Tips for raising cornish broilers

[SesameRoad]

Straight run is good. If you hadn't picked what you were doing, I was going to suggest straight run. With straight run, you should get both males and females, which will even out the weight on the birds. When I did all males, they had weight issues because they were more competitive towards the food, so no one got as big as they would have if I had straight run. (Doing all females is the second best option.)

Okay great. It will be straight run. Trying to decide if i should do freedom rangers instead

 

[SesameRoad]

Straight run is good. If you hadn't picked what you were doing, I was going to suggest straight run. With straight run, you should get both males and females, which will even out the weight on the birds. When I did all males, they had weight issues because they were more competitive towards the food, so no one got as big as they would have if I had straight run. (Doing all females is the second best option.)

Opinion on freedom rangers?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Opinion on freedom rangers?

I've never raised them, so I don't know how they are.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You could do three weeks... but I personally think it's kinda young. I would wait until they're at least four (to five) weeks old before butchering. Otherwise, you'll be getting some small birds that isn't really worth the effort put into them.

They're almost as big as bowling balls now but I have not weighed them.

(Are you butchering them yourself or hiring a butcher?)

We hire it done. We tried it once and discovered we're no good at it and too old to learn (I'm a 70 yo former city gal, he's a couple years younger). Besides, we don't do enough birds, or often enough, to get the practice required.

Also, being so small, they might be hard to butcher properly. (Example, you might not be able to fully clean them out. Chick down will also be an issue.)

Thank you, good point.

If you're only doing three a week, you can raise them longer if you have the means to do so. On average, the big companies butcher at six weeks old. For the ones we raised, we butchered them at eight weeks old (nine weeks at the latest with the smaller birds).

Good to know, thanks. Some of them already just about can't walk, poor things. Lights off at night so they don't eat 24/7.

I don't know if you’re going for size or not, but I would butcher the biggest at six weeks, second biggest at seven weeks, and smallest at eight weeks.

No, size is not particularly an issue. They're already close to the same size as our adult layers. It's a little frightening! Lol

Are you allowing your birds to rest (keep them in the refrigerator for a day or two before freezing)? That might help with freezer space if you need it.

Freezer space is not the issue, refrigerator space is, for resting before freezing. That's why I'm only doing 3 at a time. I figure 4 days resting, then on to the freezer so I can do the next batch.

Okay, thanks. Guess I will start processing at six weeks ... unless their health requires me to act sooner. Thanks again.