looking for meat birds!!

[natebmore]

We are currently looking for good meat birds. We currently have plenty of egg layers. We are looking for a bird that will be a good size but tender meat. Not looking for special breeds just something to fill the freezer. And looking for a cheaper breed since we are looking to get about 50 or so of them. Any suggestions??

 

[dealfinder500]

Try Ideal Poultry. They have had them on special each week. This week (ships Tuesday/Wednesday) they have Black Broilers for $1.15, min 25. Shipping is dirt cheap - 15 cents per chick, plus $7 fee if less than 100. If you want heritage birds, they have had last minute sales on straight run Barred Rocks and New Hampshire reds at 95 cents each. Each are supposed to be a good dual purpose bird.

 

[natebmore]

What's the difference with a heritage bird?? And thank u so much for the information I really appreciate it

 

[MeepBeep]

What's the difference with a heritage bird?? And thank u so much for the information I really appreciate it

A heritage breed is a pure breed that has been bred for a long time and thus has become traditional vs a newer hybrid or new breed...

Pros and cons to both, heritage birds will breed true generation after generation and you will get consistency, while hybrids on the other hand are a roll of the dice after the first generation, but generally the first generation hybrid has desirable qualities over a herritage...

 

[natebmore]

Is seems that a heritage would be the better way to go for a meat bird. Consistency is something I rather have than a gamble. What heritage breeds are better suited for my purpose?? I really appreciate every ones help. Its amazing to have people with similar interests helping one another.

 

[MeepBeep]

Is seems that a heritage would be the better way to go for a meat bird. Consistency is something I rather have than a gamble. What heritage breeds are better suited for my purpose?? I really appreciate every ones help. Its amazing to have people with similar interests helping one another.

Remember you won't so much be gambling on the first generation hybrid, you can look up their pros as they are consistent and you will get what you expect... The gamble comes after the first generation, so if you plan to breed your own meaties using your existing purchased stock, heritage is generally better as it will breed true generation after generation... If you breed non herritage hybrids you 'might' not get consistency in future generations...

 

[natebmore]

Ahhhh I understand I would definitely like to breed our meat birds to make it cheaper when it comes to purchasing birds.

 

[dealfinder500]

Do take into consideration that there is a big difference between a heritage meat bird and a meat bird. The meat bird will be bigger and look more like the supermarket bird. The heritage bird will be a bit smaller. There's a thread somewhere on here that shows pictures of the difference.

Your meat birds will get to butchering weight in 6-8 weeks, whereas the heritage bird will take 16+ weeks, and won't be as big.

You may want to try out 25 meat birds and 25 heritage, and see what you prefer. The meat birds will be bigger, but you won't have much (if any) luck in keeping them long. But if you got a lot of 25 straight run heritage birds, let's just say Barred Rocks (I got a lot of 30 of them a few weeks ago), you should end up with about 1/2 males and 1/2 females. Keep the females for eggs. Keep one or two of the roosters for fertilizing next year's flock. The next year, hatch out the eggs, and again, keep the females for eggs and use the males for meat.

 

[MeepBeep]

Quote:
Very true, production hybrids were/are bred to plump up fast with nice big fat breast, and chubby legs, optimal meat per time/food, but with that comes a very short life expectancy...

I don't know what thread it is here, but here is a picture that shows the difference, I wish it was out of the plastic so it showed it better...




This article on the site gives a good overview...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/why-raise-heritage-breeds

 

[natebmore]

Ok I'm still a little confused lol I haven looking at purchasing Cornish cross I do not believe they are heritage at all so they will be a typical supermarket bird will picking a non heritage bird affect the flock when it comes to breeding