HERE is where we are going to talk about a sustainable meat bird flock

[Smokin Silkies]

Hi, I'm in the process of reading ALL of the pages. I was following it for awhile, then got busy. First I want to apologize if this has already been asked or if this shouldn't be asked...

But... when people are talking about crossing birds back to one another using 3-4 breeds...how does this work. I'm also going to try my own meat bird by crossing, but not sure with what to what. Lets say you need 4 breeds.... 1. Cornish 2. White Rock 3. Buff Orp 4. Delaware (for example only) how does the crossing begin? Or do you just play around with whatever. I'm very confused about this part??? I'm trying to plan ahead before I get any chicks. Like do you take 1&2 hatch their eggs....take 3&4 hatch their eggs.....THEN take chicks from each pairing and breed them....then breed back to what. Yeah see, I have no clue!

Thanks

 

[danielnv]

Ok, I'm sure others have more experience than me on this, but I'm gonna answer anyway. This is much more of an art than a science. I would choose roosters of 1 with hens of 2, hens 1 with roosters of 2, and keep the best offspring. Repeat with roos and hens of 3 to roos and hens of 4, and keep the best offspring. At this point you could do test pairings of offspring from all the groups. Alternatively, you could breed you first two breeds together, keep the best hens, and then use roosters of a third breed.

I think this is where you have to come up with breeds that have specific traits you want, and combine the breeds in the way you see fit to hopefully get offspring that have all the good traits of the breeds you are combining, but not the less desireable traits. I imagine this calls for tons of experimentation and continuously trying to improve your flock until you have achieved your desired traits.

 

[greyartist]

Has anyone tried breeding a black or red broiler? The ones from Ideal hatchery, they are supposed to be hardier then the crosses and take a little longer to fill out. So I wonder if they would be easier to breed.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
Yes they breed fine, but you should breed them to dual purpose breeds because they do not breed true. Pick non hybrid breed that has the traits you want and then breed them with your Black or Red Roasters.

I just had a silkie/Ranger cross for dinner last night. She was 12 weeks and though bantam size she was 2 pounds after processing. The taste was exceptional for a meat bird. This cross was not intentional just happened. But all the crosses I have from the meat birds have grown at a amazing rate, but they also eat at a amazing rate too.

 

[Bettacreek]

I'm just starting out with a sustainable feeder flock. I do have the cornish x's of course, and come fall, I'm thinking about raising a few on a portion controlled diet to get them to breed (hopefully, lol). But, I do have some of what you're talking about.

I just bought 11 pekin ducklings. I'll keep probably 3-4 hens and one drake, the rest of the drakes will be processed (the excess hens will be sold/butchered, just depends). They'll be kept for eggs, which will then be hatched out or eaten. The hatched eggs will be either raised for the freezer or sold to bring back feed/maintenance money. I just had cayuga duck eggs shipped (thanks to a great member here). I'll raise them out, keep my breeders (same ratio as for pekins) and either sell the rest for the budget or put them in the freezer. These ducks are good egg/meat ducks as well, but I think they'll be a good money raising duck, to help cover my costs. I also have quail. My button quail are a money bird, and obviously not a meat bird, but I add them into the equation, because they've been contributing a LOT to the budget, and have been traded for other items that work for the meaties, such as a brooder light bulb for the huge brooder with the pekins and chickens and a cage for the coturnix. Their eggs can also be eaten, I plan to add boiled button eggs to a quail noodle soup as soon as I have enough to go around. The coturnix are another, I'm still working on raising the numbers, since I had only one hen from my hatch. I ended up with two more from auction, but these guys don't fit my "quality control" to be bred for actual meat birds. They'll be more for sales and egg consumption. The chickens, I have australorps in the incubator now. They're a good dual purpose bird. They are early maturing birds, and they're supposed to go broody very easily. If I get broodies, I'll let them raise their own for my freezer.

 

[saddina]

Quote:
Update:

Tonight for dinner was butterflied quail, seared with a lil garlic oil and served with pesto. 30 more in the freezer, and the 9 month old (oldest birds) will be switched out next hatch for younger stock.

Weights are steady in the 12-14 oz range.

 

[NCFF]

Hello ~

I saw a couple post here about Welsh Harlequin Ducks. I have 10 ducklings(9 days old). I plan on keeping all girls and 1 or 2 boys. Want to talk about when I will be able to butcher the extra boys. When will see for sure which ones are the boys? I would like to not wait till POL to cull. Anybody here keep a flock of Dual purpose WH that can help me out?

 

[Oregon Blues]

I butcher Pekins at 8 weeks and can male from female by voice sexing a couple of weeks before then.

Appleyards get butchered at 10 weeks. For WH, you will probably butcher closer to 12 weeks and don't expect a large dressed duck.

 

[NCFF]

I have not raised Ducks before. At 12 weeks where are they at the feather stage of development. I have read that Waterfowl are hard/harder to pluck when not in full feather. I am not expecting a large meal, just do not want to feed them any longer than is needed, also to make space for ones kept for breeding. I also have a extra Pilgrim (got two pairs) trying to figure if he will see the same fate or plan on with running two pairs. If extra Goose is to be butchered can I go on the same time frame as Ducks?

 

[Oregon Blues]

They are a lot of work to pluck when they have pin feathers. you can feel under the feathers of the breast and you can feel the pins if they have them.

Somewhere between 6 1/2 weeks and 10 weeks, there will be a 5-10 day window with no pins. If you miss that, wait 6-10 weeks for the next window of opportunity.

I butcher enough ducks at a time that it is worth setting up and using duck wax. The wax gets the pins very nicely, so I don't worry about pinfeathers. The last batch of pekins, I butchered at 8 weeks and they were without pins and dressed out beautifully clean.

I've got Swedish which are probably close in size and growth to WH, and they are really small at 8 weeks. I waited until the next window of opportunity without pins. they dressed out well, are at least edible size, not huge, but enough for 2 people, and they are really lovely. Excellent meat, thin skin that roasts well.