Breeds for producing meat chickens

[Mahlzeit]

Wao none of my chickens are good meat wise at 5 weeks. I must have the wrong chickens or feeding the wrong food to them. I have rir. I also heard that the meat is hard and needs to be put in a pressure pot. How and what breed do I need for meat

We're talking about how long a hen can retain the sperm of a rooster after you separate her from the rooster. But if you are looking for a chicken specifically for meat then I would suggest the cornish X

 

[Ridgerunner]

Delaware, New Hampshire, and some strains of White Rock were developed as meat birds before the Cornish Rock, Cornish X, broiler, whatever you want to call today’s meat birds were developed. That was 50 years ago or more. If you don’t continually reinforce certain traits with chickens by selecting the breeders based on those traits, the chickens fairly quickly lose those traits. Breeders have not been reinforcing those traits for over 50 years. Today’s Delaware, New Hampshire, and White Rock are nothing compared to those bred for meat way back then.

There is more to a meat bird than pure size. How long do you have to feed the bird to get him to butchering weight? How expensive is that feed? Chickens will put on weight faster if you feed them a high-protein feed. A high-protein feed is expensive. There is a balance for what works for you. I saw an advertisement from way back then where the strain of Delaware chicks being sold would hit 4 pounds at 10 weeks, but that required a certain feed regimen.

I’m not trying to put anyone down, I have a lot of respect for people that breed showbirds, but I’m not a believer that a showbird automatically makes a good meat bird. You have to know the breeder. If they are just breeding for show, they are breeding and raising the chickens for what the judge sees. The judge does not see how fast a chicken grows or how much it costs to put that weight on him. They are often fed special diets to get that look, like adding a little vegetable oil to the feed to make the feathers shiny. Some supplement the feed with Manna to really get the protein level up there. If you can find a breeder where rate of growth and efficiency of feed to weight gain are goals, then you will be much better off, but just because a bird is big does not make it a good meat bird.

Teaspoon, how big of a chicken do you need? There are only two of us. We get two meals out of a fairly small pullet. If they are bigger than that small pullet I eat chicken for lunch, maybe once maybe three times. Some people are led to believe that bigger is always better, but is it really?

You can eat any bird of any age or sex, but you need to adjust your cooking techniques to the specific bird. The older they are the slower you need to cook them and you need to provide moisture. I recently roasted a 3-year-old rooster at 250 degrees for 4 hours in a covered roasting pan with just a little water. Delicious. If I had tried to fry or grill him, he would only be fit for the dogs.

Some people butcher their chickens at 12 weeks so they are young enough to be fried or grilled. There is not much meat there. I like to wait to at least 4 months and preferably 5 so there is more meat but I don’t fry or grill them.

Teaspoon, at what age are you going to be butchering yours? Which of those roosters will give you the best carcass at that age based on the way you feed them? If you are going to buy all their feed and eat them young, you might want a different one than if they pretty much forage for all their feed and you butcher them much later. I think that is the type of criteria you should be looking at to decide which rooster you want to breed, what suits your unique situation. The general rule is to eat the ones you don’t want to and breed the ones you’d rather eat.

If you are selling pullets, you will probably get a better price for purebreds or maybe Easter Eggers, especially if they hatch from blue or green eggs. I think an Easter Egger should hatch from a blue or green egg before you call it an Easter Egger. People want a pullet to lay a blue or green egg if you call it an EE. A pullet that hatches from a colored egg has a chance of laying a colored egg.

If you elect to keep your Buff Orps and sell the pullets as Buff Orps, I suggest you get a copy of the Standards of Perfection (SOP) for Buff Orpingtons and at least try to breed to those standards. You’ll find it is not real easy but unless you put some effort into it, yours won’t even be hatchery quality in a generation or two. They do lose those characteristics pretty fast unless you select your breeders for those qualities. That’s why the EE’s may be the best way to go. People will get excited about the colored eggs and there are no standards for EE’s.

Personally I don’t breed my barnyard mix flock to anyone’s standards but my own. I eat the roosters I don’t want to breed and eat the hens that don’t lay the way I want them to. Yeah, I can be kind of anti-social.

If you understand what you are really after you can get there. Good luck!

 

[Arielle]

Ridgerunner-- always good stuff to read from you!!

I have been searching for lines that have been kept as meat breeds-- the list is short.

Try Yellow house Farm-- ancona and dorking
kathinmo- dels
THeDragonLady- buff orpingtons
Chris McMarthy- buckeyes
Mr Reese --NH

THere are other too.

Realize I have not personally seen stock other than a roast from Yellow house Farm. YHF breeds stock to sell as roasters--

 

[Natalijaasbj]

I learned how to make the butchered bird last more than couple meals. We are a family of three and one big roo lasts us for a while.
1. Slow cook the roo and enjoy the wonderful tasting and nourishing meat(you will be actually satisfied with much smaller portions than those of store bought chicken).
2. Throw bones and skin back to the crock pot, add some water and make outstanding stock, adding vegetables and spices.
3. Pour the broth out, add more water, get more stock out.
4. Get some more water, and make another batch of stock.
5. Roast gizzard, head, feet, heart with some veggies and mamke stock from these parts as well. The stocks are a base of amazing soups you can make. It contains so much collagen, which is needed for healthy and youthful look and feel.
6. Don't forget the liver -put it in the freezer. When you have butchered more chickens later you will make amazing liver pate or something else.

Use all the edible parts, and those which u do not use or like, cut into small pieces and give to chickens or if they are picky, give to the dogs.

 

[dolfi]

Thank you so much. That was just what I needed. So far I guess that my choice for EE was good. Now I need to get Cornish X because we do grill our food and fry. See I want to get benefits out of my flock as well as my entertainment. But I need to convince hubby that he will benefit from them too. Lol . need the best tasty, soft and in less time chicken

 

[teaspoon]

Thanks everyone, especially Ridgerunner. I've considered why I want meat birds, and I think it's really because I want to hatch eggs. I don't want to buy new birds, I want to breed the ones I have to see what I get. I want a big colorful flock of hens that lay colorful eggs, and I just need to figure out what to do with the roosters. So the obvious answer to me was to eat them. But to kill a bird for a pound of meat, when I could have had 4 pounds seems a waste, so I wanted a bigger meat bird.

And if I have to separate the roosters for five weeks in order to know for sure who the sire is, I don't think I care all that much. I'll just hatch the eggs from hens I like and enjoy guessing who the father is based on the chicks' color and whether or not they have muffs/tufts/beards and eventually, but the color eggs thy lay.

Also, I wouldn't mind butchering at four months instead of 2 months if they could forage and find most of their own food. But I live in a very dry area, and I think I would just get a lot of big skinny roosters.

So, I don't think I need to breed for size, if I can find something else to do with the roosters. I know someone with a pet Caimen, and there are a few falconers in the area. And there's a small zoo at a college nearby that has a few carnivores. Maybe I could supply them with whole frozen cockerels?

 

[tniron]

Ridgerunner-- always good stuff to read from you!!

I have been searching for lines that have been kept as meat breeds-- the list is short. 

Try Yellow house Farm-- ancona and dorking
kathinmo- dels
THeDragonLady- buff orpingtons
Chris McMarthy- buckeyes
Mr Reese --NH

THere are other too. 

Realize I have not personally seen stock other than a roast from Yellow house Farm. YHF breeds stock to sell as roasters-- 

Does Mr Reese ship either eggs ot chicks? If so how do i get in touch with him?

 

[Arielle]

Quote: HE ships eggs. IT has been talked about a few times on BYC-- see if a post in the last 18 months will pop up in a search. I will look and see if I put the info in a word file.

Edited to add-- he does sell birds-- at an extra cost. Please understand that he is not a hatchery geared toward instant service, but patience and a waiting list is likely.

 

[Arielle]

I apoligize that this is not dated, and the cost of eggs or shiping may have changed.

"If anyone is interested in some good Standard Bred poultry, I just got this from Frank Reese, he is going to be selling chicks, hatching eggs and grown stock. His prices look very reasonable.


Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch Inc..
“THE OLDEST CONTINUOUS BREEDING FLOCK OF STANDARD BRED TURKEYS IN AMERICA”
The Mission of Good Shepherd Ranch is preservation of Standard Bred poultry
Life time member of the American Poultry Association and Master breeder
The hatchery and breeding birds are certified by the National Poultry Improvement Program (N.P.I.P.) through USDA
2013 Poultry sale list of hatching eggs, chicks, poults, ducks and geese:
All poultry at Good Shepherd are standard bred birds raised to meet the Standards of the American Poultry Association. Frank Reese has been raising, breeding, hatching and showing poultry for of 50 years. All the poultry raised at Good Shepherd can be trace back to known old American flocks. We have no factory genetics on our farm. All the birds, chicks and egg being sold are for breeding stock and not for just egg and meat. The main reason for selling our birds is to help people get started breeding and raising their own birds. We work very hard to keep our standard bred poultry at the highest of level for standard bred poultry meat production and eggs production. Many people are now calling standard bred poultry heritage poultry today but their real name is standard bred.
1. Barred Plymouth Rock of the Ralph Sturgeon strain. Got my first Barred Rocks in 1956 from Ralph from Ohio. Barred Rocks were King of the farm and meat world for over 50 years.

• Hatching eggs are 24 dollars a dozen
• Day old chicks for breeding stock are 5 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 4 dollar each over 100
• Grown breeding stock 25 dollars and up from there depending on quality.

2. White Jersey Giants are pure Golda Miller strain. Have had Giants since 1962

• Hatching eggs are 30 dollars a dozen
• Day old chicks for breeding stock are 6 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 5 dollars each over 100
• Grown breeding stock 25 dollars and up from there depending on quality.

3. Dark and White Laced Indian Game Cornish are pure Tommy Reece strain. Got my start in Cornish in 1994 when Tommy Reece passed away.

• Hatching eggs are 30 dollars a dozen
• Day old chicks for breeding stock are 6 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 5 dollars each over 100
• Grown breeding stock 30 dollars and up from there depending on quality.

4. New Hampshire got my first New Hampshire back in 1956 from a friend of the family. My strain of New Hampshire’s is the old meat strain.

• Hatching eggs are 24 dollars a dozen
• Day old chicks for breeding stock are 5 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 4 dollars each over 100
• Grown breeding stock is 20 dollars each and up from there depending on quality.

5. Columbian Wyndotte I have been working for years to make and improve my own Columbian Wyndotte. With the help from the late Cecil Moore I feel I have come up with a very good Columbian Wyndotte.

• Hatching eggs are 24 dollars a dozen
• Day old chicks for breeding stock are 5 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 4 dollars each over 100
• Grown breeding stock 25 dollars and up from there depending on quality.

6. Bronze turkeys from Norman Kardosh, Rolla Henry and Cecil Moore. I got my first turkeys back in 1958 from Norman Kardosh and kept them ever since. The standard Bronze is the King of turkeys and cannot be beat for a fine heritage turkey.

• Hatching eggs are 5 dollars each for less than 4 dozen eggs and 4 dollars each egg above 4 dozen
• Day old poults are 10 each for less than 100. Their 9 dollars each for 100 to 300 and 8 dollars each above 300
• Grown breeding stock starts at 100 dollars each and up from there depending on quality.

7. Narragansett turkeys from Norman Kardosh, they were Norman’s favorite turkeys. Got my first Narragansett in 1966

• Hatching eggs are 5 dollars each for less than 4 dozen eggs and 4 dollars each egg above 4 dozen.
• Day old poults are 10 dollars each for less than 100. Their 9 dollars each for 100 to 300 and 8 dollars each above 300
• Grown breeding stock starts at 100 dollars each and up from there depending on quality.

8. White Holland is a sport of my Bronze as they were first made 150 years ago. Large self –breeding white turkeys with brown eyes. I worked with Norman Kardosh over a number of years to make a good White Holland.

• Hatching eggs are 5 dollars each for less than 4 dozen eggs and 4 dollars each egg above 4 dozen
• Day old poults are 10 dollars each for less than 100. Their 9 dollars each for 100 to 300 and 8 dollars each above 300
• Mature breeding stock is 100 dollars each and up depending on quality.

9. The Blacks were kept at Danny Williamson’s farm for a number of years and Danny did a great job of keeping size up and a good black bird.

• Hatching eggs are 5 dollars each for less than 4 dozen eggs and 4 dollars each egg above 4 dozenl
• Day old poults are 10 dollars each for less than 100. There are 9 dollars each for 100 to 300 and 8 dollars each above 300.
• Mature breeding stock is 100 dollars each and up depending on quality.

10. We do have smaller amount of breeds we are working on at this time to help save and preserve.
Rose Comb White Leghorns, Blue Andalusian, Rose comb Ancona, Dark Brown Leghorn, Buff Leghorn, Rose Comb Minorca, White Faced Black Spanish, Silver Laced Wyandotte, White Cornish that are Lou Straits old line, Golda Miller’s pure line of Black Jersey Giants which I got from Golda the first time in 1960 and Sadie Lloyd’s line of Bourbon Red Turkeys If there is a breed you’re looking for please let us know and we might be able to help you find a good old line of that breed. It is always best to buy poultry from a known breeder who has work hard to preserve and maintain an old line of poultry.

11. We also have Roger Stanford’s line of Rouen ducks, Gerald Donnelly’s line of Aylesbury ducks, Rolla Henry’s line of Dewlap geese both gray and buff and Roger Stanford’s line of African geese. Please contact us for pricing.

It is always best to come to the farm to pick up your birds. Give us a chance to teach about the birds you are buying. If you wish us to ship live birds we will only ship by air. The flight must be a direct flight to a major airport with no flight changes. You will have to pay to have us drive them to the airport and the cost of shipping.

Contacts for information about birds

Frank R. Reese Jr.
730 Smoky Valley Road

• , Kansas 67456

785 227 3972

• email
• website
• website

• Reese

620 664 1778 phone

• email

Ryon Carey
620 245 7469 phone

• email

 

[tniron]

I read somewhere Mr. Reese no longer ships eggs is this true?