 lbs. They gained 189 grams this week.

The Red Rangers
They are currently an average of 586 grams or 1.29 lbs. They gained 208 grams this week.



The Jersey Giants
They are currently an average of 308 grams or 10.86 ounces. They gained 103 grams this week.

Finally my layers
They are currently an average of 312 grams or 11 ounces. They gained 100 grams this week