Feeding Dual Purpose Breeds for the Freezer

[Parront]

I do not know for sure if corn will help meat birds get fat.

But we're always told not to give too much corn to laying hens, because they will get fat.
And corn is used to fatten other kinds of livestock.
And it's a fairly cheap food that chickens like.
So I thought it might be worth a try

Maybe for the last week or 2, their health does not matter long term at that point. The 3 days from the original poster, I do not know if that would be long enough to do much good.

 

[Feathercrazie]

I do not know for sure if corn will help meat birds get fat.

But we're always told not to give too much corn to laying hens, because they will get fat.
And corn is used to fatten other kinds of livestock.
And it's a fairly cheap food that chickens like.
So I thought it might be worth a try

When I was a kid we fed the chaff from sorghum, after we milled the sap out, to our pigs to fatten them quickly. might work with chickens also. A chicken will eat anything that has ever been alive.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Now that the hatch and the teenager stage is over, it is time to separate the roosters. Their breeds are New Hampshire Reds, Ameraucana, and Welsummer. While those breeds might not all be considered dual purpose breeds, they are for me. Fortunately only six out of the eighteen ended up being roosters. I'll keep one for now, but the rest are for the table. What is the best feeding strategy for the quickest results? Our ninety year old neighbor who helps us feed cows everyday in the winter said his mom said it only took three days to fatten a chicken to butcher. Wow, would I like to be able to talk to her about what she fed her birds! Maybe some of you all could help me out.

I keep brahmas for dual purpose. They get standard layer feed but I also free range. So their primary food is really the bugs and seeds nature provides and the feed us only supplementary.

Weights at butcher time (4-5mos) are on avg 3-4 lbs for females and 5-6lbs for males. Thats going in the freezer weights (plucked and dressed). At 1 yr old, hens are 4-5lbs and males can exceed 7lbs. At full maturity (3yrs) hens=5-6lbs and roos can be 9lbs+