What type of meat birds for self sufficiency.

[BeachyFarmChx]

Just my two cents....WAY more cost efficient to buy each year, raise for 8-9 weeks, and be DONE.  For several reasons. We use our two "chicken tractors" year round for all sorts of things.  Right now one of them is the sleeping area for our two pigs (we just leave the door open to the rest of their pen & run.) And the other will soon be the nightly roosting space for our turkeys. They constantly have something different rotating through them, so I have fewer structures to also build and maintain year round.  We re-use every single thing we buy, there is no "this is only for that."   By freeing ourselves up from the chore of meat birds the majority of the year I am able to dabble in other seasonal things, and by reusing feeders and housing my out of pocket expenses are mainly just feed and the cost of the animal.  It is also nice to have a seasonal change and not be saddled down with so many things going on.  We were able to go to the beach this year with my cousin only getting eggs and refilling water for our layers!  Because I carefully planned all of my ventures to end within the month before we left, and literally started two new farm things the week we came back. 

The end cost of our Organic Cornish X after 8&9 weeks were $8 EACH.  There is no way I could keep parent flocks going all year without doubling that cost (or more.) And the initial cost of building the tractor can be spread across different animals all year round. 

For my family, that is what is sustainable.  I have fun with my egg layers all year round, and occasionally pop a dozen in the incubator when I am up for a surprise.  There is no pressure to have a good hatch so that we can eat.  And we sell enough eggs to keep our layers self sustained with no need for $ input from us, they literally feed themselves with their own profits. 

^^Eric mentioned Delawares, I can definitely see how that would be a good mix.  Our Light Brahmas (basically the same as delaware) are twice the size of our other new egg layers at about 10 weeks old right now. And the males are supposed to reach 12 lbs by 20 weeks!  I've always enjoyed reading about breeding programs, but it's not right for me (I was going to say our family, but it's really ME! HA.  I always want to try new things!) and just wanted to share what I have learned.  

Fantastic post! Thank you. I just read it out loud to my hubby, as we had many of the same questions & concerns.
Sorry that some folks were offended. I was encouraged!

 

[Mortenson1987]

If you are looking for a self-sustaining flock that will set their own eggs you need to look for dual purpose birds that are prone to broodiness. I am currently trying to raise my own meat for my family so I ordered Black Giants, Dark Cornish, Ameracaunas, and Cuckoo Marans. Some I got for the pretty eggs but the Dark Cornish and Black Giants are for meat. I already had 4 mixed breed hens and one has proven broody so I am keeping her for that purpose
I also try to reduce my feed costs by allowing my chickens to free range, my property is covered in mulberry trees and when they were producing I fed very little purchased feed. I offer layer feed in the morning when I let them out of the coop and in the evenings before they put themselves away. I am also hoping to start growing some of my own feed for winter months to reduce costs as well. I sell excess eggs and some months they cover the feed costs but other months they don't. I also don't rely on only chickens for meat so I only butcher what they hatch. I am also raising ducks, bought rabbit recently, and plan on adding goats turkeys guineas and geese to my meat production.

 

[centrarchid]

Fantastic post! Thank you. I just read it out loud to my hubby, as we had many of the same questions & concerns.
Sorry that some folks were offended. I was encouraged!

What you are excited about is not self-sufficiency when you must outsource chicks and feed. You are excited about the outdoor feedlot concept that you do yourself.

 

[eviemethugh]

What you are excited about is not self-sufficiency when you must outsource chicks and feed. You are excited about the outdoor feedlot concept that you do yourself.

Is that so horrible? I think lots of people are looking to have more input into HOW their food is raised, without giving up vacations, tons of money, and doing hours of farm chores a day. This gets more off topic from OP, so I will keep it short. We free range (tractors are just used to coop at night), we have a 300 year old family connection to our local organic feed mill (amazing rations!), and we raised 200 **** happy chickens this summer. AND took several vacations. I call that a win win.
I am a huge advocate for more small poultry farms. Hundreds of thousands more! My family has farmed in America for 7+ generations, I have no clue how many before that in Europe. So many family farms around us are lost to debt to the big "name brand" chicken companies. We need to take back our food, our farms, and our interest in how it is all produced. More people should start with just a couple bucks and a couple chicks and not feel like it's all or nothing (i.e.: you don't have to raise your own corn and breed your own birds to do an amazing thing.)
Yes, it is not true self sufficiency if you are preparing for the apocalypse and need food security.
I think it is awesome how many people in this forum breed and keep records and improve lines over time! Y'all are doing a great thing, I hope you don't think my posts have put down what you do at all! So maybe, don't call me an outdoor feedlot

although I probably am, my feedlot chickens are way better/healthier/happier than what comes from the grocery store!

 

[eviemethugh]

HAHAHA, I was censored! Who knew you couldn't say "dang"

 

[centrarchid]

Is that so horrible? I think lots of people are looking to have more input into HOW their food is raised, without giving up vacations, tons of money, and doing hours of farm chores a day. This gets more off topic from OP, so I will keep it short. We free range (tractors are just used to coop at night), we have a 300 year old family connection to our local organic feed mill (amazing rations!), and we raised 200 **** happy chickens this summer. AND took several vacations. I call that a win win.  
I am a huge advocate for more small poultry farms.  Hundreds of thousands more! My family has farmed in America for 7+ generations, I have no clue how many before that in Europe. So many family farms around us are lost to debt to the big "name brand" chicken companies.  We need to take back our food, our farms, and our interest in how it is all produced. More people should start with just a couple bucks and a couple chicks and not feel like it's all or nothing (i.e.: you don't have to raise your own corn and breed your own birds to do an amazing thing.) 
Yes, it is not true self sufficiency if you are preparing for the apocalypse and need food security. 
I think it is awesome how many people in this forum breed and keep records and improve lines over time! Y'all are doing a great thing, I hope you don't think my posts have put down what you do at all! So maybe, don't call me an outdoor feedlot   although I probably am, my feedlot chickens are way better/healthier/happier than what comes from the grocery store!

You are not special when it comes to connectivity to the land. The ability to take numerous vacations during the production season I can not relate to unless you have some one else doing the work while you are gone. Part of the sustainability concept is how much work is involved. Some levels of labor input are not sustainable by all parties.

 

[Bigshooter]

I got Dorking, WR, DC, and Del's this year so I could start producing my own meat birds next year. I got the Dorking because they are known for going broody and also because they lay year round. I did not get them for meat. So they are going to be my incubators. I had planned on crossing DC with WR and Del hens next year. While I still might do that, my plans have changed. I was able to find some standard white Cornish on craigslist. So now I am going to use the WC to cross with my WR's and Del's. The WC that I got are 4 months old and are huge. So I think that crossing them should produce a good meat bird. I will be posting plenty of pics next year unless something goes really wrong this winter.

 

[centrarchid]

Will the WC require you to practice AI?

 

[Bigshooter]

Will the WC require you to practice AI?

No.

 

[BeachyFarmChx]

It's a shame how much drama is perpetuated on several of these threads instead of encouragement. Sad. It's not a competition, but a learning experience for everyone...even those who believe they know all of the answers. Because none of us do.

I have 20 birds. It's rather modest, but it's what we can handle at the moment. I appreciated @eviemethugh words because it spoke to average beginners or laymen. We have been raising chx for 3.5 years. It's included several killed, neighborhood reporting (and having to stop a while), many things. We would have probably had 40-55 birds this autumn, but lost a lot in spring due to mistakes.
Our current desire is to fill our freezer, quarterly through the year. We are keeping our layers, but doing a constant "add to flock & grow more" to try & replace the birds we plan to cull. I'm on here to learn from some very knowledgeable people, but it's very discouraging when I'm afraid to ask a question or make a post due to condescending folks. Let's be adults. If there's nothing you have to add that can help, can you please not add?

My current question is about dual breeds. I own a few. I read that the meat is stringy if they are allowed to lay a while and then they are culled. What feedback can you folks give on that?