How many meat birds will I need?

[BooneHillbilly]

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Well, the most tender, meaty birds are Cornish X's, but as with other broilers, you won't be able to breed them- you'll have to just get enough to keep them in the freezer til you get more.

Why can they not be bred? I had chickens in my drems last night from all the reading I have been doing..lol

 

[journey11]

For one, they probably wouldn't live that long. I've heard many people say if you let them go over 11 weeks, they'll just croak--have a heart attack or something. They grow so big so fast.

You'll want to do some research before you'd start with them, because they are managed differently than other meat birds. You can find that info here in the archives for sure.

Also, they wouldn't breed true, because they are a cross-- of a white rock and a cornish. I don't know how hard it would be to do yourself. I've never tried.

 

[BooneHillbilly]

Maybe a delaware would be a better option?

 

[journey11]

If you were really aiming to be self-sufficient, then you would be better off with a meat breed that you can reproduce.

If efficiency were more important to you, then you can't beat the Cornish X.

Also, you mentioned wanting to spread out the butcher time. Again, a traditional meat bird would be better for that. You are not on the clock then. I do all my cornish x, males at 6 wks, females at 8. It's an all day affair, but I am always relieved and pleased to see my freezer so well stocked.

Try Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, by Gail Damerow for a comparitive list of the meat/egg qualities of different breeds. That should help you narrow it down. Only other breeds I've tried were barred rocks and golden laced wyandottes. I liked the wyandottes better of those two.

 

[cassie]

For strictly meat birds you can buy chicks a whole lot cheaper than what it would cost to breed them. You get a lot more chicken per pound of feed with the Cornish X than any other chicken.

 

[3KillerBs]

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I have heard that too, on Martha Stewart. I don't know about other breeds, but I never brine my Cornish X roasters. I coat them with olive oil and herbs and baste every 20-30 minutes until done. They are super juicy all on their own.

It has to do with osmosis, the higher salt content in the brine, triggers the cell membraines to relax and uptake added mosture. In commercial processing it's done via injection. Often people will note thier home birds are "tough and dry" when the differance is they're used to injected meats.

I think that will depend on if you're old enough to remember real chicken.

One of the reason I'm considering meat birds is that its become nearly impossible to find meat that isn't all soggy and mushy from the injection of "broth" (which frequently contains something that makes my husband ill).

Meat is supposed to require a knife to cut it, not a fork. And while it shouldn't be leathery or bubble-gum-like, you're supposed to have to use your teeth to chew it.

If you're old enough to remember when chicken was MEAT, not meatish-flavored jello you won't call it tough and dry at all.