Cornish X - Pullets or Males?

[bigredfeather]

Chickending, how long do you let them go to get around 8lbs? Do you offer food all the time, or is it restricted?

I look forward to your answer to these questions. Thank you to all that responded. You were of great help! I am going to order 25-30 today, get some chick equipment, and see how it goes. Hopefully in a couple of months I will have meat in the freezer and in jars ready for my family to enjoy.

Thanks again!

 

[miss_jayne]

Quote:
we did it pound for pound. i got 242 lbs. of pork. so, about 60 chickens give or take if they run small.

the cow will be coming in a week...it is still at the butcher. we will do the same, pound for pound.

i get to 'pay' as i raise mine. she also will take turkey or any other poultry i want to use as payment. how cool is that?

plus another half hog coming too!

 

[Acre of Blessings]

Quote:
we did it pound for pound. i got 242 lbs. of pork. so, about 60 chickens give or take if they run small.

the cow will be coming in a week...it is still at the butcher. we will do the same, pound for pound.

i get to 'pay' as i raise mine. she also will take turkey or any other poultry i want to use as payment. how cool is that?

plus another half hog coming too!

Some people just have it made

Sure wish I could find someone here to do that with. Do you give the birds live or processed?

 

[Chickending]

I raise mine for approx. 9-10 weeks. I have found that the best timing for me. I fed mine 3 x a day as that is how it ends up. I will fill up their feeders and I have like 4 of them for 90 chickens. When its empty I fill them up, so it ended up being like 3 times a day to be fed. I also put out goodies for them, greens, hay, scratch, I kept most of their feeders outside to so they were forced to move around and excersise a bit. I only kept one feeder in the coop and one waterer. Everything else was kept out in their run.

Others may have had success other ways, but for me I have had more success with pullets only and will never raise them in late june or july again. The heat is a hard thing for them to handle.

I like the nice roaster size as that is what I like and my customers like too.

So it works for me this plan, now if you want fryers raise them to 7-8 weeks and you will probably have a smaller bird and not my 8-9 lb'ers I have.

 

[bigredfeather]

We are looking for broilers as well. We will freeze some, and we also want to can some. My wife really likes the idea of opening up a jar of meat that is just heat and serve, put in noodles or put in oven dishes. 9-10 weeks will work out perfect. The place we intend to have them dressed will be dressing on the 7th of January(I called today), so if I get birds Tuesday, the timing will be perfect. They will dress them for $1.40 each. It's hardly worth my time at that price. That's about $0.19/lb if the average weight is 7.5lbs. In time, I may consider doing it myself, but I think I will only embark on one new thing at a time. Do you keep track of the Feed Conversion Rate? If so, is it about 3lbs? That is what I have been told.

 

[Chickending]

Wow, That is a great price for processing. I pay 2 dollars a bird for mine and still make a profit when I sell my extras. I keep about 20-30 birds and sell the rest and it ends up paying all my costs for the raising and with a bit of a profit too.

What I have found out for myself is from experience, now some people have more success with straight runs, for myself I have had better success with pullets plus they are cheaper and I like my results better.

Good Luck and keep us posted on your progress

 

[Chickending]

Yes I do keep track of feed ratio, it ends up about 3lbs too. The price of corn was up this year so that did affect it.

 

[bigredfeather]

Thanks for all your advise. It has been most helpful. I am going to order chicks this afternoon. I just need to decide how many. I'm thinking 25-30. I will keep you updated, and may have more questions.

Thanks again!

 

[AzbornTxraised]

Since you butcher at 8 weeks, do the cocks ever begin to crow? I only ask because I live in town and would like to raise meat chicks, however I could not do it if they began crowing due to neighbors.

 

[ShannonR]

Hi, I noticed this thread is old but your question is recent.

No, you shouldn't hear any crowing at 8 weeks. It is vaguely possible, but highly unusual. If they make even a noise you might think is a learning to crow noise, you are of course free to butcher them on the spot. No neighbor annoying required.

Good luck with your meaties!