Bielefelders how long do they take

[Rlmp817]

Maybe we should have traded. Lolllll I gave away all my Delawares for space, too.

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?

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Rlmp817]

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.

Wow! Thanks! Interesting info.