How to successfully do meat birds?

[U_Stormcrow]

Chiming in to echo the above. You simply can't compete in the basic meatbird market on price. The commercial producers enjoy economies of scale you will never approach. Was reading a 10Q statement from one of them during the pandemic, they were complaining of feed cost increases which had raised their feed prices to around $0.24/lb - that's $12 per 50#. In all likelihood, you are paying twice that or more at the big box store.

If you buy your chicks big box, you likely pay $4 or $5 each. They pay less than $1/bird. There is absolutely nothing you can do to significantly make up for those inputs.

As well, as mentioned above, commercial meat birds come from restricted breeding lines, so you can't effectively produce your own (and if you did, you would have to maintain multiple flocks, again, basically eliminating savings.

To make a go of meatbird production economically, you have to have a niche market available to you, and even then, its a VERY low margin business.

 

[Morrigan]

Most people on the forum, myself included, raise chickens for meat for reasons other than cost savings. As others have pointed out, you just don't have access to the cheap stock and feed to compete against standard supermarket chicken.

The only possible exception would be if you 1) bought discounted chicks, which you can sometimes find at the local feed store for $2 or less; and 2) had access to a lot of cheap or free food. Maybe you know a restaurant owner who gives you scraps, or you are an avid hunter and fisherman and have a carcasses that the chickens can eat. Or maybe your have excellent, diverse free range available. It can be done, but requires some creative or a unique circumstances.

If you prefer heritage, free-range type of meat, it does make more economic sense, particularly if you are hatching your own chicks. True heritage, free-range chickens are still a a niche market and the commercial prices are very inflated, if you can find them at all.

 

[Chicks in VA]

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!!!


I really appreciate it!

If I hatch normal chicks can I put meat birds in with them or will that not work?

 

[NatJ]

If I hatch normal chicks can I put meat birds in with them or will that not work?

It can work, sometimes but not always.

If the "meat birds" are Cornish Cross, they grow much faster and bigger than other chicks, they eat a lot, they can be pushy about getting their food, and they produce much more waste (poop) than other chicks (not surprising, considering how much they eat to let them grow so fast.)

Problems that can happen:
The Cornish Cross might trample or squash the other chicks, especially if something scares them or gets them excited (flee to a corner, or rush to the food.)
The Cornish Cross might push the other chicks away from the feed and water.
The pen gets dirty much faster than it would with other chicks.

Ways to avoid those problems:
Have a large pen with extra feed and water. No matter how much the Cornish Cross might try to hog the feed, if you have enough feeders with enough space between them, the other chicks can get enough to eat.

A large pen can help avoid any birds getting trampled. Rounded corners can help avoid piling in corners (any kind of chicks can pile in corners and suffocate if scared, so rounded corners are a good idea if you have more than a handful of chicks. The more chicks you have, the more important it can be.)

For the large amount of waste, the solution is fairly obvious-- some combination of a large pen, lots of bedding, and frequent cleaning. Adjust the details to make it work. As the birds get bigger, the waste increases, and you need more cleaning/bedding/space.

 

[Morrigan]

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!!!


I really appreciate it!

If I hatch normal chicks can I put meat birds in with them or will that not work?

I've done so on a very small scale, with no problems. But I don't know if the dynamics would change with larger numbers.

One year, I put a couple of CX chicks that were on sale in with a brooder of 6 heritage chicks. They all got along fine and it actually worked out quite well. As they left the brooder, the two little meaties did their level best to keep up with their hatch mates and thus spent more time foraging around the yard and less time at the feeders than I think is normal.

Several other times, I'm put red ranger/slow broiler types in with heritage chicks, sometimes in a brooder, sometimes under a broody hen. No problems whatsoever.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The one time (so far) that we raised Cornish game hens (from Mt Healthy, these were not CornishX), we kept them separate from the regular chicks. We had them butchered at about six weeks while they were still in the outside brooder, so there was no thought of them free-ranging, but I would never consider free-ranging them anyway. These birds were almost completely sedentary even at this young age, as their bodies were obviously too heavy for their legs. They just didn't walk much at all, unlike the standard breed chicks which were very active. Truly, not sure I would get the meaties again. There was just something a bit unnatural and pathetic about them. IMO.

 

[NatJ]

The one time (so far) that we raised Cornish game hens (from Mt Healthy, these were not CornishX), we kept them separate from the regular chicks. We had them butchered at about six weeks while they were still in the outside brooder, so there was no thought of them free-ranging, but I would never consider free-ranging them anyway. These birds were almost completely sedentary even at this young age, as their bodies were obviously too heavy for their legs. They just didn't walk much at all, unlike the standard breed chicks which were very active. Truly, not sure I would get the meaties again. There was just something a bit unnatural and pathetic about them. IMO.

Not Cornish Cross?

I can't find them on Mt. Healthy's website, but I can find "Cornish Game Hens" on McMurray's website:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/cornish_game_hens.html
That page says they are Cornish Cross, just females only (they grow a little slower than the males) and butchered young.

From your description, I think that is probably what you had too (almost completely sedentary, bodies too heavy for their legs.)

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Not Cornish Cross?

I can't find them on Mt. Healthy's website, but I can find "Cornish Game Hens" on McMurray's website:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/cornish_game_hens.html
That page says they are Cornish Cross, just females only (they grow a little slower than the males) and butchered young.

From your description, I think that is probably what you had too (almost completely sedentary, bodies too heavy for their legs.)

It's been a couple of years. Pretty sure it was Mt. Healthy.

 

[Morrigan]

I've always assumed that those cornish "game" hens, were just CX that you were expected to butcher early. Kind of a gimmick, IMO. But I never have bought and am only speculating.

Truly, not sure I would get the meaties again. There was just something a bit unnatural and pathetic about them. IMO

I totally get this. I used to raise two batches of 20 to 25 CX every year. They had a large yard and limited feed and I tried to encourage them to move around and give them the best and most natural life I could. It was a good and relatively cheap source of home grown food.

Then I got interested in creating a more self-sustaining meat bird flock (mixed success), and moved away from the CX. The last time I raised any was the 2 CX I put in the brooder with the heritage chicks that I described above. It was that experience that made me not want to raise them again. Watching them struggle to keep up with the hatch mates, and then having to butcher them when their hatch mate were still basically chicks . . . It brought home how short and difficult their lives are. As a result, I now do a mix of heritage birds and slow broilers, like red rangers.

I still think CX are a great option and there are a lot of upsides to raising them. It's just not my first choice.

 

[NatJ]

It's been a couple of years. Pretty sure it was Mt. Healthy.

It might have been Mt. Healthy. They just don't have them listed now.

I mentioned McMurray because they specifically say that their "Cornish Game Hens" ARE Cornish Cross, and I was guessing that "Cornish Game Hens" from other hatcheries might also be Cornish Cross.

Your description sure sounded like Cornish Cross body type and behavior.