Home Bred Broiler Update (IMAGE INTENSE)

[greyfields]

Quote:
Well not being a licensed hatchery, it would have to be under the table kind of thing.

For the time being, I'd strongly suggest you look into getting some Freedom Rangers. I'm going to see how this batch of home broilers turns out, then probably do some more fiddling. I've never offered any of my own to a customer; but I was thinking of doing a blind tasting party sometime this Summer. However, it doesn't help that I'm having a hard time telling which offspring are from which mating.

 

[chcknrs]

Well of course! Besides, I think there is no need for a license if it is just between friends, right?

The Freedom Rangers was exactly what I was thinking of. DH is building another coop for me this weekend, so.......

 

[greyfields]

I would suggest a movable tractor for meat birds rather than a coop. They are so messy that they need moved daily. And they are with you for such a short time (~8 weeks) a coop would only see them for 5 weeks at most before being processed.

 

[chcknrs]

Cool, I already have a tractor. Getting a full coop next. The chickens I ordered are fryers from MMH, and the website said they would probably be Leghorns and the like. I already have some of those that are roo's that I may end up processing, depending on their temperment. I just can't wait to eat REAL chicken again!

 

[digitS']

Thank you, greyfields, I find all of this very interesting and enjoyed looking at your fine birds! I appreciate your effort to get the photo's and information in front of us.

I made a copy of your Cornish sire photo and showed it to a friend. We talked a little about your efforts. That was fun, too!

Here are a few questions:

Have you assessed the laying ability of the Freedom Ranger dams?

Since the sire is 1/2 the breeder flock and is primarily there to contribute meat-building genes to the chicks, doesn't that mean that the dams are there primarily to produce lots of eggs (hence, chicks) and so, perhaps, you should stay solely with the Black Sex-links? Or, you may wish to explore using some of those other highly productive laying breeds.

I'm just wondering if the FR breeder hens are worth their feed since maintenance could far exceed production. And, keep in mind that I know nothing about this hybrid outside of the fine looking pictures I've seen of 'em.

Steve

 

[hcammack]

Next time you hatch use the MissPrissy nail polish trick LOL I love the idea of home made broilers.

Henry

 

[greyfields]

digitS' :

I made a copy of your Cornish sire photo and showed it to a friend. We talked a little about your efforts. That was fun, too!

I am a little disappointed in my sire. My other Cornish was much larger, but he died in a freak electrical netting accident so I was stuck with #2. He's a gorgeous creature and when people visit they all point to him as he's so erect compared with the others. But, he's also not a Cornish like some I have seen in the backyard, just large, studly creatures.

digitS' :

Have you assessed the laying ability of the Freedom Ranger dams?

The two are part of my regular laying flock. And I of course verified they were in lay when I separated them into the tractor for breeding.

All I can say is they certainly lay eggs, they are several pounds heavier than any of my other hens and they surely eat more food. As far as layers go, they wouldn't be considered efficient... but that's not why I kept them.

digitS' :

Since the sire is 1/2 the breeder flock and is primarily there to contribute meat-building genes to the chicks, doesn't that mean that the dams are there primarily to produce lots of eggs (hence, chicks) and so, perhaps, you should stay solely with the Black Sex-links? Or, you may wish to explore using some of those other highly productive laying breeds.

Yes and no. I don't need the offspring to ever produce, so it's only the parent strains I care about the egg laying ability in. And even then, they only need to lay enough for me to hatch a clutch of maybe 25 birds at a time.

Commercially raised Cornish Crosses are actually double crosses from separate Cornish and Rock strains (1 for meat, 1 for laying). So they get heterosis twice between the two matings.

I also think that since my Dark Cornish is so unrelated to any 'Cornish' being used in the broiler industry that I get a fair amount of heterosis in these matings as well. So, why did I choose black sex links? Because among all my hens, they are certainly the largest (due to their crossbreeding). The Cornish Sire himself is nothing special as far as meat goes, he is simply providing the lenght/width to the breast and the dame providing the thickness (hopefully).

digitS' :

I'm just wondering if the FR breeder hens are worth their feed since maintenance could far exceed production. And, keep in mind that I know nothing about this hybrid outside of the fine looking pictures I've seen of 'em.

For me, they are woth it. They contain genes in them that I could never obtain within my lifetime. So I think rebreeding them, even though they don't "breed true", is giving me access to growth rates and genes I could never obtain myself starting entirely with a flock selected for laying ability.

Awesome questions. I wish I could answer them better. But at this point in time, it's all just a science experiment which ends in good quality chicken to eat. It's second only to my cider making, which is a grand science experiment ending in alcohol.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
I agree. But, I still am never sure which chick comes from which dame, since they are hybrids and they don't all look the same. What I really need to do is isolate only one set of hens with the sire; but then I have no point of comparison to another cross. So, I get either comparision or certainty, but never both at the same time.

 

[chcknrs]

All day my mouth has been watering thinking about those Freedom Rangers! Did you breed the strain yourself?

 

[hcammack]

could you make some sort of partition for the eggs I am not really sure how your breeding pens are set up if only every hen layed a diffrent looking egg !

Henry