I have some redbro birds from JM Hatchery. I was plannning on processing all of them, but recently have suffered predator losses to my laying flock. I am down to two layers, and one is two years old. Can the redbro pullets be kept, or will they eventually die a meat bird type death (heart attack, leg collapse, etc)? If they can be kept, will they lay? Are they freaks of nature like the cornish X's, or more like real chickens? Don't get me wrong, I raise some cornish X's too, not knocking them, I just know they can't be kept much beyond normal processing age (with the few notable exceptions that people occasionally post about).
My alternative to keeping a couple of these would be to buy a few young pullets from a craigslist ad (I am way sick of raising baby birds for this year, after chicks, ducklings, turkeys and geese). I know the risks of introducing disease doing that, so I'm not sure what to do. But once my broilers are gone there will only be two hens in my giant coop. Any thoughts?
My alternative to keeping a couple of these would be to buy a few young pullets from a craigslist ad (I am way sick of raising baby birds for this year, after chicks, ducklings, turkeys and geese). I know the risks of introducing disease doing that, so I'm not sure what to do. But once my broilers are gone there will only be two hens in my giant coop. Any thoughts?
