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

[CARS]

Quote:
A pig can't get its feet dirty or it is a biosecurity threat in a confinement barn. Now that just takes the cake.

Ya. I know

Well, if one gets a sickness, thousands will get it too. Then what???

You should see the truck washing operations. They have inspectors swabbing the trailers to test for any bacteria. They take piggies very, very seriously.

 

[CTChickenMom]

Quote:
What is the finished dressed weight on the average bantam? That must be a single serving bird.

It's be cool to have folks over for dinner and give them each their own little whole chicken. Is it worth all the work for so little meat?

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
A pig can't get its feet dirty or it is a biosecurity threat in a confinement barn. Now that just takes the cake.

Ya. I know

Well, if one gets a sickness, thousands will get it too. Then what???

Exactly. It's an indictment of the system.

 

[randomchick]

Quote:
Does it make a difference who's doing the laying, the Jersey or the Rocks? Does it benefit having the roo be one breed or the other? Do both breeds get broody? I'd like to process some birds for eating but I don't want any of the crosses (no offense to anyone to does raise them). Do you feed them a layer or grower feed? I have lots of questions. This home business I'd like to start needs to be sound. Hubby is ready to do it. I want a good bird for my investment.

If you are not wanting any crosses and you want just a single breed around the yard then I would say barred rock. You will get a 4-5 lb on the table after 14-15 weeks.
I found that crossing the Jersey giant with Plymouth barred Rock will give a 6+lb bird in 14-16 weeks and they have a longer breast, that is why I am choosing to cross the 2. I will still eat a Jersey giant when having a family get together and want a bigger bird, but it takes longer to raise to size.
I don't know if there is a difference as to who is the roo, as I only had a few birds to experiment with last year of those two breeds. I have ordered more this year and will be trying both crosses of roo jersey w/ barred hen, and barred roo w/ jersey he. I will post my differences in the meat if any.
As for the feed. I feed layer to the layers, and if I suddenly realize I have a boy in the layers in disguise, I have found that there is only a small difference in weight to the carcass. The big difference is that layer feed is more expensive.
I feed all my meat birds the grower feed but I only give it to them twice a day, as much as they can eat for 15-20 minutes. Till they get full. They have good grass all summer, and seem to do great. Very little fat I have found on the birds that have had room to run around and eat greens.

 

[WallTenters]

Quote:
We have found that large blacks are great backyard pigs. They let you handle the piglets, as long as you remember to give big momma a scratch too. Easy birth and super docile. Now I should mention that this is just my experience from visiting a neighbors farm, but the pigs all let me handle their young and I am a stranger. Also the berkshire are tame. We are breeding the 2 together for meat interest. I have a pregnant large black sow and she lets me rub her belly, check her temperature, even look at her teeth. The boar which is a berkshire is so gentle, he lays down for belly rubs as soon as you touch his side. We raised them both from babies, and because we gave them daily attention we have no worries. When our electric fence went down for 3 days, they never left the property. They did keep trying to come in the house though, ever try to stop a 300 lb sow from coming in the house door with you while you are carrying young children. They would always go back to the barn at night, but during the day they thought it was fun to beg at the door. My mini dachshund was very worried she would be sat on.

I think it's very much in the handling. In my experience, Berkshires were much more aggressive than other breeds, so aggressive as butcher pigs I never wanted to keep one as a breeding sow. The gentlest sow I ever had was a Duroc, the meanest sow I ever had was a Duroc.

Edit: Should have added, the sweet sow was one I raised from a weaner pig. The "mean" sow was one I bought when she was already 3 I think, and she was mean when I got her. On the other hand, she had consistently weaned 16-20 piglets, all heavyweights at butcher time (and continued to do so for several years, well past regular productive age for sows). Too bad I hadn't gotten her as a weaner, she would have been a nice sow with big litters

I agree the Yorkshires (the sows usually used in commercial breeder) tend to be better mothers = more protective. However, if you raise it from weaner size you can still have a sow that's easy to handle, regardless of her breed.

I kept a Hampshire Boar (total sweetie), a Landrace Boar, some Duroc, Hampshire, Yorkshire, and cross bred sows. I sometimes would buy other breeds for butcher just to compare.

One thing to note - Berkshires have the best fat. Bacon and hams are incredible. The meat is very tender.

For feed conversion to the table (incl best butchering weight vs. live weight) Duroc/Hampshire crosses lead the pack, with Hampshire/Yorkshire crosses coming in second ("blue butts"). If you're going to keep your own boar, I'd rather have a Hampshire boar, and keep Duroc and Yorkshire sows.

 

[Buster52]

I see a lot of folks getting birds for dual purpose. I think it is a good idea to consider at least two breeds instead, one for laying and one for meat. We have RIR and a leghorn hen, plus a couple of easter eggers for the bulk of our egg needs, and the DC for meat. While the Cornish do produce eggs, they are on the small side. We do eat those eggs when not hatching them, but I don't consider them a dual purpose bird, and even if they were I wouldn't focus on that. That sort of thinking frees you up more as far as meat bird choices go.

Dark brown egg layers are good for egg sales if you happen to slip into that, plus a couple of Easter Eggers for fun.

Just something to consider on your self sufficient journey.

 

[CTChickenMom]

Quote:
Does it make a difference who's doing the laying, the Jersey or the Rocks? Does it benefit having the roo be one breed or the other? Do both breeds get broody? I'd like to process some birds for eating but I don't want any of the crosses (no offense to anyone to does raise them). Do you feed them a layer or grower feed? I have lots of questions. This home business I'd like to start needs to be sound. Hubby is ready to do it. I want a good bird for my investment.

If you are not wanting any crosses and you want just a single breed around the yard then I would say barred rock. You will get a 4-5 lb on the table after 14-15 weeks.
I found that crossing the Jersey giant with Plymouth barred Rock will give a 6+lb bird in 14-16 weeks and they have a longer breast, that is why I am choosing to cross the 2. I will still eat a Jersey giant when having a family get together and want a bigger bird, but it takes longer to raise to size.
I don't know if there is a difference as to who is the roo, as I only had a few birds to experiment with last year of those two breeds. I have ordered more this year and will be trying both crosses of roo jersey w/ barred hen, and barred roo w/ jersey he. I will post my differences in the meat if any.
As for the feed. I feed layer to the layers, and if I suddenly realize I have a boy in the layers in disguise, I have found that there is only a small difference in weight to the carcass. The big difference is that layer feed is more expensive.
I feed all my meat birds the grower feed but I only give it to them twice a day, as much as they can eat for 15-20 minutes. Till they get full. They have good grass all summer, and seem to do great. Very little fat I have found on the birds that have had room to run around and eat greens.

What I meant was I don't want the cornish crosses. Mixing 2 breeds together for the sake of a meatier bird is good. I don't know anything about genetics and what breeds go well together. I've heard the Sussex used to be a fabulous table breed and would be interested in maybe mixing them with say, a Dorking or Jersey roo. The Sussex is a breed that does both great egg laying as well as being meatie enough to eat. I did some research and some say to cross the Sussex with an Indian game. Has anyone done this?

 

[CARS]

I've got a question for those who have standard breed meat birds. What is processing like?? We all know the cross's feathers dang near fall out and pin feathers are not an issue (not sure about the 6 month old ones

).

Do they pluck hard? pins an issue?? What about Turkeys??? I would imagine they are not the easiest to process.

 

[har]

I am going to try Buckeye rooster over a Delaware hen and see if that works for my meat. I think that would be sex-link but I don't know for sure.

 

[harryg6167]

I am looking to raise my own meat birds. I raised a few of the
ugly white broilers and they like to have broke me paying for feed.
Right now I have Pharaoh quail and have butchered a few. The quail
are cheap enough to get started in raising and do not take too long to get
to butchering size. The Pharaoh are not exactly what i am looking for
and will be getting bobwhites to raise for my meat and eggs. They take a little
longer to mature but for me it's worth the wait.
As far as chickens to raise for meat I am still undecided. Plan on free
ranging them most of their time so I am reaslly leaning towards the
freedom ranger type chickens. Has anyone raised these and collected eggs
to hatch out the next flock?
Interesting thread and planning on keeping up with it to gather ideas.