Dual purpose bird or straight meat bird?

[Flyboy718]

Anybody have any experience with the red or black broilers from Ideal Hatchery?

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
I was thinking about a red or black broiler from Ideal Hatchery. Anybody have any experience with these birds?

I'm ordering some in October but no experience yet. Will be getting Cornish X and red broilers in same order.

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
I agree, in most breeds anyway. You can also increse rate-of-growth by select for it. See here:
http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/ALBCchicken_assessment-1.pdf

 

[cukooformarans]

Sorry, Flyboy, I have no experience with the slow growers

Albionwood-I did not include the lost broilers in my statement that DP are less expensive to feed. I think homesteadapps had some concrete numbers which assumed straight feed as opposed to free ranging. Other than that, it appears that you and I do have a similar opinion on the topic! One thing that I will add is that I appreciate the flexibility in processing time that a DP gives. We processed some the other day that ranged in age from 14-18 weeks and they all turned out well. A 4-week age range with the cornish X would result in eating babies or sick ( due to age-related health problems) chickens, which of course is money lost. But like you said, the cornish x make much better roasters. We actually tried a DP on the rotisserie last night (What can I say, it was worth a shot) and it was absolutely as tough as soft leather!

PS I know this is not the correct thread, but if you do post any recipes for the DP, I would sincerely appreciate it if you would pm me and let me know where to look for them!

We really like the DP, but learning to cook them is like learning to cook all over again.

(IMO) It is lots of trial and lots of error ... lol

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Quote:
Depends on the breed.. Leghorn cocks should be 6, Marans 8.5, Brahmas 12 ect.
Mitch

Commonly available Leghorn and Brahma cocks that originated from hatcheries do not attain that much weight.

 

[itsy]

Quote:
I'm raising the Red Broilers now. Should be processing one or two this weekend and probably the rest in a couple more weeks. I'm pleased with them so far and will let everyone know how they taste!

If all goes well - I'll be ordering a larger batch for the fall.

 

[AlbionWood]

Quote:
Well... What's the cost to purchase and raise breeder stock? From what I can find, getting chicks is not easy, they are very expensive (by comparison to hatchery CX), if you buy eggs you risk poor hatch rates, and in any case you are spending a bunch of money up front for a flock that won't begin to return much meat on the investment for at least a year. (Granted the hens begin to pay you back when they start laying.) If half your birds are cockerels and you put all but one or two of those in the freezer, that's some expensive meat; the conversion ratio would be more like 7:1. IF all goes well, after 18 months you'd have another crop of "free" cockerels (and maybe some culled hens and pullets), so you'd begin to earn back your investment. It would be interesting to run some realistic numbers and see how the long-term economics worked out.

Out here in California I am not aware of any breeders with meaty Delaware, NH, or Buckeye stock for sale. (I have all three in my DP flock though!) It's easy to get CX chicks, but very very difficult to find breeder stock "heritage" birds for meat.

 

[AlbionWood]

Quote:
The UCD paper (from 1983) you linked to doesn't seem to back that up, unless I am reading it wrong. As I read it, they suggest 14 to 15 lbs per bird for layers to week 20, and 5 to 7 pounds for broilers to slaughter (week 8?). It's possible I am misunderstanding, because the table is poorly presented. But that accords better with what I've read elsewhere, and with my own experience, that broilers convert feed to meat about twice as efficiently as DP birds.

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
Well... What's the cost to purchase and raise breeder stock? First, it depends who you get them from. Buckeye Dave sells 25 chicks for $100. Not a terrible price for some good birds. if you get those, then you won't have to buy more chicks every year.
Out here in California I am not aware of any breeders with meaty Delaware, NH, or Buckeye stock for sale. (I have all three in my DP flock though!) It's easy to get CX chicks, but very very difficult to find breeder stock "heritage" birds for meat.

Jim Adkins
P.O. Box 3076
Sonora, CA 95370
209-890-5326
[email protected]

Kim Consol
PO Box 301
Guinda, CA 95637
[email protected]

Lisa Smith
37 Las Flores Road
Oroville, CA 95966
[email protected]

ABPC members in CA.
Mitch

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
Depends on the breed.. Leghorn cocks should be 6, Marans 8.5, Brahmas 12 ect.
Mitch

Commonly available Leghorn and Brahma cocks that originated from hatcheries do not attain that much weight.

This is sadly, true.
Mitch