Meat bird breed suggestions

[K.Riggs]

Hi all, when I get back from my daughters next interstate medical trip I plan on hatching a flock of meat birds for the freezer in my incubator. I definitely don't need them to end up crazy huge in size and meat but would like a decent feed from a bird. Being able to process them as soon as they start crowing would be very good. Suggestions? I am in Australia.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

A friend of mine got Cornish Cross and they were deliciously juicy and tender.

 

[Hawgfan]

My only experience is with Barred Rocks. I culled two for fryers at 16 weeks. They were on 20% protein feed, and weighed 5 lbs, live weight. They made excellent fryers, but don't expect the massive breasts you see in the grocery store. This was very cost prohibitive, but the best tasting chicken I've ever had. They're now approaching 20 weeks, and I'll take a couple more to roast. Meat breeds will be much faster and less expensive. It really depends on what your goals are. Mine started crowing at 14 weeks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are basically three options I’ll mention but with your crowing criteria you are pretty limited. The older the bird when you butcher the more you need to alter your cooking methods. A very young bird can be cooked any way you wish but as they grown you have to revert to cooking methods that cook them slower and with more moisture. The older they get the more flavor and texture they develop, especially cockerels. Some people like that flavor and texture but if they are used to store bought chicken many people don’t.

Dual purpose breeds grow slowly and don’t put on a lot of meat compared to the others and certainly not as fast. If you free range them so they forage for practically all their food and you don’t have to buy their feed cost doesn’t matter so much but if you are buying what they eat the food to meat conversion is not good. You can spend a lot of money per pound of meat. They will probably be crowing long before you are ready to butcher them.

The “ranger” type birds are a meat bird that is made more to free range and forage than the Cornish X broiler. Their food to meat conversion isn’t all that bad but they may be crowing before you are ready to butcher as you butcher them later than the Cornish X.

The Cornish Cross or Cornish X broiler is the standard for the commercial meat industry. Their food to meat conversion is tops. They grow really fast and it’s highly unlikely they will be crowing before you butcher. They grow really fast and can get very big. Generally you need to butcher them at 6 to 8 weeks or they grow so fast they develop heart or skeleton problems. They are so young you can cook them any way you wish. You say you don’t want a really big chicken, then butcher them when they are the size you want. Occasionally you will see “Cornish Game Hens” at the store. These are the Cornish X butchered around 4 weeks of age.

If you are worried about crowing the Cornish X is probably your best option.

 

[K.Riggs]

Thanks for the info!

I love the flavour of older roosters and I don't care about breast size and don't need chicken like the store bought flavourless kind which really isn't that impressive. I can't have a dozen roos crowing in my barn for months before I process them though which I guess limits me to very fast growing

There are basically three options I’ll mention but with your crowing criteria you are pretty limited. The older the bird when you butcher the more you need to alter your cooking methods. A very young bird can be cooked any way you wish but as they grown you have to revert to cooking methods that cook them slower and with more moisture. The older they get the more flavor and texture they develop, especially cockerels. Some people like that flavor and texture but if they are used to store bought chicken many people don’t.

Dual purpose breeds grow slowly and don’t put on a lot of meat compared to the others and certainly not as fast. If you free range them so they forage for practically all their food and you don’t have to buy their feed cost doesn’t matter so much but if you are buying what they eat the food to meat conversion is not good. You can spend a lot of money per pound of meat. They will probably be crowing long before you are ready to butcher them.

The “ranger” type birds are a meat bird that is made more to free range and forage than the Cornish X broiler. Their food to meat conversion isn’t all that bad but they may be crowing before you are ready to butcher as you butcher them later than the Cornish X.

The Cornish Cross or Cornish X broiler is the standard for the commercial meat industry. Their food to meat conversion is tops. They grow really fast and it’s highly unlikely they will be crowing before you butcher. They grow really fast and can get very big. Generally you need to butcher them at 6 to 8 weeks or they grow so fast they develop heart or skeleton problems. They are so young you can cook them any way you wish. You say you don’t want a really big chicken, then butcher them when they are the size you want. Occasionally you will see “Cornish Game Hens” at the store. These are the Cornish X butchered around 4 weeks of age.

If you are worried about crowing the Cornish X is probably your best option.

 

[K.Riggs]

My only experience is with Barred Rocks. I culled two for fryers at 16 weeks. They were on 20% protein feed, and weighed 5 lbs, live weight. They made excellent fryers, but don't expect the massive breasts you see in the grocery store. This was very cost prohibitive, but the best tasting chicken I've ever had. They're now approaching 20 weeks, and I'll take a couple more to roast. Meat breeds will be much faster and less expensive. It really depends on what your goals are. Mine started crowing at 14 weeks.

So potentially they could be processed after only a few weeks of crowing then? I could probably handle that. I don't at all expect big store bought breasts on them lol. This gives me something to think about thanks.