Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Beekissed]

The typical backyard enthusiast doesn't really need breeder quality chickens if they just want some eggs for the family. Hatchery chicks are just fine and MPC has gotten the sexing correct each time I've ordered from them. It just makes things simple for those who don't want roosters to just order sexed chicks from a hatchery. Why make it hard on oneself just to be able to say you paid a lot of money for a chicken that could get picked off by a hawk the very next day?

I'm curious...what is the typical price of a chick/chicken from a breeder and are they that price as straight run?

 

[bruceh]

this forum may not be the place to post this. however i give it a shot because i trust this thread. i want to raise some heritage breeds for meat. i don't really care about feed converstion . i just want to be able to produce a 6 or 7lb dressed out chicken in about 16-20 weeks. need some breeds to look at.
thanks,
bruce

 

[Fred's Hens]

I'm just grateful to be done with hatcheries altogether. It is likely I've placed our very last order. We now have our own line of production white birds and production red birds, which we've bred out of ISA stock for 4 generations. We now have our heritage BR line (thanks to KathyinMO) and a heritage RIR line, (in progress). The whole sex-the-chicks thing doesn't have much meaning to us, frankly. Asking a true breeder of rare, fine birds to sell sexed birds is a bit awkward, shall we say, in so many ways. The cockerels that we hatch are received with equal joy as they get processed, which is their role in life. So, for us, there's no need for chick sexing at all.
We raise what we hatch.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Bruce,

Heritage and fast growing simply don't go hand in hand, in my mind. 16 weeks is a pretty short time for the heritage fowl with which I am familiar. I'm just not up to speed with many the larger bodied fowl, ie, Cornish, Dorking, JG, etc so I cannot intelligently comment on those. Al, Bill or Walt sure can.

 

[Fred's Hens]

The typical backyard enthusiast doesn't really need breeder quality chickens if they just want some eggs for the family. Hatchery chicks are just fine...... It just makes things simple for those who don't want roosters to just order sexed chicks from a hatchery. Why make it hard on oneself just to be able to say you paid a lot of money for a chicken that could get picked off by a hawk the very next day?

Excellent post. Exactly.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm just grateful to be done with hatcheries altogether. It is likely I've placed our very last order. We now have our own line of production white birds and production red birds, which we've bred out of ISA stock for 4 generations. We now have our heritage BR line (thanks to KathyinMO) and a heritage RIR line, (in progress). The whole sex-the-chicks thing doesn't have much meaning to us, frankly. Asking a true breeder of rare, fine birds to sell sexed birds is a bit awkward, shall we say, in so many ways. The cockerels that we hatch are received with equal joy as they get processed, which is their role in life. So, for us, there's no need for chick sexing at all.
We raise what we hatch.

Now, this is where I get a little fuzzy. Some breeders just breed for themselves and to extend and perfect their lines. Others breed expressly to sell their lines. Am I right so far?

So, if I go to a breeder and they are selling these birds for $25 a piece for these perfect lines, does it make any sense that I'm going to turn around and eat these $25 roosters I got from a straight run purchase? I can eat $1.75 roosters instead and purchase 14 of the cheaper roosters for the freezer as opposed to buying 14 @ $25 ea. for a grand total of $350 for these skinny heritage birds.

Consequently, if I were buying from a breeder at the extra cost that the sheer quality demanded, I think it only sensible that I expect to get hens when I want to purchase hens or roos when I want to purchase roos....because who can afford to eat those kind of mistakes or overages? Only the breeder.

From a poor economy standpoint, you can see why so many people turn to hatcheries and avoid breeders if it is common practice to charge the same price for birds that will be breeding~ and the ones that you will be eating. Pricey foods when we can ill afford it.

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Well, I had the territorial rooster who wouldn't accept the new cockerels and pullets. I used the "look but not touch method" as suggested, and tried letting him in with the flock today. He didn't attack the other birds, he attacked me. He's got a date with death this weekend. I'm not going to put up with him any longer. I wish I could find someone who could at least use him as dog food, but the people around here are too soft for that.
Just wanted to say thanks for the suggestions. I'm not going to regret not having him, that's for sure.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Now, this is where I get a little fuzzy. Some breeders just breed for themselves and to extend and perfect their lines. Others breed expressly to sell their lines. Am I right so far?

So, if I go to a breeder and they are selling these birds for $25 a piece for these perfect lines, does it make any sense that I'm going to turn around and eat these $25 roosters I got from a straight run purchase? I can eat $1.75 roosters instead and purchase 14 of the cheaper roosters for the freezer as opposed to buying 14 @ $25 ea. for a grand total of $350 for these skinny heritage birds.

Consequently, if I were buying from a breeder at the extra cost that the sheer quality demanded, I think it only sensible that I expect to get hens when I want to purchase hens or roos when I want to purchase roos....because who can afford to eat those kind of mistakes or overages? Only the breeder.

From a poor economy standpoint, you can see why so many people turn to hatcheries and avoid breeders if it is common practice to charge the same price for birds that will be breeding~ and the ones that you will be eating. Pricey foods when we can ill afford it.

Well, I'll defer to Al, Walt, Bill et al on this. But here's our reality. Sure we breed. While the standards are going to higher with our heritage line, nonetheless, even with our production lines, 80% of the birds will never make the breeding pens. The hens can stick around if they lay, but the cockerels? Well, they are sure wonderful and tasty.

I honestly do not know what the top breeders do with their "off" birds. I can only assure you they have a good number of them. Some, I'm sure may sell them, but surely, even with top grade birds, do not many make the stew pot, the frying pan or used to float dumplings?? All I can tell you is what we do.

To answer the question you asked, and I noted above, ah, yes. If I get a couple dozen eggs from a top breeder, or a box of 15 day olds, there are going to be duds in the resultant group. No question about it. Out of the 15 birds I got from KathyinMo, I can assure you that almost half will be eaten. Even in a group of birds as nice as Kathy's, no way all of them will be used in the ongoing breeding program. It would be irresponsible to do so. They just aren't all that. Again, I'll defer to those guys/gals who have actually raised and sold top notch birds. I'm just a newbie in that world.

 

[Beekissed]

Eat him! Crock pot can sure make him taste good!

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Eat him! Crock pot can sure make him taste good!

He doesn't have enough meat on him to be worth cleaning. I think he weighs 34 ounces, or something close.