I hatched out 24 ...3 were pullets
Chronicles of Raising Meat Birds - Modern Broilers, Heritage and Hybrids
- Thread starter jolenesdad
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #634
I was thinking the same thing. I hope so!
Meat birds?
Yes meat birds
I'm one of the few that want cockerels lol
I'm one of the few that want cockerels lol
Meat birds?
If you wanted them then that is good.
Sounds like you will get practice butchering.Also.... I did a count today and I have SIXTEEN Delaware cockerels and seven pullets. And the one the hawk killed was also a boy.
Butchered the sole remaining cockerel on Sunday. Wound up dry plucking him and it wasn't as bad a time as I had with the others from the same farm. He was older than them at butchering. Them were 12 weeks and the 10 of them were crowing. Couple of pounds each dressed.
With a single cockerel and short days, he was considerable larger. Thankful he waited that long before crowing loud. I was hoping for a hoarse cockerel.
The first set had 10 cockerels out of 23 hatchlings. The quail, on the other hand, I'm not so lucky with.
- Thread starter
- #638
Hatching excitement this morning!!! Toddler got to finally watch the entire zip and hatch, and was ecstatic. So cute.
FanTAStic!!
- Thread starter
- #640
Quick update... one of my older dogs is not doing well and I think we're at the end. He is taking a lot of my time this week. But I'm not complaining. <3
Delawares are gaining a half a pound a week, and the Imperials are gaining a pound!
10 Weeks
Imperial
Male - 7 lb 2 ounces
Female - 6 lb
Delaware
Male - 3 lb 8 ounces
Female - 2 lb 12 ounces
Everyone is doing well, there's still no real unruly boys. The Delawares are probably a little food aggressive, but just hog the spaces and are so voracious, the Imperials sit back. But... lets get real. They're clearly eating, that's MAJOR gain a week right there. Im going to add an entire extra trough of feeder space.
No losses to hawks this week. I think they're pretty smart as a group now.
Trying to decide where and what to order another round of delawares for, I really think I'd like to have 15+ pullets to setup a breeding program with, and thinking of going back to Dawnridge for a huge order to be able to get enough good pullets from is a little expensive. I could get a lot more eggs for the buck from Deer Ridge Farm, but, that's shipping eggs and low hatch rates, so... back to thinking maybe chicks are worth it? Hmmmm.
I put out a bale of alfalfa because they're wanting to stay under shelter a lot because of the hawks. In one photo you also can see the held back Robust Whites.
Have one more chick hatching today, and then three more next week from the Delaware/Robust White cross. The first one that hatched looks to have delaware coloring, but I can't totally tell, it's 2 days old. It does have color coming on the wings like my delaware chicks did.
Three weeks left, I guess this boy will be nearing 10+ pounds? Some of the girls should be 8-9 pounds at this rate? Thats huge for what i was expecting... I have never had a boy this big at this age I think, I've always taken them to be processed at 9 weeks and kept the smaller back for 12.
Haven’t taken many photos... I dropped my phone and am trying to nurse it until I take it in.
Delawares are gaining a half a pound a week, and the Imperials are gaining a pound!
10 Weeks
Imperial
Male - 7 lb 2 ounces
Female - 6 lb
Delaware
Male - 3 lb 8 ounces
Female - 2 lb 12 ounces
Everyone is doing well, there's still no real unruly boys. The Delawares are probably a little food aggressive, but just hog the spaces and are so voracious, the Imperials sit back. But... lets get real. They're clearly eating, that's MAJOR gain a week right there. Im going to add an entire extra trough of feeder space.
No losses to hawks this week. I think they're pretty smart as a group now.
Trying to decide where and what to order another round of delawares for, I really think I'd like to have 15+ pullets to setup a breeding program with, and thinking of going back to Dawnridge for a huge order to be able to get enough good pullets from is a little expensive. I could get a lot more eggs for the buck from Deer Ridge Farm, but, that's shipping eggs and low hatch rates, so... back to thinking maybe chicks are worth it? Hmmmm.
I put out a bale of alfalfa because they're wanting to stay under shelter a lot because of the hawks. In one photo you also can see the held back Robust Whites.
Have one more chick hatching today, and then three more next week from the Delaware/Robust White cross. The first one that hatched looks to have delaware coloring, but I can't totally tell, it's 2 days old. It does have color coming on the wings like my delaware chicks did.
Three weeks left, I guess this boy will be nearing 10+ pounds? Some of the girls should be 8-9 pounds at this rate? Thats huge for what i was expecting... I have never had a boy this big at this age I think, I've always taken them to be processed at 9 weeks and kept the smaller back for 12.
Haven’t taken many photos... I dropped my phone and am trying to nurse it until I take it in.
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