Best meat chickens?

[Kristin228]

Depends on what you want Cornish x have been explained well above. I haven’t tried any but I have some Malines hens that look real good very heavy meaty looking birds you might look into them if you don’t like the broilers.

Okay, thank you!

 

[Rose Quartz]

Okay, great, thank you! Should I get a mix of BR and CX?

Personally im not a fan of CX. But it depends on how much meat you want. My dad would keep the cornish cross until they were the size of store bought turkeys. I just dont find they taste that great. Personal preference is all.

 

[Redhead Rae]

CX sounds the best for what I'm looking for. I plan on getting a smaller amount of chicks to start out with. I just want to try out how I like having meat chickens and how well it goes! They will be housed in a chicken coop. There is an indoor area and an outdoor pen attached. I plan on purchasing them from Runnings. I don't really want any males, so broilers aren't my first choice. Thank you so much for your helpful feedback!

Most places only do straight runs of Cornish X because it doesn't matter because you'll slaughter them for food before they get to sexual maturity. I've heard good things about the COBB 500 strain of Cornish X.

Read the thread that I'll link to below. This guy does all his meat in a suburban back yard where they have restrictions on roosters and hen limits.
Trials And Tribulations Of Suburban Meat Bird Production

 

[Kristin228]

Personally im not a fan of CX. But it depends on how much meat you want. My dad would keep the cornish cross until they were the size of store bought turkeys. I just dont find they taste that great. Personal preference is all.

Thank you, I might get a mix so that I can taste both for future reference

 

[Kristin228]

Most places only do straight runs of Cornish X because it doesn't matter because you'll slaughter them for food before they get to sexual maturity. I've heard good things about the COBB 500 strain of Cornish X.

Read the thread that I'll link to below. This guy does all his meat in a suburban back yard where they have restrictions on roosters and hen limits.
Trials And Tribulations Of Suburban Meat Bird Production

Ohhhh okay, thank you. They should be slaughtered at 6-8 weeks old, correct?

 

[Redhead Rae]

Ohhhh okay, thank you. They should be slaughtered at 6-8 weeks old, correct?

Yes, if you let them live past 12-14 weeks, they get ENORMOUS and start dropping dead of heart issues. Not all of them will die, but many will.

Read that thread I linked in my previous post. This guy has about 3 years of trial and error in that thread and it is a good place to start for someone who hasn't raised meat birds before.

 

[RUNuts]

Okay, great, thank you! Should I get a mix of BR and CX?

Not if you only have one coop/run/tractor. Should be kept separate. In theory, you can brood them together and separate when the size difference is significant. The CX will outgrow and out compete the others. This leads to the CX abusing the others. Chickens are bullies and size matters. I wanted to do this until the details became clear. Given enough area and feeders, it should work. The key is enough area. If high density food production is goal, this won't work.

The Barred Rocks were very tasty. My experiment is getting CX to eat grass to try the flavor. They still go over the top on the prepared feed. But maybe it's enough for flavor.

I'm trying it and encourage you to try it too. I'll be waiting to hear back.

 

[KathryninQuebec]

Not if you only have one coop/run/tractor. Should be kept separate. In theory, you can brood them together and separate when the size difference is significant. The CX will outgrow and out compete the others. This leads to the CX abusing the others. Chickens are bullies and size matters. I wanted to do this until the details became clear. Given enough area and feeders, it should work. The key is enough area. If high density food production is goal, this won't work.

The Barred Rocks were very tasty. My experiment is getting CX to eat grass to try the flavor. They still go over the top on the prepared feed. But maybe it's enough for flavor.

I'm trying it and encourage you to try it too. I'll be waiting to hear back.

I agree about keeping the chicken breeds separate. But I did have great success in raising turkey poults with my CX on grass and grow out feed. By the time the CX were big enough to harvest the turkeys were ready for some more elbow room. Worked out perfect! Just make sure to put up some rounded cardboard or mesh in the corners so They do not smother each other. The turkeys actually encouraged the CX to move around and forage more like natural chicken breeds. I had never raised turkey before and I could not believe how mellow they were. I was able to take them for a forage walk around the property every day. I herded them like sheep. It was really quite tranquil.

 

[mixedbreeds]

I agree about keeping the chicken breeds separate. But I did have great success in raising turkey poults with my CX on grass and grow out feed. By the time the CX were big enough to harvest the turkeys were ready for some more elbow room. Worked out perfect! Just make sure to put up some rounded cardboard or mesh in the corners so They do not smother each other. The turkeys actually encouraged the CX to move around and forage more like natural chicken breeds. I had never raised turkey before and I could not believe how mellow they were. I was able to take them for a forage walk around the property every day. I herded them like sheep. It was really quite tranquil.

That’s pretty funny I was thinking of trying some turkeys next year

 

[Kristin228]

I ended up getting CX chicks y’all! They look super healthy and I will hopefully have a good experience with my first meat chickens! Thank you everyone for your help