Recent content by Hoffy

  1. Hoffy

    free range for meat?

    I pasture mine, both Cx and Pioneers. The Cx are Excellent and ranging them seems to keep them free of any real ailments. Taste and tenderness are both great.
  2. Hoffy

    deep litter retrofit?

    Is it very dry? To compost, it needs moisture. If you have something other than a wooden floor, you can add some water and it will compost. A large coop with few birds will often have dry litter.
  3. Hoffy

    Introducing new members to a flock

    When I introduce new birds, I wait until they are 12 to 15 weeks - something that looks like they can handle themselves. The first few days are rough on the new birds, but I try to give them a couple advantages... - Make sure there is plenty of room in the run and coop for them to get away from...
  4. Hoffy

    My Cornish X experiment

    I did a bunch of weight analysis in the thread linked in my signature. I think the Cx are far more predictable than other breeds. Hope this helps!
  5. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    I would process the DP cockerels at 18-20 weeks; too much sooner and there wasn't much meat, too much longer and the meat got a bit tough for anything but slow cooking recipes. Comparatively, the Pioneers were distinctly larger and were ready by 12 weeks. After eating a few, they are a great...
  6. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    Well, the Pioneer pullets are now the largest birds in my flock (compared to a Welsummer, Australorp, and Barred rock here). They are without a doubt the most friendly chickens in my flock. They just started laying eggs last week (about 18 weeks old). Here is an early Pioneer pullet egg...
  7. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    For meat birds, I used to raise a lot of dual purpose breeds (white rocks, barred rocks, australorp, orpington, etc). For what it's worth, I would raise Pioneer over any of those breeds for meat.
  8. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    I'm glad to hear it and glad it was of use for you. Good luck with them! The two I kept for layers are some of the the most friendly birds I have ever raised. They all were great birds to raise, so I would get them again for slow cooking recipes.
  9. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    When raising Cx, it seems it has a lot to do with timing. I think they do better when raised in cooler weather, so I wanted to process them before it got too warm. I also found it has a lot to do with what and how they are fed. Mine are not fed pellets or crumble. That is too energy dense of...
  10. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    Quick update on taste... The flavor of the Pioneer is superior to the flavor of the Cx, but the Cx have larger breasts and the thighs/drumsticks are considerably more tender. This is to be expected based on bird age, but I was surprised how much more tender the legs were. Breast tenderness was...
  11. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    Three weeks later and this morning was processing time for the remaining birds. Here are the pioneers and the one remaining Cx at 12 weeks of age (which was still tiny). The Pioneer pullets were distinctly smaller than the cockerels. I kept two of the Pioneer hens to add to my laying...
  12. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    Most certainly! I didn't take or post pictures of the Cx because I figured that most in the meat birds thread would be familiar with them. I will be sure to post the Pioneer carcass and the last remaining Cx side-by-side after they get processed.
  13. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    Two more weeks, up to week 9 today. At 7.5 weeks, all but one of my Cx took a spin on the Whizbang tilt-a-whirl and are now relaxing in freezer camp. Average dressed weight was just over 5 lbs (largest was 5.6 and smallest was 4.5 lbs dressed). They all dressed beautifully, but looked like...
  14. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    Week 7. Skipped another week because the growth was as expected. I plan to process all but the two smallest Cx next weekend. All chicks outside the coop at week 7. On first glance, the Cx and Pioneer seem similarly sized. The Pioneer are actually a bit taller and about the same length...
  15. Hoffy

    CX and Pioneer side-by-side

    The grower I am using is a fine grind mash from a local farm and feed producer (awesome stuff for $10.50 per 50 lbs. bag). It comes out at 18% protein. I put this in feed buckets on the far side of their fence and supplement this with a scratch mix throughout the yard to encourage foraging. They...
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