Can't decide on meat bird breed, input requested.

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Here is a fun informative thread that is going on now about meaties:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=238905

And I just got done raising a bunch and here is the journal on them if you interested in cost of the freedom rangers:

http://freedomrangers.blogspot.com/

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

You could always get 1/2 and 1/2 and see what you like best. I have never had the cornish so I cant say it's good or bad but I do know the rangers taste wonderful and are very tender. Mine were 10 weeks old and we got 87 lbs of meat from 24 chickens which is PLENTY for us! Went through 8 1/2 bags of feed (each being 50#'s) good luck choosing

 

[patandchickens]

Time is not necessarily money, for us backyarders (it's not like we're paying employees to care for the chickens, nor are we trying to push through as many batches per year as possible).

My experience with the "red broilers" sold by a local hatchery up here (I don't know what they are, breed or cross wise, they look like they could be very meaty breasty NHRs?) has been that although they grew slower than the CornishX, they also ate less while doing it, so that my cost per lb of meat was *exactly the same* in the end. Although of course it took longer to grow them out and they probably could not be pushed to as giant dimensions as you can (with care and luck) get a CornishX if you so desire.

If this is similar in other sorts of colored broilers, and it may well be, then if you want small to medium sized chickens with a lot of breast meat, there really may not be any financial difference between raising CornishX versus colored broilers.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[willheveland]

Quote:
This is probably the best advise. Once you raise both you'll definately decide which breed works best for you,just remember they are raised a little different so may require different needs.
good luck ....Will

 

[the simple life]

Thank you for all the advice, its true that the only way to know is to just do it and see how it goes and half and half is a good idea.
I have been thinking about it for a while and now is a good time for me to do it.
The kids will be back at school and not spending so much time in the yard playing with the chickens, my 5 year old has been known to put chicks/pullets in a baby carriage and take them for rides around the yard so there will be less time for them to bond with animals not meant to be our pets.
I have already explained that this is where food comes from and the chicken in the supermarket does not have as good as a life as I will give them before they need to be processed.
They seemed to understand pretty well, I think when you are just matter of fact about things they don't question it as much.

Now my real problem is finding a processor in my area that will do chickens.
I cannot process chickens in my yard here, even if I knew how and had the desire to do it there would be alot of chickens to do, too many and there are neighbors who can clearly see into my yard.
The couple next door would probably call someone on us, seriously.
The only two major ones that I know of both said they do not do poultry, not worth the time for the amount of money they would get.
Someone else on this board told me once that she knows a guy a couple of towns over who processed chickens but I am not sure of his set up but I can look into it.
The people that I get my beef from gave me a lead on a farmer near them who does their chickens for them and said to give him a call.
I am devoting some serious time into it locating someone this week.

 

[willheveland]

Just don't wait too long,raising them too late in the season can be a pain here in the North East. It won't be long for winter. You can raise a batch of Cornish(barely) in that time but if you go with Rangers there might be snow on the ground by then. I did a batch of Cornish last year after Sept. and it was alot of work. It was cold,wet and windy and had to cover their pen on 3 sides.Remember once they get to your house they will need to be inside under a lamp for at least 4 wks. Then you'll be moving them out to colder weather of fall instead of gradule warming of spring.Instead of moving each day I had to bag up leaves and use it for bedding to keep them dry.I swore I was going to stick to spring batches. Easier to get a processor too,because during the fall is when most do cattle,pigs, and venison and are at their busiest time.JMHO.... I don't want you to have a bad experience and be turned off by it.Some people raise Cornish under the wrong conditions and think it's the breed when they have bad luck. Will

 

[the simple life]

Thank you for the advice. I realized that it was getting late and that is why I wanted to jump on it.
One of the things I was worried about was that the yard would smell with all those extra birds in the heat of the summer but I should have at least started the chicks in august and by the time they moved outside it would be early fall.
I usually start all of my chicks in the brooder in the house for a couple of weeks and then I move the brooder to the unheated carriage house for their transition to the outside coop.
Depending on the weather at the time they may or may not need a heat lamp there and then they move to the outside coop.
I am thinking of moving my layers from one coop to another and letting the meat birds have that coop and run to themselves.
Thank you again for the help.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
They might find it educational.

 

[saddina]

Quote:
They might find it educational.

We do it in the garage when we had extra roos (I have 4 hens at my house, and the meaties are kept at my granny's they raise for all of us, and we go out on weekends to help out, bring feed and slaughter).

 

[the simple life]

I know that they will not find it educational, at least not in a good sense and I when I say they can see right into my yard I mean all they have to do is step out their back door and they get a full view of the entire yard.
I just ordered 9 trees that will go along the fence to help with that issue.

This couple I guess would best be described as young professionals, no kids, all their food comes from Whole Foods Market, lights out at 10:00 pm, hires everyone to do everything for them, does not like noise, especially crowing roosters etc.
We have managed to co exist with them for 15 years even though we are the complete opposite, 7 kids, 5 dogs, 50 chickens, we are always out working in the yard on some DIY project etc. but this would really push them over the edge.
Being the exact opposite of them I try to be courteous to keep a peaceful existance here.

I actually realized one day when I was at the reverand's house two doors down that they can see into my yard from their back porch too.
I really have no idea how they would react but I don't want to find out either.

The woman that lives on the other side can only see into my yard from the second floor windows but I know that she does because she told me one day that she was worried about the chickens being out in the cold.
She was all upset telling me that she saw the chickens out walking around and it was cold out.
I told her that I open the coops every morning and leave the doors open and whatever chickens that want can come and go as they please so if they are out walking around then thats what they want to be doing.
She kept saying that she was worried that they were cold.
She has been great and loves the rooster crowing, thinks its soothing but she is an animal advocate type and I seriously would not trust that she would be okay with looking out her window and watching chickens get their heads cut off.

As far as the amount I have to do there is just too many for us to handle here anyway, I talked to the feed store yesterday and he is ordering 50 meatbirds for us on Tuesday, I told him to just let me touch bases with the guy who does the processing around here.
I left a message with the local processor, I was able to get his name and number yesterday and I just want to make sure he will do them all before I put the order in.