Meat bird hatching eggs

Proverb31mama

Songster
8 Years
May 15, 2015
120
14
139
Allen County, IN
Hi,
I am wanting to raise meat birds and I would like to have my broody hens hatch them and raise them for me. SoI am looking for hatching eggs of meat bird varieties. I am open to Cornish cross but I have not been able to find hatching eggs for them anywhere. Meyer hatchery has them listed, but not in stock. Does anyone know where I can find some hatching eggs for meat birds?

I have also read about having them adopt chicks, but it looks like that would be more work then having them hatch them. Does anyone have any experience with that?

Thanks!
 
I am also wondering would turkey eggs be easier? Would it be easier to find meat turkey eggs? Are all turkeys meat birds r are some raised for other things? Are they as easy to have as chickens? Can chickens raise turkeys?
Thanks for any advice!
 
I can help you a little with cornish X hatching eggs - it's going to be hard to get them unless you want to buy hundreds at a time.
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You can probably get some shipped from a hatchery, but they're going to be expensive and shipped eggs are risky. It also seems that it would be hard to let a broody raise very many because they get so big so fast. In cold weather she'd having trouble keeping them warm.....the mess.....just lots of reasons I can think of. You may do better going with a nice, large heritage breed like Barred Rocks or something similar.

You'll have the same thing with meat turkeys eggs (Broad Breasted). I think turkeys are harder than chickens (although more fun) mostly because of their size.

Again, I'd suggest a good heritage dual purpose chicken for what you're wanting to do. Just my opinion! Good luck!
 
Can you tell me what dual purpose breeds are best for meat? We have buff orpingtons, Isa Browns, and 1 black sex link, am I correct in thinking that those are all DP? But the rooster we are getting is a bantam (we were blessed to get 2 sets of adult birds given to us for free, one of which is a bantam mix rooster). I'm assuming a bantam breeding with LF will produce smaller birds? So I'm thinking at some point I will get some hatching eggs and raise my own rooster. What dual purpose breeds do would you most recommend?

I am also still thinking of getting some Cornishx chicks at some point, maybe, we'll see :)
 
Everyone probably has a favorite and there are lots of opinions on the "best" dual purpose. Lots of breeds work well if you can raise them long enough to get to a decent size. A bantam mix rooster would even work, but you just won't get much meat from your extras. I have Marans and think they're a decent meat bird from around 16 weeks and up. A well bred line of heritage Barred Rocks would probably be my favorite, though.

If you're looking for meat, my opinion is that you can't beat Cornish X. 6-7 weeks and you can have a freezer full of meat.
 
Mine are around 3.5-5 pounds if fed well - most likely around 4 lbs. (I haven't done a lot at that age, though. I have to butcher them when they get loud, which is usually before that.)
 

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