Dual purpose chicken

[crazzzymike13]

I've been raising Cornish x and I know they are different. My question is when raising a dual chicken for meat. Do I feed them meat bird feed when they are chicks or do i wait til they get bigger like near adult then separate them? Then feed them out for a month or so?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Of you are looking big, the Jersey Giants are good. There is also Plymouth Rocks, Orpingtons, and Brahmas. I have New Hampshire Reds and I've heard that they can be dual purpose.
You could eat any chicken, it's just some would be hard to want to eat, like the Silkie, or not enough meat like the Sex Link.
Some people say you should not raise other breeds with Cornish X , for they could get trampled, but I've never had that problem. Most problem I had is when I raised RIRs with them. The Cornish Xes was slaughtered and one of the RIRs missed them so much that she went into a depression.
As far as different feed, I'm not quite sure. Certain feeds have more protein than others. If they are laying, you want layer pellets.

 

[RUNuts]

Why separate? A chicken is a chicken. The heritage Barred Rock hens I raised for meat were in with the layers. Everyone eating 18% protein for health, grass and all the bugs they could find. Most important part is size. Same size, no issues. If difference, then the big ones eat and bully the little ones into giving up on their share. The CX get big quick. The lesson here is provide enough space and feeding stations for all to eat. If in a coop or tractor, yes separate for size for optimal growth.

Ma-mom raised free feed store birds. Mostly leghorns. When eating time came, leghorn it was. Always had a fresh supply. They would go broody and bring in babies. She only free ranged and shot every predator that stuck its nose out. Go Grandma!

 

[crazzzymike13]

Why separate? A chicken is a chicken. The heritage Barred Rock hens I raised for meat were in with the layers. Everyone eating 18% protein for health, grass and all the bugs they could find. Most important part is size. Same size, no issues. If difference, then the big ones eat and bully the little ones into giving up on their share. The CX get big quick. The lesson here is provide enough space and feeding stations for all to eat. If in a coop or tractor, yes separate for size for optimal growth.

Ma-mom raised free feed store birds. Mostly leghorns. When eating time came, leghorn it was. Always had a fresh supply. They would go broody and bring in babies. She only free ranged and shot every predator that stuck its nose out. Go Grandma!

The reason I was gonna separate was so they could eat a lot. So I could feed them out. I guess what I'm wondering is do I have to feed them out or feed then normally and when the time comes they will already be big enough to butcher.

 

[RUNuts]

The reason I was gonna separate was so they could eat a lot. So I could feed them out. I guess what I'm wondering is do I have to feed them out or feed then normally and when the time comes they will already be big enough to butcher.

From my limited experience with heritage, you should free feed. They will eat what they need. I'm not sure you could make them eat more to grow more unlike the CX.

I'd say feed normally. I will be raising not CX this summer with layers. Free feed the whole time.

Cheers!

 

[Molpet]

I raise the heritage with the flock until they started bothering the pullets.. then boys go to a bachelor pad until 16-26 weeks when they go to freezer camp. They get all they can eat, but it just puts on fat not muscle

 

[I am the Walrus]

Free choice feeding. Multiple birds. They compete for the eats.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The reason I was gonna separate was so they could eat a lot. So I could feed them out. I guess what I'm wondering is do I have to feed them out or feed then normally and when the time comes they will already be big enough to butcher.

You have a misconception about dual purpose birds. "Feeding until big enough" is not what your trying to do. Normal feeding with a good protein amount is all you need. 18-20% is good. Separating cockerels from pullets aids the pullets in getting enough feed as the boys will push smaller birds off feeders so multiple feeders or separating is sometimes done.

With non meat hybrids your raising the birds to the cooking method you want. They have such a poor feed conversion the longer you raise them the more exorbitant the carcass for what results in more texture/muscle tone. Your best conversion will be to raise to broiler age. You can broil/grill to 14 weeks of age. You can fry to 18 weeks of age. And you can hold a few over for size and roasting birds up to 9 months. Most prefer 6 to 7 month roasters.

This all only means the meat gets more toned with age therefore the cooking method needs to increasingly be lower temp. You can obviously roast a broiler but would woe broiling a roaster. So you see, the size of bird means not when your getting into the non hybrid meat birds. Age is everything and you butcher the birds at age regardless of size. Size, plumpness and all those meat qualities you may desire come from the stock of bird not attempting to feed it plump. Standard bred, "heritage", or breeder stock as another term will provide better meat quality stock than hatchery stock. Breeders that breed for meat qualities and certain breeds would be your option for faster maturing dual purpose. A few breeds that fit this are New Hampshire, Dorking, Buckeye and others. Plymouth Rock are not the faster maturing birds they were in the 50's. Good breeder stock New Hampshire are fast maturing but still not what they were when used in broiler industry. And so on.

 

[BreanneRN]

I acquired Light and Buff Brahmas and Speckled Sussex as dual purpose birds... Are they still considered to be? My Speckled Sussex seem to have a lighter, more egg layer type frame than the ones I had 20 years ago. I know the Brahmas are really not considered that great at egg laying. Maybe the New Hampshire is more the way to go? An attractive bird with plump form and egg laying capabilities? I don't want to raise cx as they get mean and you have to buy more chicks every year as opposed to them produce offspring on their own.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The sussex is considered a fine meat bird. Was the standard table fowl in England, the Red Sussex was favored with Speckled next in line. Again, breeder quality trumps hatchery birds every time and that's a big factor if considering homestead dual purpose use. Hatchery birds are bred to lay eggs and resemble the breed. If eggs are priority hatchery is the way to go for more eggs but as this is the meat forum you really want breeder stock.