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

[FortCluck]

I have the same goal, at least as far as cockerels that dress out at 4+ lbs by 16 weeks. Hoping my current NN over my hybrid broiler chicks will be prove to be a good start. It is very humbling, however, to see what I think is a pretty good sized chick next to the CX chicks. I don't necessary want to duplicate the CX type of growth rate, but man, is it a huge gap between the CX and what I am trying to do.

Same goal here too. We are going to separate our meat chickens from our layers so that we can fatten them up a bit more. We can't do it when they're all together because my layers don't need to fatten up.

 

[9SpiceyChickens]

I'm raising Cornish X for 4-H. We had 4 nice big plump cockerels last year. (The limit at our fair is 6 pounds btw). One was 6 pounds exactly (Probably actually more), one was 5 lb 10 ounces, one was 5 lb's 8 ounces (I accidentally said 4 pounds 8 ounces to the judge and placed nearly last) & my extra was 4 lb's 8 ounces. We sold the 3 for $660! Good luck with your meaties!

 

[Kusanar]

I'm raising Cornish X for 4-H. We had 4 nice big plump cockerels last year. (The limit at our fair is 6 pounds btw). One was 6 pounds exactly (Probably actually more), one was 5 lb 10 ounces, one was 5 lb's 8 ounces (I accidentally said 4 pounds 8 ounces to the judge and placed nearly last) & my extra was 4 lb's 8 ounces. We sold the 3 for $660! Good luck with your meaties!

That is crazy, where do those prices come from? I could MAYBE see that for breeding birds, but CX are a genetic dead end and will soon be on a dinner plate. I can't see spending $220 for a single dinner bird...

I mean, great for you, but whoever bought them is insane...

 

[aart]

That is crazy, where do those prices come from? I could MAYBE see that for breeding birds, but CX are a genetic dead end and will soon be on a dinner plate. I can't see spending $220 for a single dinner bird...

I mean, great for you, but whoever bought them is insane...

4-H is about supporting the kids, so the prices paid are not market prices, they are donations.
Not sure what that teaches them about reality.

 

[Kusanar]

4-H is about supporting the kids, so the prices paid are not market prices, they are donations.
Not sure what that teaches them about reality.

Yeah... I can see overpricing some. So, maybe $15-20 per bird MAYBE even $30 each which would be $5 / lb. That is a little high, but not stupid high.

 

[Molpet]

Yeah... I can see overpricing some. So, maybe $15-20 per bird MAYBE even $30 each which would be $5 / lb. That is a little high, but not stupid high.

You should see the prices steers go for, usually the bid is on top of the market value amount.
Some kids have been able to pay for a semester of college
They go around way before the show, to business and such to promote their animal ... marketing skills learned

 

[9SpiceyChickens]

That is crazy, where do those prices come from? I could MAYBE see that for breeding birds, but CX are a genetic dead end and will soon be on a dinner plate. I can't see spending $220 for a single dinner bird...

I mean, great for you, but whoever bought them is insane...

It at 4-H fair, so they mainly do it to support the kids. Mine was actually the lowest selling. Grand Champions sold for $2,500. We have one of the best prices at fairs in Northern California, which is great. In the whole fair only 25 animals were deemed un-sellable.

 

[Kusanar]

It at 4-H fair, so they mainly do it to support the kids. Mine was actually the lowest selling. Grand Champions sold for $2,500. We have one of the best prices at fairs in Northern California, which is great. In the whole fair only 25 animals were deemed un-sellable.

What would make an animal un-sellable?

 

[9SpiceyChickens]

What would make an animal un-sellable?

FOr chickens, if they're sick, hurt (broken leg, wing, something else), underweight (minimum for chickens was 3 lb's) or overweight (maximum was 6lb's which is what most chicken people struggled with), or other factors, which I can't think of.

 

[aliciaplus3]

my DD's participate in our local county fair. its an opportunity to learn about raising an animal and keeping records to determine if they made or lost money as well as learn about leadership skills by being active in their 4h club. Most of the folks that buy animals at the jr livestock auction are interested in supporting the kids and many of the kids in our area see this as their summer job. I like that fact that they get to raise the animal and make some money while learning about agriculture. too many of our youngsters are all about games and gaming systems so seeing the kids get interested in something hands on is exciting!