Want to try and process my own but what kind should I get?

[momof247371]

I remember my grandfather processing his own hogs and chickens when i was little, i even helped. I get attached to my animals so i havnt done it myself yet. BUT i do want to give it a try this year...I was wanting to know, what kind of chicken should I get to process? ? How old do they have to be before i process them?weight? If i can get them, i will be posting other questions later on about the processing..Any help/info would be greatly appreciated.Thanks!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I love the shape and size of the cornish game bantams, but if you are looking for large amounts of meat, Jumbo X Cornishes. I have just been slaughtering my unwanted roosters.......of which I just did my very last one today, so I need to load up the incubator until I can figure out exactly what you are asking but for myself. I am considering a meat chicken as well as my dual purposes.

 

[cassie]

You cannot beat the Cornish X for meat. You can process them at 6 to 8 weeks for fryers.

 

[Ibicella]

That's really hard to answer because it depends on quite a lot of factors. Like what your personal needs/wants/goals are, whether you want straight meat birds or dual purpose meat/egg layers, how much money you want to invest, how fast you want to harvest, how many you want to do, what kind of space you have to keep them, whether you want to breed or not, and so on. I strongly recommend just researching for a while and coming back with some specific questions if you have them.

 

[momof247371]

Quote:
I am leaning twords strickly meat bird. I have egg layers of all breeds already. since its my first time but i want something i can turn around pretty quick. So something i can harvest in a short amount of time. I am looking to do between 10 and 20 for my first time. Would it be cheaper to breed them myself or buy chicks? And we have 4 acres for them to run on, we also have pasture too.....

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
I am leaning twords strickly meat bird. I have egg layers of all breeds already. since its my first time but i want something i can turn around pretty quick. So something i can harvest in a short amount of time. I am looking to do between 10 and 20 for my first time. Would it be cheaper to breed them myself or buy chicks? And we have 4 acres for them to run on, we also have pasture too.....

If you want to breed them yourself, you don't want Cornish X. If you want a quick turnaround, you do want the Cornish X. Something a little slower, maybe one of the Rangers would be good.

Most meat birds that are able to breed the way you want take a lot longer to grow out than the Cornish X meat birds.

So, you have to pick one or the other... quick turn around, or breed your own.

ETA
Personally, I have chosen to breed and raise my own. I will be experimenting with some of the Cornish X and Rangers this spring, just to see for myself, but my long term commitment is to raising the standard Dark Cornish meat bird.

 

[momof247371]

Rangers? what are they?

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

A set of 25 Commercial Broilers will be a good start for you. They will grow fast, be easy to process, and will produce a nice quality carcass for you to eat.

Jim

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
http://www.jmhatchery.com/free-range-broiler/freedom-ranger-chicks/prod_5.html