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

[pringle]

You gotta love dark meat.Alot of people claim to have pure Texas A&M quail but usually its a lie.you end up with english white or some weird brd thats looks like a Texas A&M but has dark meat.

 

[TimG]

Quote:
But, my freezer runs on electricity provided by a power company that burns fossil fuels to produce that electricity. I think that means I cannot claim sustainability when it comes to the chicken portion of my food supply regardless of what kind of chickens I put in there.

Tim

 

[CARS]

Quote:
But, my freezer runs on electricity provided by a power company that burns fossil fuels to produce that electricity. I think that means I cannot claim sustainability when it comes to the chicken portion of my food supply regardless of what kind of chickens I put in there.

Tim

I am not talking about your family being completely sustainable. Just like I pointed out in the first post. Breeding for new stock, hatching the new stock, raising the new stock, processing the excess yourself, etc. I don't even want to know what or how you feed them.

Can't anyone read today or am I just going crazy???? I don't care if you use your grandma's bike to do chores with a wicker basket your mom made. I just want to know about the dang chickens!!!!!

Maybe sustainable is not the right word. Would you prefer "renewable"?

Ways of living more sustainably can take many forms from reorganising living conditions (e.g., ecovillages, eco-municipalities and sustainable cities), reappraising economic sectors (permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture), or work practices (sustainable architecture), using science to develop new technologies (green technologies, renewable energy), to adjustments in individual lifestyles that conserve natural resources.

 

[randomchick]

I am also cross breeding heritage pigs for their different meat qualities. I have decided on a large black female (amazing bacon and ham) which I am crossing with a Berkshire boar (awesome chops and schnitzel and to die for taste in the sausages and hocks). I tried tamworth and found them a little aggressive and not as great in the butt hams. Also I am not into the traditional pink weiner pig, just like I am not into the traditional cornish cross chicken for meat or white leghorn for eggs.

 

[randomchick]

"Renewable"

I am going out back to renew my chicken supply, better grab the axe.
Sorry to laugh at your frustration Cars, I really do agree with you.

 

[pringle]

Quote:
But, my freezer runs on electricity provided by a power company that burns fossil fuels to produce that electricity. I think that means I cannot claim sustainability when it comes to the chicken portion of my food supply regardless of what kind of chickens I put in there.

Tim

I am not talking about your family being completely sustainable. Just like I pointed out in the first post. Breeding for new stock, hatching the new stock, raising the new stock, processing the excess yourself, etc. I don't even want to know what or how you feed them.

Can't anyone read today or am I just going crazy???? I don't care if you use your grandma's bike to do chores with a wicker basket your mom made. I just want to know about the dang chickens!!!!!

Maybe sustainable is not the right word. Would you prefer "renewable"?

Ways of living more sustainably can take many forms from reorganising living conditions (e.g., ecovillages, eco-municipalities and sustainable cities), reappraising economic sectors (permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture), or work practices (sustainable architecture), using science to develop new technologies (green technologies, renewable energy), to adjustments in individual lifestyles that conserve natural resources.

So you dont want to learn about quail then

 

[Teach97]

I am going to do something on a very small scale (double meaning here) first part is i am using bantam cornish but don't want to do any AI'ing. So I am gonna cross them with something else...I really want a brown leghorn bantam roo...ain't finding one. My plan is to have a fairly decent sized bantam for little roaster birds and okay egg production. I am not going to do this with a huge number of birds as it isn't my main goal. I currently have three red laced hens. I like the color and it will factor into my bird picking...I don't like white or black birds...now birds with both colors are okay. Hopefully these birds will breed into something that I can select for relative good growth and meat production...as good as you can get from a bantam! Those are my pathetic plans...truely sustainable and such??? time will tell I guess

I also have cotournix...I didn't do nothing with them but dang they lay lots of eggs! I still think they have light meat but I don't consider it dark until it is dove meat dark! never undestood why they called any chicken meat dark

 

[Kittymomma]

Pringle--I'm sure that quail can still be part of the conversation. As I understand it the OP just wants to stay away from all the talk about growing your own feed, organic or not, what "other" resources go into raising chickens--electric, fuel cost for driving to the feed store or growing feed, etc.........This thread is more about how you raise a meat bird that suits your needs for the table and can live long enough to reproduce itself. What breeds and/or crosses are you using, why are you using them, what are the goals you're working towards (carcass size, food conversion, growth rate, etc.) and why.

Hopefully I got this right and won't be responsible for any more cranial brusing on the OP's part.

 

[CARS]

Quote:
Yes I do. I just miss spoke. You guys are going to kill me today. It must be me

(btw. You forgot the ' in don't and forgot the period at the end of your sentence. I can play these games too

 

[Buster52]

Fair enough.

I'm currently raising Dark Cornish hens that I am crossing with big beautiful Dark Cornish roosters. I have two rookie broodies who can't quite get the hang of the whole thing but are trying anyhow.

I was going to order some Delawares from a hatchery but instead bought 5 hens and a rooster this weekend who will supply me with fertile eggs for hatching. I will run a tractor of those and a tractor of DC side by side, taking careful observation to see how they do, as Delaware were apparently once the meat birds of choice.

There are no Buckeyes around here so I reckon I will have to order some of those from a hatchery. That part is not sustainable, but the fact that they are heritage breeds is. A friend is letting me piggyback on his order of Cornish Cross so I will be running a tractor of those along with the three tractors for heritage breeds. That isn't sustainable at all as the CX is a terminal bird, but oh well. We can't talk about that in the thread.

The reason I am running all of these birds at the same time is to see which one best fits my profile of a sustainable meat bird. We know the CX won't cut the mustard, but I want to raise just one batch for myself. It is a major compromise with my sense of ethics in favor of education. I'm very good at observation and will take careful notes. I'm going to start a blog on the project complete with pictures and weights of each batch of birds, FCR, weights at butcher, etc.

I have 3 tom and 5 hen Bourbon Red turkeys most of which I have raised from eggs. One tom will be going to the freezer soon.

I am incubating a dozen of the BR eggs starting tonight, along with some fertile Pekin and Muskovey ducks that will also be raised for meat. We eat at least one turkey per month, so the goal is to hatch enough for that, plus extras for November and December. The rest will be sold at auction or butchered for folks who want to eat a decent turkey for a change.

I will be picking up some meat goats to run on pasture this spring and summer, and will be raising catfish in my huge pond. I will be buying some Polyface rabbits for breeding stock, and raise their young in pasture pens.