Best age to cull cockerels?

[Gray Farms]

I see. Do you know of any other breeds that are great layers and the males are pretty fast growing? Any specifically recommended?

Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, and Cornish would be good. I've also heard good things out Chanteclers, but never raised them myself. Iowa Blues are very fast maturing and very good layers, but they aren't as large as the other breeds I mentioned. Stay away from dark colors. Black pin feathers suck!

 

[Compost King]

as far as fast developing breed, where you get them from matters as much as the breed itself. Hatchery quality birds will lay well but they won't develop fast or mass up meat very well with a few exceptions that I can not list. I can just tell you that my ideal poultry Delawares were less than productive when it came to producing meat. Since I am not very good at getting a hold of quality breeders and convincing them to sell me something I found a poor mans way of getting meat birds. I bought some of those free ranging broilers (Red Rangers) and crossed them with my heritage breed roosters who had good size. I ended up with good results. Red Rangers look so much like NH Reds that if you only have access to Hatchery Stock maybe getting some Red Ranger Females and a NH male would make a great sustainable meat flock. I crossed them with a fair amount of different roosters and my best results were from a Silver Grey Dorking x Red Ranger. and I kept breeding the offspring back to the Dorking in an attempt to give the breed more Genetic diversity. I also Crossed Ayam Cemani x Red Ranger, Naked Neck x Red Ranger (good results) and RI White x Red Ranger. the last one is still in the brooder.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are five of us, one child so basically 4 people. Lol.

Mom used to feed a family of seven off of one chicken, often a hen. In addition to the regular pieces, she served back, gizzard, liver, and neck. Not sure why she didn't include the heart. Another way to stretch a chicken is to make chicken and dumplings or a stew.

Planning for both foraging and fattening up.
What type of feed is best for fattening up?

I don't fatten up so I'll leave that to others.

Stay away from dark colors. Black pin feathers suck!

That's why "meat birds" are typically either white or buff. I know some of the rangers are darker but there will always be exceptions to anything to do with chickens. I skin mine so feather color doesn't matter. But if you pluck darker feathers can make an ugly carcass.

other breeds that are great layers and the males are pretty fast growing? Any specifically recommended?

I'm not a huge fan of breed. To me strain is very important. Before the Cornish X took over the commercial meat industry in the 1950's the common meat birds were New Hampshire, Delaware, and some strains of White Rock in the US. But with the superiority of the Cornish X for meat production, hatcheries stopped breeding these for meat properties. If the breeder does not select for certain properties each generation, it doesn't take long for that flock to lose those special traits and them to become just regular dual purpose chickens. Different hatcheries have different people who select which chickens get to breed and they can have different criteria so there can be differences by hatchery. I've had the same breed from different hatcheries so I do believe that.

I've also got several cockerels (about 20 at a time) to butcher, all the same breed. One time it was red sex link cockerels, Rhode Island Red over Rhode Island Whites. The other time was Buff Rocks. There was a world of difference in size and rate of maturity between the smallest and the largest of both batches. They were not bred for consistency in size or maturity rate. When I'm trying to breed for meat my goal is not to breed the largest one cockerel I can, my goal is to consistently make the smallest a decent size. That generally means breeding the one that is the largest at the age I like to butcher. I once had 18 Buff Rock cockerels. Only three were left to choose my flock rooster from after I butchered all of the ones that failed my criteria.

I don't order straight run chicks anymore. I order how many pullets I want of the breed I want. I order how many cockerels of the breed I want, usually many more cockerels than pullets. I once got seven pullets out of seven straight run Buff Orps. If I had been counting on a male I'd have been out of luck. Plus I can get enough to select a good male for my breeding program.

If you can find a breeder that is breeding to your criteria you will be far ahead in establishing your flock compared to a hatchery. But that is not always easy. Plus hatcheries are breeding for the mass market and charge mass market prices. Good breeders are specialists and charge accordingly.

My main suggestion is to get different breeds and compare them yourself. Then go back to the same source for any more. New Hampshire, Delaware, and White Rocks aren't a bad place to start but there are several other breeds out there that could be as good or better. I'd expect any of them to lay pretty well but compare them yourself. It depends so much on what criteria the breeder is selecting to.

 

[Mosey2003]

It's all in the details and what you want to do.

I always say, if you're wanting to breed dual purpose with a view to meat, Buckeyes are highly recommended. As are New Hampshire. You are going to get the best results if you find a breeder who is also focused on meat qualities in their birds.

If you're only wanting to order from a hatchery, it's going to be a mixed bag. Black Sexlinks are good layers and the males aren't terrible for meat. Plus side there is you can tell them apart right away too. Otherwise, you'd probably want to try a few different breeds from whichever hatchery you prefer, obviously sticking to the heavier ones. Again, Buckeye, New Hampshire, White Rocks, Buff Orpington, Wyandottes, etc.

I like to cull mine around 16 weeks. I processed a 10 week one a little while ago because he was being an absolute ass to the pullets already, and I have no use for a bird like that. He's a cute little package, I can't remember what he weighed now, though I posted him in the Carcass thread. Just under 2lbs I think?

It's all up to you and what you want to try.

 

[aliciaplus3]

I have Delaware from privet hatchery in new Mexico and they turned out to be good sized birds

the cockrel here is out of them and a Large white rooster, he hit 5 pounds at 12 weeks. I have hatched quite s few out of him and I am excited to see them grow out!

 

[Hybridchucks]

Thanks everyone It's been really helpful