Broiler Meat Birds: To Brood Or Not To Brood

[Arielle]

THis has always been a heated subject. Personally, I like hearing all the ideas: a few good gems to learn from. IMHO.

 

[Island Roo]

Some of the confusion for people new to keeping chickens or any other livestock (like me) comes when we place broiler crosses in the same conditions as other chicken breeds.

We see our other breeds thriving under those conditions and they even prefer to go out to forage for bugs when there is a full feeder in front of them. The first time I got broilers, I treated them the same as my layers and voila - lazy, stinky, messy, disgusting creatures prone to dying young.

I have since changed the way I keep broilers and have much better success. I switched to alternate / more active, ranging broiler crosses and I prefer that for my little operation.

For a beginner, I think we don't even know what question to ask. I did a lot of research before raising broilers and I probably had the answers right in front of me - maybe its one of those things you have to see it to believe it. I did not have the luxury of someone to show me - and explain (even though some of tried thru these forums and for that I'm grateful)

I still feel something ain't right about those cornish cross birds and I prefer not to be a part of it. Each to their own...

 

[Arielle]

THis is my first and last year with broilers. A good learning experience all around.

Like you said, most of us don't have a mentor to help us learn the ropes. I"ll leave these birds to the experienced.

 

[Boichik86]

Written below is my take on the "Broiler" breed of meat birds and why I will never, ever use them again:

They are terribly disgusting creatures that poop constantly and lay in it as if it were a comfortable bed. Their white feathers turn yellow, if they even develop which in most cases they do not because they are engineered to grow at such a rapid pace. They are not a natural breed of chicken. They are genetically modified by scientists to make the most meat grow on a bird in the shortest period of time and with the least amount of food possible. At six weeks old, they can barely stand up so they end up just laying down all day and create what we call "bed sores." By the time they are ready to be culled (eight weeks) they can barely even stand and it is the best thing possible for them at that point. If people want to raise chickens for meat I suggest they don't use broilers, white rocks are a far better choice. They can be raised like a normal chicken and be with the rest of the flock. Unlike the broilers who if you put outside, don't even know how to be a real chicken. If you have anything else to add to this please feel free to comment. Thanks

I don't know about all of that, as it seems to be in stark contrast to what I have experienced. I put my broiler chicks out on pasture early, when they were 5 days old. They have taken to running, foraging, scratching, flying and hunting like a real chicken. Why, I even make mine roost in my peach tree! The turkeys and roosters help teach and protect the little cornish rock peeps, even if they do bully the little ones a bit. I also don't leave feed in front of them 24/7. Just common sense if you do a little research onto broiler health problems. I throw chick crumbles out on the lawn once in the morning and once at dusk. If you raise it like a real chicken, it will grow into a real chicken; If you raise it like a meat machine, it will grow into a meat machine. Simple as that. Perhaps you should evaluate what might be wrong with your husbandry methods before you pass a sweeping judgement over an animal that is just doing what we bred it to do. By the way, in case nobody has corrected your statement yet, cornish rocks are not genetically modified in the way you are implying. They were selectively hybridized over the last 50-60 years for rapid growth and double-muscling. They express what is called hybrid vigor. Truth be told, the birds are marvels of agricultural science, that have been proven to convert feed into meat more efficiently than any other variety of chicken, bar-none. Maybe if you cut back on the amount of feed you are giving them and free range them when they are young, preferably with a grown chicken to show them the ropes, you might have better results. Also, why is your post titled "Broiler Meat Birds: To Brood Or Not To Brood" when at no point do you even passingly mention brooding or breeding in your body paragraph? Your thread should be titled "I hate cornish rocks and this is why..."

 

[Boichik86]

First of all....
People! please, I thought we have a right to express our own opinion about certain aspects of raisng meat flock on this forum. I guess I was wrong. These days you have to be politically correct... even discussing breeds of chickens people like or do not like.
I have to agree that when you, Evan, wrote that CX are "terrible,disgusting creatures" it sounded...well... cruel. And I agree with Angel that this is NOT their fault that people made them like that. I think I would say it is "terrible, digusting" what people are doing these days to produce their "meat" quickly. Nevermind that the birds ' organs fail because of unnatural quick growth. Nevermind they are barely moving before "harvesting" and many of them have half-naked bodies and can not walk still being a "chick" age.
I never thought about it ( I am new to chickens) until yesterday when I saw the big flock of almost ready to "harvest" CXs. Now... they were raised in perfect conditions( I myself am a customer of this farm - I got my heritage birds there), so I know these people who run this farm and how respectfully they treat all of their animals.
My 6 y.o.son saw this flock of CX's and ran to see them. And I did not like what I saw...They were SO different from my heritage flock - they looked like bunch of barely moving old and tired chickens. Many of them had skin exposed. Some of them were laying down. That was NOT a pretty picture I have to say. I felt sorry for these birds. I will never ever raise them after what I saw.
Again, this is my opinion. Does not matter if you have the same opinion on the issue or not, we should feel free to express our disagreements.
Natalija

I think you are missing the point of why people are upset by this forum, Not only is it deceitfully entitled
"Broiler Meat Birds: To Brood Or Not To Brood"

when the author makes NO attempt to even mention the topics of brooding or breeding, he also fills his body paragraph with inacurate, misinformed, subjective opinions that are intended to cause dissension. BTW this has nothing to do with political correctness, it has to do with troll posters posting misleading threads! We are entitled to our indignance, thank you very much.

 

[cassie]

is a Cornish roaster the same as a Cornish hen?

In the McMurray catalog, the Cornish Roasters are a slightly slower growing variety of the CornishX and may have fewer problems. A Cornish hen is simply a Cornish X that is butchered very young.

 

[aoxa]

I am the CX advocate police lately. I am really saddened to hear all the negative comments about the hybrid. They are not disgusting birds. They are active, friendly and inquisitive things. They are very food motivated. VERY much food motivated.

If you can not free range, a tractor is advisable. Move it daily. DO NOT crowd it. Only feed twice a day what they can eat within 15 minutes or so. Sure it takes them a bit longer to grow out, but they really work to get that extra food from what nature has to offer them. This makes a healthier meat bird in the end.

They don't smell any more than any other chicken. They should not sit in their filth unless they are living in deplorable conditions.

Try electric netting and make a paddock. They will thrive.

I love the CX, and they will always be a part of my farm.

CX birds free ranging @ 6 weeks.

and at 12 weeks.

 

[cassie]

X2. I wanted to give you an ovation but I never did see the ovation thingy. I loved by CornishX. I did not free range mine but kept them in a large well ventilated box stall in the barn bedded on shavings. My setup was just about labor free and my chickens did very well. I would like to set up something similar here.

 

[ShinShien]

Written below is my take on the "Broiler" breed of meat birds and why I will never, ever use them again:

They are terribly disgusting creatures that poop constantly and lay in it as if it were a comfortable bed. Their white feathers turn yellow, if they even develop which in most cases they do not because they are engineered to grow at such a rapid pace. They are not a natural breed of chicken. They are genetically modified by scientists to make the most meat grow on a bird in the shortest period of time and with the least amount of food possible. At six weeks old, they can barely stand up so they end up just laying down all day and create what we call "bed sores." By the time they are ready to be culled (eight weeks) they can barely even stand and it is the best thing possible for them at that point. If people want to raise chickens for meat I suggest they don't use broilers, white rocks are a far better choice. They can be raised like a normal chicken and be with the rest of the flock. Unlike the broilers who if you put outside, don't even know how to be a real chicken. If you have anything else to add to this please feel free to comment. Thanks

This sounds like what happens to Cornish X in broiler houses. The same birds appear to fair *fare?* quite well under pastured, free-range, whichever conditions.

 

[blueridgefarmer]

Hi, loved seeing a picture of your meat birds being raised as they should. We currently have over 30 laying chickens, and would like to add meat chickens to our farm. When checking on ordering them I was surprised roos and mixed bunces where more expensive than just hens. Do you know why that is? Any help would be great/ We currently have pigs, turkeys and chickens, so I am no newbie to farm animals, just the meat birds! Thanks