Feeding dual purpose cockerels for meat

[bigz1983]

I have 3 cockerels I plan on butchering if I can't sell them.
1 blue amercaucana
1 blue cochin
1 black french crested Crevecoeur
They are about 14 weeks old and I want to get them up to a good slaughter weight as fast as possible.
Family farm and home has a
"All flock" 18% protein feed
"Meat bird finisher" 20% protein feed
"Meat bird grower" 24% protein feed
Will I notice much of difference between 18%, 20% or 24% on these birds?

 

[Ruthster55]

Try giving them milk or buttermilk plus some good clean corn (food grade would be best) along with their feed and confining them for a couple of weeks.

You don’t need a super-high protein percentage in the feed for fattening them. They need to run around less for a little while.

The Blue Cochin and the Crevecour are kind of rare. How do they compare with the breed standard? Are they just hatchery quality or did the parents come from a breeder? Do you have Blue Cochin or Crevecour hens?

 

[bigz1983]

Try giving them milk or buttermilk plus some good clean corn (food grade would be best) along with their feed and confining them for a couple of weeks.

You don’t need a super-high protein percentage in the feed for fattening them. They need to run around less for a little while.

The Blue Cochin and the Crevecour are kind of rare. How do they compare with the breed standard? Are they just hatchery quality or did the parents come from a breeder? Do you have Blue Cochin or Crevecour hens?

The 3 cockerels are in a small coop seperated from our other groups of chickens and they don't move much.
The Crevecoeur from what I hear is very rare I heard they are listed as critical.
He came from a breeder.
I don't have any hens for him.
It was a accident that I got him the breeder put him in with a batch of Amerucana chicks.
She sells Crevecoeur chicks for $8 each straight run.
I'm have ads up for him and I have contacted breeders on the livestock conservatory list.
No bites yet.
If he doesn't sell before winter my wife said she will make him into a fancy french dish after slaughter.
The blue Cochin and blue Amerucana are from a breeder too.
Their kinda rare but not as rare as a Crevecoeur.
I have hens for them too but I have another blue Cochin cockerel that I'm keeping.

 

[Parront]

As the keeper of a rare breed, Barred Hollands, I plan to eat the excess cockerels. The best way to preserve them is for them to have a use. Tasty french cockerel can be a good reason to keep breeding them. There has to be a market for them or they will not be worth it to breed. Make a nice dinner of him, share with friends. If you like the taste, you will buy more and maybe breed them yourself to get more fine french dining! 14 - 16 weeks is a good age to process them.