Chicken business ideas...

[Kabootar]

I think they did that in the old time US. It wasn't necessary to hit the poor hen or capon with twigs. They just took the baby chicks at night from the hen and put the baby chicks under the capon.

This type of old-timers also sometimes kept game hens as their broodies if they didn't have any capons. They would put standard-breed eggs under the Game hens. That is a similar idea to keeping some feral Hawaiian hens as broodies.

I wouldn't trust feral hens with chicks. One day you will find them all roosting together on a tree two blocks away.

 

[Ruthster55]

I wouldn't trust feral hens with chicks. One day you will find them all roosting together on a tree two blocks away.

Feral hens would need really good fencing and probably some sort of netting over the run as well. When they're broody, they probably won't go anywhere but while they're not broody they would be all over the place...like Leghorns.

A lot of the expense of raising chickens has to do with housing them properly and taking into consideration the predators in the area plus how flighty the chickens are.

Capons need very good housing as well because they won't defend themselves the way a rooster or normal hen would. Housing them is similar to keeping predators away from a bunch of Cornish Cross which are usually young to 8-week-old chicks.

 

[Kabootar]

Feral hens would need really good fencing and probably some sort of netting over the run as well. When they're broody, they probably won't go anywhere but while they're not broody they would be all over the place...like Leghorns.

A lot of the expense of raising chickens has to do with housing them properly and taking into consideration the predators in the area plus how flighty the chickens are.

Capons need very good housing as well because they won't defend themselves the way a rooster or normal hen would. Housing them is similar to keeping predators away from a bunch of Cornish Cross which are usually young to 8-week-old chicks.

Capons defend themselves pretty well. They are better in defending themselves than roosters, who also have to worry about his flock. We take their testes out, not their brain.

 

[Kabootar]

Hello,

We have about 175 Cornish hens and 9 rainbow broilers. We wanted some for the family and then was like maybe I should ask friends if they want some. We sold 100 just to family and friends and bought extra to sell to others. Most around here sell for 15-20 dollars per bird. When you think about the cost, feed, water (supplements) you can spend anywhere between 7-9 on a bird, I think it could be a great margin there. Hope this helps.

Do you mean Cornish or Cornish Cross? They are very different birds.

 

[Kabootar]

We order every four weeks, we ensure the brooder does not ever remain empty. We usually order between 70-120 every time.
They are in a fence within a fence. So yes they are pasture raised. Our organic feed ones are in a tractor within an electric fence.
We do have Egg Layers. We have 16 different breeds cause we have 16 different hens. We had egg layers but there was an attack before we decided this life was for us, lol. Currently We only have our Ayam Cemani laying. It’s not too bad of a size of egg but definitely not big like our old road island reds.

There's a demand for melanized chickens as well as ducks in the Asian markets as well.

 

[iwltfum]

I have to chime in here and say that none of what I was referring to in any of my suggestions earlier in the thread were advocating for hatching out dual purpose chicks with feral chickens. I'm not saying it won't work, but I wouldn't be doing it on my farm if the goal was to make a little money from it. That sounds way out of hand. I bet it would be fun, but my suggestions were based on hatchery meat breeds and hatchery eggs layers. If I wanted to go off grid and live sustainably off chicken meat, the direction this thread has gone would be a good place to start. Just saying. Ya'll go crazy.

Edit to add: I'm not saying my suggestions are the only way to go, just that none of what I was saying is applicable to a breeding/feral hen operation. I don't know anything about that.
By the way, I hope everyone has gotten a chance to view the comet. If you haven't you really ought to get out there and check it out. Pretty crazy that you can see the tail with your naked eye.

 

[Ruthster55]

Capons defend themselves pretty well. They are better in defending themselves than roosters, who also have to worry about his flock. We take their testes out, not their brain.

I have to differ.

An intact rooster is much more alert and willing to defend the flock and is better for open range and sitautions with not much fencing.

In my experience, capons and their human-error friends (slips) do best where no predator (coyote, raccoon, mink, etc.) can get to them. They also do better where intact roosters can’t get to them. (Personal observation). Lots of fencing is very helpful.

I notice that the French and Spaniards keep their capons in their own enclosures away from the hens and intact roosters.

 

[Kabootar]

I have to differ.

An intact rooster is much more alert and willing to defend the flock and is better for open range and sitautions with not much fencing.

In my experience, capons and their human-error friends (slips) do best where no predator (coyote, raccoon, mink, etc.) can get to them. They also do better where intact roosters can’t get to them. (Personal obsevation). Lots of fencing is very helpful.

I notice that the French and Spaniards keep their capons in their own enclosures away from the hens and intact roosters.

A capon doesn't keep it's eyes in sky, but they are attentive to alarm calls. What I have observed is that roosters and hens pretty much ignore them. Well every type of poultry flourish in a predator free environment. We seperate them a month or two before we plan to slaughter them, because during that time we feed them differently.

 

[Ruthster55]

A capon doesn't keep it's eyes in sky, but they are attentive to alarm calls. What I have observed is that roosters and hens pretty much ignore them. Well every type of poultry flourish in a predator free environment. We seperate them a month or two before we plan to slaughter them, because during that time we feed them differently.

With wooden cages and when given milk or dairy products, the capons will do very well! This is done during November and December in Spain and France. Some are sold at Sotheby’s !!

There’s a lot of cage-building to prepare for this project!

 

[Kabootar]

With wooden cages and when given milk or dairy products, the capons will do very well! This is done during November and December in Spain and France. Some are sold at Sotheby’s !!

There’s a lot of cage-building to prepare for this project!

The French and the Spaniards do many things that many people consider unethical. You don't have to do everything like them. You can just use one of those small 'chicken tractors' kept in the States.