Is there such thing as a NON-GMO bird

[ChickenLeg]

If you just want a good heirloom breed go with something from the hatchery quality for good egg layers and dual purpose for meat. Dominiques, new hampshires, barred rocks, orpingtons, australorps, many to pick through. cacklehatchery.com has some good stock

 

[BantyChooks]

Well my thoughts are (and I'm no scientist) a broiler chicken isn't a normal chicken. In about 8 weeks they are almost too big to walk. So in 5-6 months how could they lay a egg to hatch? My thoughts are that is a GMO bird? I don't know just my thoughts? And I've been wrong before. I would just like to get back to something close to what God made.

My understanding is that they're a terminal cross, meaning that the parents aren't exactly the same as the CX in terms of growth, but the combined genetics give their offspring faster growth rates. I could be wrong, it's hard to know what's accurate and what's outdated. Also, with a restricted diet, you can too breed and hatch from them. So, not GMO, just selectively bred for a long time.

Australorps, Rocks, Chanteclers, and many more breeds are all good dual purpose birds, giving you more meat than layers but they live longer and are healthier in general than the CX. There's also some specialty meat breeds from hatcheries or feed stores that don't get quite as big.

 

[R2elk]

Talking about the chicken in the stores. Commercial growers use steroids.

Show me your proof. There is no reason for them to use steroids to get the kind of growth they get naturally.

 

[townchicks]

What all plants should I grow to feed my chickens and give them a good amount of protein?

Unless you're a full scale farmer, and a nutritionist, I don't think it's worth even trying to go that route. Some people find that their chickens eat less feed if they free range, but, then you risk losses from predators that can more than eliminate any savings you gained from feed. If you want to feed non GMO, buy organic feed. Trying to make your own feed can be a challenge.

 

[feathermaid]

Sorry... I took so long to write my previous reply I didn't see the new comments.

Wow thank you all for your help. Ok its selective breading I was wanting to stay away from

Are you saying you don't want any chickens that were selectively bred? All domesticated animals throughout history have been developed this way. It even happens naturally in the wild like I mentioned before, only the strongest survive... it's natural selection.
I'm confused.

 

[oldrooster]

OP I think I understand now what you want, you do not want the hatchery version of a supermarket chicken because of their specific breeding that produce an animal that has issues on many levels. There are several "ranger" varieties that produce similar sized birds on a slower more reasonable scale. also there are DP (dual purpose) breeds that get very large but at a much slower pace. Jersey Giants is one example.

 

[shedinator]

Wow thank you all for your help. Ok its selective breading I was wanting to stay away from I guess not the non-gmo. I'm kinda afraid to ask but hear it goes. Let's say I want to quit buying chicken feed. What all plants should I grow to feed my chickens and give them a good amount of protein?

I'm still not fully clear here... Given that all chickens are selectively bred, do you mean you don't want a meat bird whose breeding can have the side effect of eating itself to death? If that's it, check out Rangers or other specialty broilers.

Or do you mean you want a chicken whose chicks will be the same breed? Rangers don't fit the bill, but Brahmas, Jersey Giants, Dominiques, and most other dual purpose chickens do.

Or, as mentioned by several folks above, to avoid all human selection you could get a permit to raise wild fowl in captivity. I don't know if that's an option with the jungle fowl ancestor of chickens, but wild turkeys might be an option.

As far as raising your own food goes, it really depends on your climate and the amount of land you can access. I would suggest rather than trying to grow the grains needed to mill your own commercial feed, you find a local homesteader who's raising chickens primarily on forage and scraps like folks used to do back in the day, and see if she'll sell you some chicks from her spring hatch. Those birds will be suited for your area, and you won't have to grow acres of grain to support your chicken operation.

 

[shedinator]

If you want the best tasting chicken, raise the Cornish cross on an all organic diet and free range diet. If you want tough, stringy, shoe leather chicken, then raise any other chicken and try eating it.

I wouldn't go that far. I just roasted a barnyard hybrid rooster the other night and he was delicious. My freedom rangers are also consistently good. In my opinion, mature birds have a depth of flavor the Cornish X just can't match at standard processing age.

They are definitely different, though. The first time we made chicken fajitas with a mature chicken, we did it the same way we would do a CX, and it was the chewiest chicken/rubber I've ever put in my mouth. Working with older birds requires very different cooking techniques.

 

[1cock2hens]

what they said

 

[ChickenLeg]

Thank you. Are Road Island Reds a old breed chicken?

Yes if you get heritage RiR they will be larger and not lay as well as the hatchery RiR. Hatchery RiR lay very well.