Chronicles of Raising Meat Birds - Modern Broilers, Heritage and Hybrids

[NewBoots]

Looks like they're turning into couch potatoes. Still they look clean and comfortable, totally better than the ones huge poultry barns on commercial farms. I'm curious now how the flavor will be.

 

[jolenesdad]

Interesting. My fall broilers did worse than the spring broilers last year. Of course, east Texas calls 89° cool in August. More grass available, but more heat stress too. Will read article tonight.

@RUNuts have you heard of this hatchery here in TX? It may be close to you. There’s a few farmers I’ve been reading things from that use them. I’m thinking of driving there to pickup my next batch, I’ve read good things about slow growing the Ross strain. They sell Ross 308 broilers for a DOLLAR!

https://windymeadowshatchery.com/

 

[jolenesdad]

@RUNuts have you heard of this hatchery here in TX? It may be close to you. There’s a few farmers I’ve been reading things from that use them. I’m thinking of driving there to pickup my next batch, I’ve read good things about slow growing the Ross strain. They sell Ross 308 broilers for a DOLLAR!

https://windymeadowshatchery.com/

I just saw you’re in east Houston. Not too close but worth a look!

 

[RUNuts]

@RUNuts have you heard of this hatchery here in TX? It may be close to you. There’s a few farmers I’ve been reading things from that use them. I’m thinking of driving there to pickup my next batch, I’ve read good things about slow growing the Ross strain. They sell Ross 308 broilers for a DOLLAR!

https://windymeadowshatchery.com/

Yes, my last 2 orders were from there. They are also on Kiki's hatchery list. Nice people to work with. Order ahead, they do sell out! I do recommend them. The spring batch was amazing last year.

 

[Jandsloch]

First year for chickens for us and had to share our meaties in which my son named Tuesday and Thursday. They are huge. I find since being moved to outside at 3 weeks old they only gorge in the morning and again in evening before they go to bed. They spend most of their day foraging. They are actually very friendly currently they are 7 weeks old....almost time lol they are quite funny running around and they are loud when they decide to make noise. I don’t think I will be doing the Cornish cross again as I don’t think it’s worth the amount of feed they eat. Will be sticking to dual purpose. But I do love these 2 they are quite the characters. I enclosed a pic of one with my reds and b. Orpingtons. They r only a week older but 4x the size lol and my daughter struggling to hold miss Tuesday hehehe

 

[jolenesdad]

Yes, my last 2 orders were from there. They are also on Kiki's hatchery list. Nice people to work with. Order ahead, they do sell out! I do recommend them. The spring batch was amazing last year.

Did you have shipped?

 

[RUNuts]

Did you have shipped?

Yes, buddy and I had a mess shipped down. Worked fine. The rats in the barn loved them. Alternate arrangements worked better.

 

[jolenesdad]

Monday is the big day! I have a processor about 25 minutes from me, I’ll head there Monday morning. Being my first go with this, I’m processing all of them now, regardless of weight. It will give me a huge range of dressed weights, mostly in the 3-6.5 pound range.

I don’t have experience with meat birds in person at all, and this has been eye opening. A couple weeks ago I was convinced that things were going south and the birds were going downhill but it’s just their size and weight and awkwardness in everything they do. It also is exaggerated by the various ages. My cockerels should have been younger not older to process them together. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ with this batch, I’m not really liking the lack of mobility or desire to move and absolutely Frankenstein feet of the 8+ lb cockerels. So I’m probably processing them a little late for my liking and the hens a little early.

They prefer to be out of the sun for sure. For the last week plus they’ve been out from morning to night. They’re most active from 6-7:30pm, but they still only go 20-30 feet out from their pen. Most of them prefer to dust bathe all day long inside the dirt stall until the sun starts to recede. They’re very curious about the laying hens and have picked up some behaviors from them.

The last few days have been impossible to round them up. They’re so full by the end of the day they don’t care to come for treats or anything they just look at me. I have found the best way to get them is to pick up the largest and carry him along the ground and use him to herd the others.

This fall I think I’ll definitely stagger some other breeds before the Cornish to run together and see if that makes them a little more active.

We have had 4+ inches of rain the last couple of days so they’ve gotten pretty dirty. They sit everywhere. A few steps... sit. A few steps.... sit. I wonder if I should have encouraged more standing to eat? You can see in some of the attached photos they’ve clearly been wallowing in the mud but whatever. They’re enjoying it.

I’ll post a follow up next week with processing notes and a wrap up of thoughts for this go-round. I think I’ll continue to update this thread as I’m going to continue to do small batches of meat birds, trying out different things.

 

[LilyD]

I am doing the same thing. I got the Meyer Fry pan bargain and I already have those out on pasture at 4 weeks old going to give them until Wed then I will start opening up their grow out coop and letting them range during the day and only offering feed at night. They are already after the bugs and ticks in the pasture. My cornish are two weeks old on Tuesday and I am thinking that they should be out there by 3 weeks. They are already getting fairly big and feathering out well. I have lights in the grow out coop so they have space to warm up if they need it. Then I will add the turkeys a week or two after that who are growing much slower than the meat chickens. I hate that the cornish lay around until they have no belly feathers at all if they have no inspiration. Hopefully the heritage roosters will get them out and about more and keep them moving during the day.

 

[jolenesdad]

I am doing the same thing. I got the Meyer Fry pan bargain and I already have those out on pasture at 4 weeks old going to give them until Wed then I will start opening up their grow out coop and letting them range during the day and only offering feed at night. They are already after the bugs and ticks in the pasture. My cornish are two weeks old on Tuesday and I am thinking that they should be out there by 3 weeks. They are already getting fairly big and feathering out well. I have lights in the grow out coop so they have space to warm up if they need it. Then I will add the turkeys a week or two after that who are growing much slower than the meat chickens. I hate that the cornish lay around until they have no belly feathers at all if they have no inspiration. Hopefully the heritage roosters will get them out and about more and keep them moving during the day.

Sounds like a perfect plan!!

Mine move enough to keep feathers, they’re not raw anywhere. However I’m looking for two things to improve... their soiled ends... and the amount of time they’ll stay walking. I think encouraging more movement solves both... but more space will account for the behinds.

I’ve kept them on 2ft per chicken in the overnight coop. They’re totally comfortable in there, but I’ll do at least 4 in the future.