Experience with Frypan birds?

rascal66

Crowing
7 Years
Sep 10, 2015
1,061
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Washington
Husband and I got a Frypan special (from cackle hatchery) almost a month ago. It was a nice mix of what I believe are Buff Orps, Rhode Island Reds, GL Wyandotte, Barred Rocks, Light Brahma and I think some Leghorn.

We have raised and done well with Cornish. But our main customer base love the stronger taste of older birds.

Anyone with experience on how these boys will do carcass wise? At what age is typically good for butchering? How much do they weigh on average? I really am looking forward to some large, meaty boys.

I also planned in keeping them in a large grass area for them to range on. Does Free ranging affect how much they weigh?

We are excited to see how they turn out! They are currently on a chick starter, 20% protein..

Would love to hear anyone's experience on them.

Thanks!
 
They'll all have decent carcasses except for the leghorn for birds not CornishX or Red Rangers.
The protein is fine. I don't think free ranging affects weight that much. It just affects how tough the legs and thighs will be. That will require more resting of the meat and lower and slower cooking.
 
Anyone with experience on how these boys will do carcass wise? At what age is typically good for butchering? How much do they weigh on average?

I got a handfull of Buff Orp and what I think was RIR boys from Cackle's Fry Pan special from a feed store when I had a horrible incubator hatch one year. If you've ever had dual purpose cockerels from a hatchery you'll know what to expect. I did not weight them, some were bigger than others. None were close to what a Cornish X will do.

What age to butcher? Purely subjective. That depends n so many different things. You are in the business of selling meat which helps with your goals. My goals are different, I eat my own. What are your feed costs per pound of meat gain, that's if you sell them by the pound? Your pricing structure may come into play. How often will you be turning them over? The sooner you butcher the the sooner you can start the next batch. You may need to do some trial and error and keep good records.

I raise mine with a lot of forage plus I use a 16% Grower for the entire flock. At 16 weeks the carcass size is reasonable but my personal target is 23 weeks. It varies by cockerel quite a bit but I find that they have pretty much ended their juvenile growth spurt by 23 weeks. The will continue to gain weight but it is really slow.

I also planned in keeping them in a large grass area for them to range on. Does Free ranging affect how much they weigh?

It can if the alternative is to feed them nothing but a high protein feed. They will get bigger faster on a high protein diet. I think the ultimate size on a high protein feed is bigger too. Your feed costs should be lower if they graze so there will be a trade-off.
 

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