11 week old Buff Orpington Cockerel weighs 2lbs. Normal weight for age?

[777funk]

We just weighed one on our kitchen scale. I was surprised to see that the bird only weighs 2 lbs. I figured he should weigh a little more at this age. These birds make it to around 8 lbs fully grown I think.

 

[junebuggena]

Is it from a breeder or from hatchery stock? Hatchery sourced birds won't get nearly as big as birds that come from good show lines. I think the average hatchery quality Buff Orpington would be about 5 or 6 pounds as an adult.

 

[777funk]

Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon MO. And were sold as Frypan special.

Interesting. Sounds like the yield won't be quite as good as other birds.

 

[junebuggena]

Only the specially bred meat birds will be harvest sized before 12 weeks. Most standard breed cockerels aren't big enough for processing until they are at least 4 or 5 months old. You should get plenty of meat if you wait till those boys are almost fully grown.

 

[777funk]

Good to know. We feed them each approximately 1/2 lb of cracked corn a week and let them free range during the daytime. They eat grass and bugs constantly. They love to scratch in the woods.

Hopefully they'll be good eating birds and they make it to 5 months without predators. We're only half done if we go to 5.5 months old. Haven't seen any hawks so far. Have seen a coyote dropping near their cage a month or two back.

 

[junebuggena]

Cracked corn isn't a good diet for healthy chickens. And free ranging isn't going to provide them with all the essential nutrients that a growing bird will need either. They should have a nutritionally complete and balanced chicken feed available all day long. Cracked corn should be used as a treat and fed sparingly. It is not a good choice for a primary feed.

 

[777funk]

I just talked to Cackle and they said that 10-12 weeks is best for their frypan special and that they'll weigh 1.5lbs dressed. They said after that will be bigger but tougher.

Also, they ate 1# of chick starter until 4 weeks then 1/2 and 1/2 of starter and cracked corn then on and also moved in the tractor until 8 weeks. Then they were fed 1/2# of cracked corn and free ranged in the woods from 8 to bucher.

The flavor wasn't what we were after and they were pretty tough. But we dressed them at 14-22 weeks. None were too good. I will admit we baked them a little too long since they were so small and we were used to store birds. But still the flavor and smell were not to our taste. Maybe cornish cross next time.

Actually, I just looked at the link for these birds and it states 4-5 months for dressing at 5-6# live weight:
http://www.cacklehatchery.com/100-frypan-w5-free-exotic-chicks.html#product_tabs_description_tabbed

I'd guess that's a more standard setup. I am not a fan of these though (for meat) will get cornish cross next time if there is one.

 

[junebuggena]

I just talked to Cackle and they said that 10-12 weeks is best for their frypan special and that they'll weigh 1.5lbs dressed. They said after that will be bigger but tougher.

Also, they ate 1# of chick starter until 4 weeks then 1/2 and 1/2 of starter and cracked corn then on and also moved in the tractor until 8 weeks. Then they were fed 1/2# of cracked corn and free ranged in the woods from 8 to bucher.

The flavor wasn't what we were after and they were pretty tough. But we dressed them at 14-22 weeks. None were too good. I will admit we baked them a little too long since they were so small and we were used to store birds. But still the flavor and smell were not to our taste. Maybe cornish cross next time.

Actually, I just looked at the link for these birds and it states 4-5 months for dressing at 5-6# live weight:
http://www.cacklehatchery.com/100-frypan-w5-free-exotic-chicks.html#product_tabs_description_tabbed

I'd guess that's a more standard setup. I am not a fan of these though (for meat) will get cornish cross next time if there is one.

The feed might be part of your problem. Corn is very low in protein and is useful as a calorie supplement, but should never be used as feed. Young, growing birds (that are not Cornish Cross) need access to a complete and balance feed all day long to reach their maximum potential.

 

[Crista]

At 8 months ours were at a disappointing 3 # butchered. We fed recommended commercial feed avail all the time. These were hatchery birds. Great layers. Should have kept them as layers lol. Prob will go back to brahma next time.