That sounds nice and quick, I'm going to try that!
WRAP UP POST FOR SUMMER BROILERS 2019
Numbers
I started with the following numbers
23 Royal Red Broilers from Moyers
29 Robust White Broilers from Moyers
3 Weeks Later, I added
15 Cornish Cross from Meyer Hatchery
Total of 67 Birds
I made it to the end (9 weeks for Cornish, 9 and 12 weeks for Specialty Broilers) with only 1 loss of a Royal Red chick at 2.5 days old. Thats a ONE PERCENT loss! Whaaaaaaat?!?!?! Yay! (Rounding down from 1.4%) ;-) My previous run of cornish crosses, I had a 27% loss rate. All but one of those original losses was mostly my errors.
The cornish crosses were slightly smaller than the other birds, but more dense and wide. On average, in 9 weeks, they reached weights very close to or matching many of the specialty broilers, which was to be expected. I took MOST of the boy Royal Reds and Robust Whites from my batch at 9 weeks for processing, and had I held onto them they would have been significantly larger than the cornish. On AVERAGE across all of the birds, the average weight of the live birds was about 7 pounds. Most of the boys were around 6 pounds, and a lot of the 12 week birds were closer to 8. I am LOOSELY giving an average of 7 pounds, not scientific in any way.
Over the 12 weeks I used about 1350 pounds of feed. I also have 5 laying birds, 5 grow outs, and I hatched 20 chicks and 25 ducks. Kept 10 of each of them, so there's plenty of food going to other birds, as well. I assume at least 250 pounds of feed over that time went to my other birds. That gives me 462 pounds of birds off of 1100 pounds of feed, for an average FCR of 2.38. I am THRILLED with that number. It is very evident to me that the birds are receiving a fair amount of their calories and feed from the pastures. The feed charts that Moyers gave me have a 2.3 FCR after 8 weeks. The "commercial" consensus is that pasture birds use MANY more resources due to more feed for longer growing, and I categorically think this is false. Time is money, and producers would rather not spend more time. I think with proper management, I could slow grow birds for longer time with a SMALLER FCR even. This is all very fascinating to me.
(For those who land on this post from a google search or from the link in the first post, I practice free ranging, open pens and access to pasture from 3-4 weeks. 20% Starter fed free choice throughout, vitamins and minerals in the water until they start sharing with the layers.)
CARCASS/MEAT NOTES
I believe the 3 additional weeks added mostly texture to the meat, and not significantly in terms of flavor of the meat. However, soup made from the leftovers of the 12 week birds is SIGNIFICANTLY tastier, even just recycling meat into a soup and not bones, it tastes unbelievable. There is definitely MORE flavor to this meat than conventional chicken meat.
The texture is not too much or disconcerting to anyone who has tasted it. you can taste and feel the grain of the meat, and it is not spongey like most chicken today. That must be from the movement of the chickens, and lack of confinement, and to me, is the most incredible part of the journey. To me, I feel like I am tasting and feeling the health of the birds as I eat them. It's likely a placebo effect, but, I'm loving it. I feel content knowing I can taste their lack of confinement.
ALL of these birds lends themselves more to the constitution of a broiler. Large, significant breasts. Parted boneless breasts average .9-1lbs in a pair in a package.
Im lacking carcass photos, I have the one I know was a royal that I posted, and I believe a frozen one that I know was a Robust that I will photograph when thawed. I can tell that because of a small pin feather left. Other than that, there is no distinction, and, I had the ENTIRE last batch parted up. On this next round, I am once again raising multiple varieties, and, will process some myself so that I can have comparison carcass photos, as that is really important to me and I feel to everyones education as well.
HOLDOVERS
I held back 4 Robust White broilers, and 1 Royal Red Broiler. I have a Bonham Line Delaware grow out at about 15 weeks old, that I am hoping to put over these birds. We will see... how that goes, and I will provide periodic updates here. I am still free feeding because all my birds now are running totall
In any event, in the immediate future, I've got 25 Delawares coming September 9 from DawnRidge Farm. I REALLY want to get into breeding, but, I may postpone it while I try out as many breeds as possible to help me with my future direction. I'll for certain be holding back every great pullet, so whatever breed I start to work with, I will have a selection of 2 year old hens to start with so I'm working with some vigor right away.
I have a 2.5 year old that LOVES the chickens and I'm not 100% I even want to have to deal with figuring out a toddler and several mating roosters. Right now, I'd rather cull anything that looks at my kid the wrong way, and in a year or two, be able to work with my kid on what to do around them. This attitude may limit my ability to breed right now.
In the spring, I'll be trying the New Hampshire line from Freedom Ranger hatchery. Alongside both, I'll still be raising Robust Whites, and maybe Imperials from Moyers as well.
I will continue to update this thread moving forward with the projects, wherever they lead me. I appreciate the support, comments, and camaraderie and hope something in my experiences and everyone else's in this thread are able to help someone.
WRAP UP POST FOR SUMMER BROILERS 2019
Numbers
I started with the following numbers
23 Royal Red Broilers from Moyers
29 Robust White Broilers from Moyers
3 Weeks Later, I added
15 Cornish Cross from Meyer Hatchery
Total of 67 Birds
I made it to the end (9 weeks for Cornish, 9 and 12 weeks for Specialty Broilers) with only 1 loss of a Royal Red chick at 2.5 days old. Thats a ONE PERCENT loss! Whaaaaaaat?!?!?! Yay! (Rounding down from 1.4%) ;-) My previous run of cornish crosses, I had a 27% loss rate. All but one of those original losses was mostly my errors.
The cornish crosses were slightly smaller than the other birds, but more dense and wide. On average, in 9 weeks, they reached weights very close to or matching many of the specialty broilers, which was to be expected. I took MOST of the boy Royal Reds and Robust Whites from my batch at 9 weeks for processing, and had I held onto them they would have been significantly larger than the cornish. On AVERAGE across all of the birds, the average weight of the live birds was about 7 pounds. Most of the boys were around 6 pounds, and a lot of the 12 week birds were closer to 8. I am LOOSELY giving an average of 7 pounds, not scientific in any way.
Over the 12 weeks I used about 1350 pounds of feed. I also have 5 laying birds, 5 grow outs, and I hatched 20 chicks and 25 ducks. Kept 10 of each of them, so there's plenty of food going to other birds, as well. I assume at least 250 pounds of feed over that time went to my other birds. That gives me 462 pounds of birds off of 1100 pounds of feed, for an average FCR of 2.38. I am THRILLED with that number. It is very evident to me that the birds are receiving a fair amount of their calories and feed from the pastures. The feed charts that Moyers gave me have a 2.3 FCR after 8 weeks. The "commercial" consensus is that pasture birds use MANY more resources due to more feed for longer growing, and I categorically think this is false. Time is money, and producers would rather not spend more time. I think with proper management, I could slow grow birds for longer time with a SMALLER FCR even. This is all very fascinating to me.
(For those who land on this post from a google search or from the link in the first post, I practice free ranging, open pens and access to pasture from 3-4 weeks. 20% Starter fed free choice throughout, vitamins and minerals in the water until they start sharing with the layers.)
CARCASS/MEAT NOTES
I believe the 3 additional weeks added mostly texture to the meat, and not significantly in terms of flavor of the meat. However, soup made from the leftovers of the 12 week birds is SIGNIFICANTLY tastier, even just recycling meat into a soup and not bones, it tastes unbelievable. There is definitely MORE flavor to this meat than conventional chicken meat.
The texture is not too much or disconcerting to anyone who has tasted it. you can taste and feel the grain of the meat, and it is not spongey like most chicken today. That must be from the movement of the chickens, and lack of confinement, and to me, is the most incredible part of the journey. To me, I feel like I am tasting and feeling the health of the birds as I eat them. It's likely a placebo effect, but, I'm loving it. I feel content knowing I can taste their lack of confinement.
ALL of these birds lends themselves more to the constitution of a broiler. Large, significant breasts. Parted boneless breasts average .9-1lbs in a pair in a package.
Im lacking carcass photos, I have the one I know was a royal that I posted, and I believe a frozen one that I know was a Robust that I will photograph when thawed. I can tell that because of a small pin feather left. Other than that, there is no distinction, and, I had the ENTIRE last batch parted up. On this next round, I am once again raising multiple varieties, and, will process some myself so that I can have comparison carcass photos, as that is really important to me and I feel to everyones education as well.
HOLDOVERS
I held back 4 Robust White broilers, and 1 Royal Red Broiler. I have a Bonham Line Delaware grow out at about 15 weeks old, that I am hoping to put over these birds. We will see... how that goes, and I will provide periodic updates here. I am still free feeding because all my birds now are running totally together, however, I have reduced the protein with oats to 16%. In general, there is ONE Robust White that hangs out regularly with the others (I misplaced one and took the other one that always ranged to be processed. :-\) There is one robust white and one royal red that is often with the others. There are two robust whites that generally are near the feeder, except when its very hot, then they go meet the rest of the flock in shady areas. Three of the Robust Whites are Roosting, as is the Royal Red. I am going to band the Robust Whites soon to really keep individual track of their behaviors, weights, etc. I won't bore everyone with most of those notes, until and if they pan out to something I can connect those traits with longevity and vigor, breeding, or ultimately their demise. It does look like as they are hitting 14 weeks, one or two could actually be laying in the next 2-3 weeks.
Here's a photo of a funny moment, just to show how really "chickeny" these robust whites are. I was working in the well house this week, changing some filters, and left the door open, went to get some things and came back to this.
View attachment 1881816
BREED NOTES:
ROBUST WHITE
It's clear to anyone who has been reading along, my favorite of the meat birds is the Robust White. They're so abnormal in that they are huge, really closely resemble the shape/build of a conventional broiler, yet they are unbelievable healthy and active and personable as well, especially the females. I did keep a few males to 12 weeks, and they were pretty active as well, but the females take the cake. The Robust whites feather JUST like a cornish, with large bare areas at times. The males, again, are worse at this, but they all were nicely feathered by 12 weeks. Unfortunately, you cannot order sexed Robust Whites at this time.
ROYAL RED
The Royal Reds are also a great breed, and one I believe is probably REALLY SUITED to a tractor. If you run your birds in a tractor, please try this breed! They're active and healthy, jump around and roost, however, I found them to stay much closer to the food/pen. Not ideal for my "go and find the range" situation. The processor noted that they cleaned in the plucker better than most any other red-feathered broiler as well. This was true for both the 9 and 12 week birds. For this reason, I am assuming this bird closely resembles the genetic makeup of the Freedom Ranger Color Yield. The 9 week birds still had some feathers coming in on their backs, the 12 week birds were fully, and beautifully, feathered. The Royal Red birds were very personable as chicks. Not quite a personable as the Robust Whites as adults. The boys were not aggressive, per se, but very active as pre-pubescent boys. Started crowing early, not any louder than an egg song, but, they just were very boyish. They're meat birds, so, it's nothing anyone can't handle, but, I would be wary of that as they got older in a tractor, and ensure enough space.
CORNISH CROSS
Oh, the cornish. I noted earlier I'm likely done with them. I read a lot about pastured poultry people and follow a lot of them, and I just don't like that I don't tractor them. Perhaps they'd be better for me if I did. Some people say a lot of the abnormalities I see are fixed being forced in grass. Perhaps I would notice less of what bothers me. I don't know. I’m going to talk to John at Moyers about it. He mentioned broiler hatcheries have drastically healthier meat birds than traditional hatcheries so I may or may not try some again. But I feel more like what’s the point when these other avenues excite me so much. In every batch I’ve had genetic deformities, heads or feet on sideways, or moved so awkwardly near the end. It’s incredibly difficult to manage a feeding program for birds that come and go to feed free ranging, as even some of the Cornish actually do, when you have 7 or 8 of the 15 Cornish that never leave the feeder. By eight weeks old, they’re SCOOTING along on their breasts, in my specific experience. No bueno just to feed my family.
I can appreciate the breed, appreciate the niche they just fill in our broader society, but it’s less and less likely they are for me.
MOVING FORWARD
Im currently limited at my property, but I am loving testing all of these things out. I'm so glad I decided to do this while I was here before seeking out our new property, because I have a much better idea of the scope I want to pursue.
I'm casually entertaining the idea of a supplemental business for the farm of raising meat birds in about 2-3 years. Who knows, really, but that's the goal of my playing around right now, but we will know more the first time I decide to 250 at a time.
In any event, in the immediate future, I've got 25 Delawares coming September 9 from DawnRidge Farm. I REALLY want to get into breeding, but, I may postpone it while I try out as many breeds as possible to help me with my future direction. I'll for certain be holding back every great pullet, so whatever breed I start to work with, I will have a selection of 2 year old hens to start with so I'm working with some vigor right away.
I have a 2.5 year old that LOVES the chickens and I'm not 100% I even want to have to deal with figuring out a toddler and several mating roosters. Right now, I'd rather cull anything that looks at my kid the wrong way, and in a year or two, be able to work with my kid on what to do around them. This attitude may limit my ability to breed right now.
In the spring, I'll be trying the New Hampshire line from Freedom Ranger hatchery. Alongside both, I'll still be raising Robust Whites, and maybe Imperials from Moyers as well.
I will continue to update this thread moving forward with the projects, wherever they lead me. I appreciate the support, comments, and camaraderie and hope something in my experiences and everyone else's in this thread are able to help someone.
I took your suggestion to join the Delaware group on FB too.
Welcome!! I saw you reading through in my notifications and I hope you got something out of the thread. Yes, I’m currently feed restricted so anything above what I do now requires a move. We built this as a forever home, but that was before I discovered chickens.Well, I finally got to the end of this thread. What a great read. Kudo's to you Jolenesdad, for all the work and effort you put into this.
Are you planning a move? You have such a great farm area now, I can scarcely imagine having a better place to raise your family and critters.
You all have inspired me to give meaties a try, although I decided awhile back that I would more than likely give it a whirl when our house is finished construction. We've moved from Southern California to 5 acres in the Paris/Dover Tennessee area by Kentucky lake. Unfortunately, we have a limited area that is actually flat, that's fit to build a coop on, but it is plenty large for what we want, and will have a large one built for our needs. The Delaware breed is one that I was considering for eggs....mainly because I think they're pretty.
I've been dreaming of having chickens for years now, and have been reading BYC for several years. We were allowed to have them in Ca where we lived, but only 6, but we also travel quite a bit so I decided to wait until we had settled here in Tenn.
Anyway, enough rambling….thanks again for the good read and great information. Best of luck to you on your future adventures raising meaties.
Maybe they daintily hop down level by level?
So far alls I can speak up for is Red Rangers, although I would say 1 foot is ideal they flew up to a 4 foot roost when that was what they had available. I haven't tested to see how high my Slow White Broiler will go, and the CX I rationed feed to only got as high as 6 inches but never had a higher roosting bar. Unless its a CX I am guessing they should do well between 12 and 18 inches high.Anyone have thoughts on roost height for big birds? I built these last week half expecting the meaties to use the bottom. But there’s three on the top two levels before sunset. Top height is about 4.5 feet. I am not out early enough to see how they get down.
