Good Deal/Right Breed?

[mamatomany]

I have a local guy who wants to sell me RIR straight run for 1.50 each. He has 20 of them, they are 10 days old. I would like to raise them for meat (first timer)...is this the right breed, will they be fat enough in 8 weeks time? Is this a good deal?

 

[Denninmi]

Not a meat breed. Egg layers. They will be extremely scrawny at 8 weeks. Price is so/so.

 

[Stacykins]

In eight weeks, probably not unless you like small chickens. I have a group of white rock cockerels I am raising for meat that are 9 weeks old now, and when I pick them up and feel their thighs and breast, they have barely any meat on them. I think most heritage birds take a while to 'fill in' unlike cornish X.

 

[mamatomany]

So I should be looking for corning crosses to raise as meat?

 

[Bluff Country Chicken]

Yep. If you want a decent quantity of meat in 8 weeks, you should go with Cornish crosses.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Bad Deal!

 

[bwmichaud]

That's not a very good deal if you're planning to raise them as meat birds. Since they are straight run, figure about half of them will be female. If you were planning on keeping the females as layers, it wouldn't be so bad. If you are planning on eating the females, they will be even smaller than the males which will be pretty small to begin with. In 8 weeks, you probably won't have a dressed carcass much more than a pound and a half which is tiny. And most of that will be bone. You'd need 15 or more weeks to get the males up to a decent enough size to make it worthwhile and the girls are certainly going to be smaller.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I think that is a very decent price for 10 day old purebred chicks. However, the roosters will be about 6 months old before they are big enough to butcher. The hens should be good egg layers for you. RIR is good meat, just not quick and cheap meat.

Cornish cross is your only option if you want to butcher in 8 weeks. There are a couple of other fast growing hybrids, but they aren't as fast as the Cornish Cross and won't be large enough in 8 weeks.

 

[juliaaa]

Quote:
This is very good to know. We've been arguing this in my house for a few weeks and I KNEW I was right!

Now I have proof.