I don't know if it's the best plan...

[Blue Skys]

but I ordered 15 assorted heavy breed males. My thinking is that I need a nice roo, and the others can be eaten. Why I got 15 I don't really know...

I know they will not be as efficient (sp?) as meaties, but was wondering if y'all might give me some tips on getting them bigger a little faster. And I did a search on feeding schedules, as far as age is concerned, but didn't really find much through all the posts that came up (I kind of got a little tired of looking). Any help y'all could offer is appreciated!

 

[pringle]

Nothing really you can do.......but maybe if you caponized them if your that desparate.ive never personily done that,but if theres anyone on here that has,maybe they could help.Its a risky process,just mentioning it.

 

[kingmt]

That is an idea but I don't know a first timer that would just jump into it. I would like to do it myself but only if I could watch & learn. I might learn by myself but I don't know if any of the 15 birds would live.

 

[miss_jayne]

Quote:
caponizing is illegal in some places so look into that before you do it.
not that i say the gov't should get to poke in your backyard, but you don't need to have trouble over something after the fact.

caponizing is supposed to be cakework. you don't even need to stitch.

but, let us get to the easy world....let them grow naturally, because you want a cockerel that will be a cockerel in the end anyway, so, let them take their 15 weeks and then butcher. whoopdeedoo. 15 weeks is not REALLY that long. don't feed them things to 'fatten' them until the end if you want some fat for roasting, otherwise you just get fat, not meat. the last week or so, you can finish out with just corn and build up a fat pad inside and it's lovely for roasting.
and seriously, they are easy to butcher too. if i can do it, so can you!

you cannot make them gain weight faster otherwise. they only eat if they are hungry. (they are smarter than we are.)

 

[Blue Skys]

Quote:
caponizing is illegal in some places so look into that before you do it.
not that i say the gov't should get to poke in your backyard, but you don't need to have trouble over something after the fact.

caponizing is supposed to be cakework. you don't even need to stitch.

but, let us get to the easy world....let them grow naturally, because you want a cockerel that will be a cockerel in the end anyway, so, let them take their 15 weeks and then butcher. whoopdeedoo. 15 weeks is not REALLY that long. don't feed them things to 'fatten' them until the end if you want some fat for roasting, otherwise you just get fat, not meat. the last week or so, you can finish out with just corn and build up a fat pad inside and it's lovely for roasting.
and seriously, they are easy to butcher too. if i can do it, so can you!

you cannot make them gain weight faster otherwise. they only eat if they are hungry. (they are smarter than we are.)

Yep, I need a roo, so caponizing would defeat the purpose of getting them all together.

I'll just be patient. But thanks everyone for their input!

 

[Blue Skys]

Would I feed them like meaties, or would I feed them like regular?

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

IMO if your raising them for meat I would feed them the grower right from the start. I did that and mine were fine, grew faster, and were delicious. I did have freedom rangers but I think any heavy dual breed would grow faster on grower food rather then chick starter. I had to throw my pellets (they did not have crumble in the grower) in the food processor so they could eat it. Check out my journal for all the info I got out of raising meaties here. http://freedomrangers.blogspot.com/ Good luck! What kind did you order or won't you know until they reach you?

 

[Blue Skys]

Thank for the link and advice. I ordered a heavy breed variety, so it'll be a suprise what I get.