Ideas on a self-sustainable flock?

[aart]

I’m that one person that loves ALL animals no matter how they look and I’m a little hurt by this.

This thread is about chickens as food, not pets.
If it 'hurts' you, best to just pass this thread by.

 

[lazy gardener]

***PS. Lazy Gardener- you lost me on the DR PR Cx R Pioneer etc etc.
I figured out Dual Purpose = DR but not sure about the rest. Can you explain?

Sorry. My tag is turned off b/c I don't go to email enough to make it worth while. I saved myself some time in that paragraph by going to abbreviations after referencing the breed in that paragraph:

You could raise 2 broods of meat birds/summer, in addition to raising your replacement layers. They can be C x R or Freedom Rangers, or Dixie Rainbows aka Pioneers. When C x R are raised on a free range + chicken feed system, they actually do well. They grow out slower and are not prone to the systemic issues seen in C x R which are caged and fed only bagged feed. FR and DR or P take longer to grow out, but provide a reasonable carcass by 12 - 13 weeks. DR also make nice layers. I held one back one year, and she became my first pullet to start laying. She laid a very large egg. Her genes still run through my flock.

Hope this clears it up a bit, and I apologize for the confusion. FR = Freedom Ranger. DR = Dixie Rainbow, P = Pioneer. I do believe C x R is an accepted abbreviation for Cornish cross Rock. Not to be confused with a Cornish, or a Rock which are standard breed heritage type of chickens.

 

[ChickenGirl555]

This thread is about chickens as food, not pets.
If it 'hurts' you, best to just pass this thread by.

I understand and I'm ok with people eating chickens, I still eat chicken all the time. I was just sad that she called them ugly.

 

[bobbi-j]

Do you have much freezer space? Would you can any meat? Or would you just harvest a few at a time? Have you eaten home grown DP chicken? Do you have an incubator? Do you have the space to grow out chickens? Do you have room for a grow out coop for the cockerels? Do you mind listening to a cockerel serenade?

A sustainable flock is very doable. You can keep DP birds of your favorite variety(ies) and harvest the older birds and the cockerels every year. You really won't need to bring in a new roo for 3 or more years, perhaps a much longer time. Let your "when to replace the roo" decision be based on his performance and if/when you see the size/health of your new chicks becoming an issue. He will most likely start "missing the mark" in terms of providing good fertility long before any concerns about inbreeding arise. A single roo will easily service all of your birds. My roo has done well with up to 24 hens in past years.

You could raise 2 broods of meat birds/summer, in addition to raising your replacement layers. They can be C x R or Freedom Rangers, or Dixie Rainbows aka Pioneers. When C x R are raised on a free range + chicken feed system, they actually do well. They grow out slower and are not prone to the systemic issues seen in C x R which are caged and fed only bagged feed. FR and DR or P take longer to grow out, but provide a reasonable carcass by 12 - 13 weeks. DR also make nice layers. I held one back one year, and she became my first pullet to start laying. She laid a very large egg. Her genes still run through my flock.

DP cockerels reach sexual maturity before they achieve a good carcass size. Their feed conversion rate is not as good. If you hold them till they are a good processing size, IMO it's imperative that you have a grow out coop/run for them. They can otherwise brutalize the females in your flock. Home grown meat is also tougher, and stronger flavored than the processed cello wrapped meat you may be used to.

Thanks for the replies.
I can only assume that the flavour of home grown chicken would far surpass Costco or Walmart meat.(?)
I think it does, but I have grown used to chicken with texture and flavor. As previously mentioned, you may need to rethink your cooking methods.

And we have a giant freezer.
Do you have a pressure canner? (Imperative, in my opinion, if you're going to be as self-sustaining as possible) I have chicken in my freezer, and when I have enough to make it worth canning, I have several jars in my pantry. I also have an electric pressure cooker - another handy thing when cooking tough older birds. It tenderized them nicely, and when you cook the whole carcass, you can also make some wonderful bone broth.

so plucking chickens taking hours
When properly scalded, and with practice, plucking goes quite quickly. My DH grew up butchering chickens, and can have one picked (except for pin feathers which can take a bit of time if doing a younger bird) in just a couple of minutes.

so perhaps he would just skin most of them?
Also an option.

How much does it cost to process 40 birds?
Depends on where you live and if you can even find someone to do it. There are no meat processing places here that will even touch chickens.

I have lots of space to incubate the chicks in the basement of the house or in the 4 season room, incase I dont get a "broody" hen.
Good idea, because a broody hen rarely goes broody on your schedule.

(How/when will I know?? )
Oh, you'll know. She won't want to get off her nest for anything, she'll be flat like a chicken pancake, and will growl at you and give you the stink eye when you try to take her eggs.

How would we eat eggs during this period from our layers? Or would I collect all eggs for incubation for a week or 10 days, and just eat store bought ones?
Depends on how many you want to incubate or set under your hen. If you have 7-8 hens laying daily, you'd have enough to put under a hen in just a day or two. You don't want to put too many under a broody or she won't be able to cover them all, and that could cause incubation problems.

Do you separate the rooster from hens for the rest of the year, and only allow him to service them when you want chicks??
I keep my roosters with the hens year 'round.

The best of plans... one can plan and plan and I have... only other factors come into play, such as predators!

Mostly, my advice is start small, get them figured out, the space they need, predator proof coop/run, a second coop/run, butchering equipment, extra pens... butcher a few, see how it goes, modify the set up, then try a little more. It will be more enjoyable to you both, considerably less stressful, and more successful.

Mrs K

Predators! I started this past summer with almost 30 grown chickens, several juveniles hatched from my broodies and two more broodies on top of that. After being hit harder than I ever have by predators, I had 5 chickens left in mid-August and was down to one just a couple of weeks ago. We processed him. Some of my chickens were taken while free ranging, and more were taken after being locked in the coop and run.

Hello Everyone!
Thanks so much for all the ideas, tips, suggestions.

Song of Joy- We live in southern Ontario. (about an hour from Toronto) We would roast or BBQ our chickens only.
Yes I will do lots of reading and taking of notes. I'm sure we'll make a ton of mistakes, but we got into this to learn and grow, and to give our kids an awareness of where food comes from, that has been lost. Its good for kids to see the cycle of life, to experience the good and the bad and for them to see that grown ups make mistakes, too!
I will googling :whizbang plucker, featherman ,yardbird and picker head. LMFAO

Still wonder what C x R means. Is there a "short form" dictionary her on Backyard chickens?

I would be open to raising meat birds instead of dual purpose if they are only around for 3 months I suppose. Its just that I saw a friend last summer who was raising meat birds, and they were all under this cage thingy that he moved every day, and they were all crammed in together, and they had lots of bald patches and didnt seem all that happy, and he said that every few days he finds another one dead- i think he said from heart attacks, or a thunderstorm etc... and it just made me a bit sad.
They do not have to be kept this way.

If your meat birds are only around for 3 months, do they just stay in a coop? Can you let a bird that young free range? (we have foxes, fishers, birds of prey).
Because they can be more susceptible to predators, you may want to keep them in a large coop/run setup so they can still get outside and do chickeny things. Freedom rangers, Dixie Rainbows and such are more suited to free ranging, in my opinion, than the Cornish X.

Thanks again for this conversation- I never thought I'd be this interested about chickens!

 

[Mrs. K]

And Bobbi is a highly experienced Chicken person, it happens not according to the plan. But a plan is a place to start. I have had chickens for 11 years and am still planning for the spring.

 

[bobbi-j]

And Bobbi is a highly experienced Chicken person, it happens not according to the plan. But a plan is a place to start. I have had chickens for 11 years and am still planning for the spring.

Yep, I had a plan. Two coops, two flocks. A rooster in each coop, each with his own harem. Every time I had a hen go broody, I'd put eggs under her. I was going to grow out all the cockerels and put them in the freezer, process and can my old hens, and have plenty of pullets and younger hens to replace them. Nope. The coyotes and mink had other plans. I will be starting all over again in the spring.

 

[Mrs. K]

off topic - but what breeds are you thinking... I am thinking something different.

 

[bobbi-j]

off topic - but what breeds are you thinking... I am thinking something different.

I haven't given it much thought yet. I've been stalking one of my state threads, finding some breeders on there that I'd like to contact. Some breeds I've considered are: BLRW (because I think they're pretty, and the last one I had was a great broody!), Buckeyes - I had some once and they dress out nicely, Dark Cornish - the two hatchery birds I had went broody twice last summer - pretty good for their short lives, and some other sort of dual purpose breeds. I'd like something that would add some color like blue or green to my egg basket, too. On my state thread, I've seen people extolling the virtues of Partridge Chanteclers. I may look into them. Or, I may just get a variety from our local feed store. Still thinking. Oh - and a Welsummer or two - I love that terra cotta egg color! I will likely only have purebreds for one generation, and then I will keep the largest, most well-mannered cockerel and use him for breeding in the future. (If I don't end up feeding the local wildlife again)

 

[song of joy]

We live in southern Ontario. (about an hour from Toronto)

OK, that helps. Based on what you've told us so far, I'd recommend the American Dominique IF you're able find some breeder-quality birds that have been bred to the standard of perfection. (They are very different from hatchery dominiques.) I think there are breeders in New England and in Canada.

I got some dominiques from a breeder a couple of years ago and have been very pleased, as I was looking for a breed that: 1) is a decent layer, 2) goes broody, 3) does a good job of hatching and raising chicks, 4) forages well, 5) is hardy, 6) is medium sized (= less feed required), 7) has a small comb (= better for cold weather), and 8) has chicks that can be reliably sexed at an early age (so males can be culled early to avoid having to feed and house them if they are not needed). These birds fulfill everything I was looking for in a homestead chicken breed, so it was worth the 4-hour drive to get them!

The males can be raised for meat, but it's best to butcher them around 17 weeks. That's a long time to raise a meat bird, and it certainly is not cost effective as the carcass is only around 4 pounds.

For meat birds, I was pleased with red rangers. Carcass weight was around 4 pounds at 11 weeks. They did some foraging, and they spent the night in the coop although they never used the roost bars. They just bedded down in a coop. (I housed them separate from the rest of my flock.) I didn't want to drag around a chicken tractor every day and didn't like the look of the cornish cross meat birds, so the red rangers were a good fit for me as they acted more like "normal" chickens.

You may also want to consider whether or not chickens are a good source for "putting meat in the freezer". We eat spent laying hens and the occasional cockerel, but rely upon other critters to supply most of our meat (e.g., deer).

 

[aart]

Sorry. My tag is turned off b/c I don't go to email enough to make it worth while. I saved myself some time in that paragraph by going to abbreviations after referencing the breed in that paragraph:


Hope this clears it up a bit, and I apologize for the confusion. FR = Freedom Ranger. DR = Dixie Rainbow, P = Pioneer. I do believe C x R is an accepted abbreviation for Cornish cross Rock. Not to be confused with a Cornish, or a Rock which are standard breed heritage type of chickens.

Tags dont' come in in BYC alerts?

So your 'C x R' is the same as what most people call 'CX' (Cornish Cross) fast growing meat bird usually slaughtered at 8wks old?