Bielefelders how long do they take

[Bookworm0124]

Has anyone here raised Bielefelder's strictly for meat? How long did they take to get to a decent size?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It always depends on how you intend to cook them not the breed.

Broil/grill- 12-14 weeks
Fry- up to 18 weeks
Roast- best 20-24 weeks, can up to 9 months or year- not recommended.

 

[jolenesdad]

why did you give away your Delawares? A friend and I are thinking of getting some as meat birds this year, did they not work well for you?

It wasn’t the Delawares fault.

I had probably the most utility line I could find (Dawnridge farm in California.... excellent birds), but it just came down to my personal goals. I’ll try to be brief.

I haven’t ever personally had heritage utility-bred birds, and after having them firsthand and monitoring feed intake, etc, I realized the long term cost of trying to hatch out enough to realistically try and improve them to a worthwhile utility space.

at that point, they don’t even really fit the SOP, so what am I really doing? Chasing what has already been done with some broilers.

I’m not a fan of Cornish, but, have found a hybrid broiler I love. It’s called the Imperial broiler from Moyers and it’s similar to red rangers. Hubbard genetics (one of the companies that makes all those broilers) has some cool birds out there that are really healthy and just so much more economical in the long run to produce incredible meat for my family in much larger amounts for less commitment...

Also, consistency. Most heritage breeds don’t have the greatest consistency. I have all my meat birds processed at once at a USDA processor so I can donate things I don’t use to food pantries. While many of the Delaware cockerels grew to respectable weights (3 lb finished dressed weight at 13 weeks), 30-40% did not and needed more time. It would be better if I processed myself as they reached sizes I wanted but that doesn’t work for me doing a couple hundred meat birds a year.

 

[Tbird84]

Well my trio were hatched January 28th. I got to weigh them the other night and they were right around 5lbs. I'm hoping they continue to plump up. They do free range daily though. I won't be butchering any of these, so will have to wait for babies next year to find out a true measure.

 

[Bookworm0124]

Following as I'd like to know too.

If nobody else pipes in I'll know in a month or two. I have some in the incubator now set to hatch on the 20th.

 

[jolenesdad]

When I was shopping around, breeders told me that the boys take around 12-14 weeks to reach 5-6 pounds live weight.

Can’t wait to see how yours do!

 

[Tbird84]

Following as I'd like to know too.

 

[Bookworm0124]

Yes @Bookworm0124 i don’t remember hearing how yours grew out and what you kept?

I didn’t end up keeping them. I’m running low on room hahaha. I’m trying to decide who to keep from my layer flock so I can make room for some Delaware’s. My daughter got some bantams that are taking up my little coop :-/

 

[EggSighted4Life]

why did you give away your Delawares? A friend and I are thinking of getting some as meat birds this year, did they not work well for you?

I also sold of my hatchery Delaware... late layer, never reached DP size... NOT impressed. Though I'm not easily impressed.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

If nobody else pipes in I'll know in a month or two. I have some in the incubator now set to hatch on the 20th.

That was my birthday and I'm waiting for Bielefelders (until February and April) right now!

How'd they do? Pics?!