So you want the meat birds to only be the size of the cornish hens that you see in the meat dept of a grocery store? Then they only need to be a few weeks old. If you want them to get big like a broiler or up to 8lbs then that takes about 8-10 weeks. Hope this clears things up for you.
I want to be able to capitalize on some niche marketing opportunities for weddings and other spring and summer parties. Timing will be crucial to minimize inadequate (over sized of undersized birds) products. I want to have them processed two days ahead of the scheduled events and not have to maintain any inventory of frozen birds. If the birds reached the desired size and weight a week early it would not be a total disaster; however, if they are not ready in time it would be. I will of course have to purchase enough day old chicks to ensure I have enough birds of consistent size to fill the order, which will mean the ones not sold from that lot can be raised forward to fryers and broilers for later sale or for the home freezer. Thanks, Brad
It also depends on weither you feed them ad lib (all they want all the time) or twice a day all they can eat. I did the later and because I didn't know what I was doing and was afraid of them having leg problems. They grew much slower than the advertised growth rate, but were in the 2½ lb range in 5 to 6 weeks. I only did it the once.
