Is it worth it? White broiler pullet and cockerel

[Oncoming Storm]

So we bought ten meat birds from TSC with the intent on selling then at our local flea market several months ago. Skip forward to today and we have, drum role please, two birds left. Almost all the others got picked off by several predators that I just couldn’t get rid of and I think my neighbor killed a few bc instead of saying “hey your chickens are in my yard can you please pin them up?” He basically threatened my Mom that he’d run over them. Anyways, we now are left with two birds, one male, one female. I’m not experienced with meat birds and I was wondering if it was worth it to keep them as a breeding pair and sell the chicks once they got older. I will add that there are a lot of restaurants around me that butcher their own birds on sight so they’re always looking for birds.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I think broilers are a cross breed and will not breed true. Typically Cornish cross Rock. So I think results will vary and you won't get consistency to growth rate or size.

NO way can you raise them (IMO) in a profitable manner over what most restaurants will be paying. On a small scale we simply don't have enough storage to buy grain at cheap enough rate.

Also if you weren't able to protect your first batch will you be able to protect others? Feeding predators isn't profitable at all.

Where are you at that many restaurants butcher (kill) their own birds on site?! Adding your general location to your profile might help peeps make the best suggestion possible at a glance.

There are laws where I am that allow for direct sell to another individual, but not third parties where they will be sold again to another consumer with regard to eggs and processed chickens. Live chickens may be different.

Good luck!

 

[Mosey2003]

They won't breed true. I'm not sure anyone has any evidence of exactly what two broilers would produce because by the time the male is sexually mature, it's either too big and heavy to reliably breed, or it dies from heart failure.

What most that want to try it do is keep the females and use a good dual purpose male over them. I would imagine a White Plymouth Rock would be a good choice.

So, if I were you, I'd eat the male and try to restrict the feed on the female, if you really want to breed. Or eat them both.

Regardless, you need to make a safe enclosure for your birds. They shouldn't be able to wander to the neighbor's, and they shouldn't be being picked off by predators that easily.

 

[Oncoming Storm]

They won't breed true. I'm not sure anyone has any evidence of exactly what two broilers would produce because by the time the male is sexually mature, it's either too big and heavy to reliably breed, or it dies from heart failure.

What most that want to try it do is keep the females and use a good dual purpose male over them. I would imagine a White Plymouth Rock would be a good choice.

So, if I were you, I'd eat the male and try to restrict the feed on the female, if you really want to breed. Or eat them both.

Regardless, you need to make a safe enclosure for your birds. They shouldn't be able to wander to the neighbor's, and they shouldn't be being picked off by predators that easily.

They were secure until my pig broke the enclosure past repair lol. They’re now with my goats and have a nice little fan to keep them cool. I have a barred rock rooster but that’s the only duel purpose I have.

 

[Acre4Me]

So where are you located? In the US, pretty sure not even allowed to butcher any kind of animal on-site at restaurant bc Health departments frown upon that practice.

 

[RoosterML]

So where are you located? In the US, pretty sure not even allowed to butcher any kind of animal on-site at restaurant bc Health departments frown upon that practice.

I was thinking the same thing. My guess not the good ol USA. Actually did mention TSC so I guess it could be here.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I have a barred rock rooster

That's still a Rock... just not white... which many people prefer due to possibly dressing better and not leaving behind any dark pin feathers. The white should dominate though and give you white chicks still. None of my barred Rocks seem to grow as fast as my white did. But work with what ya got... if you want to.

They were secure until my pig broke the enclosure

Oh boy, my boy pig is determined to get to my turkey feed. And thwarts any temporary blockades I make. I feed my older turkeys on top of a table and works well. But the little guys seem slow in figuring out all the ramps and ledges I set up for them.

 

[keesmom]

So we bought ten meat birds from TSC with the intent on selling then at our local flea market several months ago. Skip forward to today and we have, drum role please, two birds left. Almost all the others got picked off by several predators that I just couldn’t get rid of and I think my neighbor killed a few bc instead of saying “hey your chickens are in my yard can you please pin them up?” He basically threatened my Mom that he’d run over them. Anyways, we now are left with two birds, one male, one female. I’m not experienced with meat birds and I was wondering if it was worth it to keep them as a breeding pair and sell the chicks once they got older. I will add that there are a lot of restaurants around me that butcher their own birds on sight so they’re always looking for birds.

What kind of meat birds did you get? Cornish X aren't known for their wandering tendencies, nor for surviving for several months.

 

[Amer]

What kind of meat birds did you get? Cornish X aren't known for their wandering tendencies, nor for surviving for several months.

I was thinking that too. My grandfather raised CX for a long time and though he free-ranged them, they didn't go 5 yards from the door.

I can think of one way you could breed Cx,and that would be feed restriction and artificial insemination.

 

[Oncoming Storm]

So where are you located? In the US, pretty sure not even allowed to butcher any kind of animal on-site at restaurant bc Health departments frown upon that practice.

North GA but tbh some of the places I’ve been to they have a separate smokehouse on site now I don’t know if they buy the birds and get them processed somewhere. I’ll be honest I have no idea about this stuff, I’ve never considered doing meat birds.

What kind of meat birds did you get? Cornish X aren't known for their wandering tendencies, nor for surviving for several months.

The label at TSC literally said “slow white broiler” I’ve gotten one of these before, but she was in a small coop for awhile and I didn’t realize that was setting her up for failure. This group was put in a large starting place with plenty of room to run and play and then they went from there to free ranging, so it didn’t surprise me when they started awandering. We did also get just some regular Cornish rocks but I’m not particularly sure how to tell the difference :/