Raising meat chickens to make more meat chickens

[Mrs. K]

I too was going to mention the Delaware - they do make a better carcass, well better than most dual purpose birds.

To the original poster - I strongly recommend you try a few out, instead of going whole hog with one kind or another. I raised dual purpose for years, and even now I have them in my laying flock. The cockerels I get - I tend to process at about 16 weeks - and I use the meat for casseroles or soup.

But the truth is, I love KFC kind of chicken. I want it tender when I fry it. And you get that kind of meat with meat birds...in less than 8 weeks. There is just the two of us on a cattle ranch - a dozen of those birds will feed us chicken for the year easily.

I know you think you want to raise your own, and not be dependent on a company. Well if I couldn't get them, we would not starve - and they are not that expensive...worth at least a few head if you have a separate set up. I don't think they do well with traditional birds.

MRs K

 

[Coops Dad]

I too was going to mention the Delaware - they do make a better carcass, well better than most dual purpose birds.

To the original poster - I strongly recommend you try a few out, instead of going whole hog with one kind or another. I raised dual purpose for years, and even now I have them in my laying flock. The cockerels I get - I tend to process at about 16 weeks - and I use the meat for casseroles or soup.

But the truth is, I love KFC kind of chicken. I want it tender when I fry it. And you get that kind of meat with meat birds...in less than 8 weeks. There is just the two of us on a cattle ranch - a dozen of those birds will feed us chicken for the year easily.

I know you think you want to raise your own, and not be dependent on a company. Well if I couldn't get them, we would not starve - and they are not that expensive...worth at least a few head if you have a separate set up. I don't think they do well with traditional birds.

MRs K

A dozen will feed you chicken for the YEAR?!? I easily eat 4 or 5 chickens a month MYSELF, plus my wife and son will put away another 2 or 3.

My experience is Cornish Cross don't do well with other chickens because they're still just chicks even though they're almost the same size as the layers at a month old and their poor feather coverage, exposed pink skin and lack of mobility make them a target. I mix my CXs with turkey poults and raise them together until it's time to process the CXs, then the poults are integrated in with the main flock. My experience with turkeys shows them to be good flockmates for CXs, not prone to bullying.