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

[McNugget]

Great thread! Just what I was looking for and bees too!

I want to start bee colony! I love honey and the bees would be great for my fruit trees, berry bushes, and garden for pollenating. Maybe BeeKissed should start a new thread under the Other Pets & Livestock category... I would scribe to that thread!

Back on topic.... I'm new at the hole chicken thing (10/09 started my flock) so I'm really eager to learn

Right now I have 17 hens (mixed flock, 11 Orping, 2 Dom, 3 mixed, 1 Amer) and 1 (RIR) roo. Most of the hens are laying (I think) and the roo is "busy" doing his roo thangs. I have 17 good eggs in the incubator and 3 that I'm not sure about that are due 3/22. They go on lockdown this weekend. I plan to cull the cockrels for meat and use the pullets for laying. Cull any of the pullets that are not laying for meat.

I do have a question. Out of the 17 hens I do have, how can I tell which are laying and which are not? The 1 Amer is easy to tell cause she lays pale green eggs. But the others lay brown. I'm away from home 10+ hours M-Th so I can't always tell which hen belongs to the eggs from that day.

On the weekends, I'm pretty busy with chores I don't always see the which hen layed the egg either.

Any suggestions? I don't want to feed a non productive bird. I don't want chickens as pets either....

 

[Germaine_11.20]

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I started this thread and I am lost

But when cross breeding to get nice big birds at as young as age as possible do I need to have birds that don't feather out fast so that the energy goes into the meat and not the feathering? Should I be breeding slow feathering birds together?

That is a theory I haven't heard yet. Makes sense to me. I would much rather pluck my (taboo word for this thread) Cornish X's than a 20 week old Leghorn.

We keep talking about crossing for size, but what about ease of processing and meat gain?? Is there a connection???

Great question Rusty's woman! Hopefully the BS wont hinder you from adding to the conversation after you get caught up with the other 18 pages

Pluck pluck pluck pluck.... that is so funny! Taboo? How else am I gonna eat them?

Well a good friend of mine mentioned it to me. She said that if the birds feather out fast (which I had always thought was a GOOD thing) then the energy, food and time are going into the feathering and not the meat. So, I just wondered.

Honestly, size is going to be an issue with me. I have processed those roos and they are scrawny and hard to eviscerate (gut--is that taboo to?) when they are young. But wait until they are grown and you have the tough/testosterone issue.

For me size and meat gain go hand in hand. I don't want a big bird who is going to take forever to gain size. I would rather a smaller bird and have it fill out fast. Not quail though--tried that and don't care for the effort--not meaning to offend all you quail people.

Plucking is only a small issue even the pin feathers. The meat is for me and I don't get grossed out by the odd feather. Now I would prefer no feathers but have noticed that isn't going to happen if the bird isn't fully grown. The feathers are coming in still when they are young and you just can't get them without some of them staying put.

I have got to make that Whizbang! But that is another topic, sorry.

So, I didn't sleep well because I kept cross breeding imaginary chickens. I think the only way to know is to try them all and weigh them.

I appreciate the input of those of you who have tried it and know which is best for legs, breast, thighs... I have 5 dark cornish hens and I am going to seperate them all and stick each girl in with a different roo and compare the results of what the offspring look like and weigh in at 2 weeks up to 8.

 

[Shay1327]

For me this year I'm am putting my Sumatra/Barred Rock Roo over some RIR, barred rock, and Sussex hens. I would like a medium size bird with a pea comb like my roo (better for our freezing winters) that is cold hardy.

All the birds that don't have the pea comb will be used to stock up my freezer.

I'm also breeding my mixed up group of black spanish and bronze turkeys and Pekins for meat.

No more messy CX's for me! I much prefer my free ranging chickens!

 

[CARS]

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Not Plucking, Cornish X's are what we are trying to avoid in this thread. But to answer your question you could always skin them

 

[Partyfowl]

I am trying both. Buckeye roo over delaware hen and vise versa.

 

[Partyfowl]

They were once both used for the family table chicken before the "frankenchicken" .
They are both incredable foragers, and will both go broody, not like a silkie, but enough to keep you going.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Quote:
Not Plucking, Cornish X's are what we are trying to avoid in this thread. But to answer your question you could always skin them

Yes I was picking up on that. But are you meaning the actual Cornish X or are Cornish crosses allowed. As they aren't from the genetisists who have created the fast maturing birds I really don't think my crosses are going to be much better than any standard LF DP bird.

However I am aiming for a good size meatie that can reproduce to type and be processable before 14 weeks.

Oh an I usually do end up skinning because any Roo of good size is usually to tough to pluck without major hassle--at least for me.

 

[Buster52]

Rustyswoman, my DC are not tough at 20 and 22 weeks. I'm not sure testosterone affects that. Maybe it does taste, though. But the younger the bird is the more tender it is likely to be.

I'm also not having the same experience you appear to be regarding size of hens vs rooster. My hens never caught up with the cockerels all the way through to butchering. Now my two hatchery roos are massive already. My 12 pound Orpington fears them. The boy I bought at auction is bigger yet. Yesterday my BO was just hanging around outside and inside the coop was this loud THUD. He knew what that meant. The big guy was hopping off a roost and heading outside, so he headed for parts elsewhere.

One of the good things about the Cornish is the body shape of the hens and roosters is very similar, but roos should be much larger than hens at least most of the time I believe. I'm thinking you got a weird batch.

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

Really? Hmm I wonder just how many farms you have actually been on.

Probably more than you are apparently assuming, I reckon.

 

[Buster52]

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What is that, Bee?

 

[CARS]

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I was really just trying to keep the discussion of ordering a hatchery Cornish X and butchering it at 8 weeks. If you are using older Cornish X's to breed though, that is fine (like Jeff's project). Standard Cornish is absolutely fine and is a great choice to cross with other breeds (from what I have read).