looking to raise meat birds... need some advice

[rmcclure]

I am looking to start raising my own meat birds and frankly the locals have nearly scared the idea out of me... they make it seem like it will cost me over twice the cost of a store bird and that the fastest growers (cornish x) are horrible stinky monsters lol... I have no idea how any of them are keeping their birds but how much space does each meat bird needs? I am also looking into just getting a "heavy breed mix" as this seems to be my cheapest option working out to be about 1.89 a bird with shipping... is there any cheaper option out there without getting more than 25 birds lol.... I had one lady tell me I would need one bag of feed PER one bird!!! this seems like a lot and would end with me having the bird cost me $14 out the door I could get two for this price at the store! I don't mind if it costs a bit more than the store birds since they will be healthy birds and I will know what happened to them but twice is a bit much.... so how much can I expect them to eat? online I read the cornish x has a conversion rate of 2lbs feed to 1lb of bird...so I think I would be looking at 10 ish lbs of feed? and what do I feed? I have had some people tell me I can use non medicated chick start the whole time and others tell me to switch to meat bird food.... so how long should I be using either? I am so confused... so I guess my questions are 1. what is the cheapest place to get birds, 2. how much space per bird and 3. what to feed and how long to feed it... thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Tuhmu]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but here it goes.

It will probably end up being about a bag a bird. I think when I did my batch of 50 last year, it came out to $13 a bird when it was all said and done. As far as the horrible stinking beasts, I agree, I had the same experience BUT I didn't know the best way to keep them (Had them in a tractor).

Since then I have read a few articles https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/raising-cornish-x-for-meat-the-truth being an example.

With the heavy breeds, they are cheaper but its going to take awhile for them to get to a decent processing weight. If you are able to keep that many roosters this may be a less expensive option in the long run (if you can free range them) but you wont end up with as large of a bird. If you have hens, they would have to be separated if you were to have that many. With that many roosters, they would just rip apart the hens when they reach that age where they take a different interest in the ladies.

So with a Cornish you would only have them for 6-8 weeks or you keep a rooster till around 6 + months.

 

[rmcclure]

I don't think I could do a rooster that long, once they start crowing I wouldn't be allowed to keep them any more since my property is too small for the county to let me have a rooster and I don't want to risk any ill effects from animal control coming around about the roosters I am getting so many mixed reviews about the cost of raising meat birds lol it seems highly ineffective to feed a bird 50lbs of feed to only get a 5ish lb bird out of it! I read that article too and it makes the birds sound a lot better than many make them out to be but doesn't really say how much feed she did with the free range :/

 

[Tuhmu]

Quote:

I read that article too and it makes the birds sound a lot better than many make them out to be but doesn't really say how much feed she did with the free range :/

I don't have any answers there.


You could maybe do a test run with say 10 or so. I think like efowl, meyer will do smaller orders like that (though I think they make it up in shipping) and mcmurray will do 15.


Also, have you looked into the Red Rangers breed? I think they are able to do some free ranging etc (haven't looked into it much yet), but I don't know if they crow (Cornish don't)

 

[rmcclure]

I have not done a whole lot of looking into them but I think I will now, I have heard a local feed store has some of the cornish chicks for pretty cheap so I am hoping they will still have some and I can get like 4, I plan to measure their feed etc to determine exactly what it will take to raise a flock of them feed wise... I just re-read that article and it says thy were bred for a 2:1 conversion rate... or feed 2lbs and get 1lb of chicken meat... which makes me think it should take more like 10lbs to feed one of these guys... I have also read you aren't supposed to free feed the cornish?

 

[HorseLady1]

Chickens are really nice! I have 40 chickens and 8 ducks and they are actually wonderful to be around. You get them young and cuddle the heck out of them, when young you want them inside or somewhere warm, they aren't really messy except with food and water. Depending on how many you have you will have to change out the bedding (pine shavings, straw, etc...) everyday or every other day. You don't need an entire bag for one chicken, (I would know I have 40 chickens + ducks) they all eat the same feed and I get a 40 lbs. bag and it lasts a few weeks. When they are young (first month) you want to feed them a little less than 38 oz, a day per around ten chicks (feed them chick starter). When they are older (we also do meat birds), do about the same amount a day, but scratch (around 19 oz, and regular adult chicken feed around 19 oz). We spread the feed around our chicken area, and they do find free range

 

[HorseLady1]

BTW: when about 3 weeks to a month you can put them outside. As long as they have shelter, shade, food, and water, they should be fine. And eat them before 7 months and they are delicious (the roosters). California Hatchery has good birds and they ship them young. Around 4 square feet should be a good estimate on how much room one bird needs. Hope this really helps you!

 

[Tuhmu]

http://animals.pawnation.com/raise-cornish-cross-chickens-2179.html

http://www.homesteadorganics.ca/meat-chickens_fr.aspx

These are some articles I found that will help. I clearly remember feeding 12 hrs off and then 12 hrs on after a certain amount of time.

 

[rmcclure]

awesome thanks! sounds like some of my chicks are ready to be switched... is it okay to keep them on the chick starter we still have half a bag and 3 of our chicks are only a few days old but the other 3 are about 4 weeks old.... if its better for them I can move the older ones and change their food... I am almost to the point of separating my turkeys from them... never knew turkeys were so mean lol the chicks we have now are supposed to be egg layers but I don't know their genders yet, any roosters will become food most likely... should the ducks and turkeys be switched to duck and turkey feed at the same time... can I feed ducks/turkeys and chickens the same adult food?

 

[HorseLady1]

Yes you can until the bag runs out, I think you should get rid of it before one and a half months of age, but recommended is one month. Yes, we feed our ducks the same thing as our chickens get, we are getting turkey's soon and you can feed them all the same thing. Just feed them all once in the morning and once about an hour before dark (dividing the 38 oz in half giving 19 in morning and 19 at night per 10)