MEAT BIRD'S " TELL US HOW YOU DO IT"

[bruceh]

THIS THREAD IS ABOUT WHAT TYPE BIRD YOU RAISE AND HOW YOU DO IT. PLEASE INCLUDE DETAILS OF TIME, TYPE OF FEED , WEIGHTS. AND TYPE OF MANAGEMENT.
THIS THREAD IS INTENDED FOR EDUCATION ON THE PRODUCTION OF MEAT BIRDS
WE ACCEPT ALL COMMENTS INTENDED FOR ALL STAGES OF CHICKEN KEEPING.

 

[bruceh]

i just finished a batch of freedom rangers without fermented feed and free range. slaughter is tomorrow. i will tell you out of 21 start i lost 5 birds at 3 weeks old. so only 12 will go to slaughter. the other 4 hens way to small to butcher.
some people love the rangers personally i won't do them again. they are 15 weeks old that is double the time they should be. i will say they used less feed. roughly 300lbs of mash at 17% the pounds of feed includes 2 meat maker bags of feed at 23%
so cost for these birds was $1.00 a piece = 12.00 (price of bird brought to slaughter)
cost of grower mash was $10.50 per 50 lbs = 42.00 ( 4 bags used )
cost of meat maker feed was $18.00 per 50lbs = 36.00 ( 2 bags used )
cost of birds lost or not brought to slaughter 9.00 ( just includes cost of bird )

total cost to raise 99.00 /12 or 8.25 a bird

i won't know dressed meat weight til saturday.. i will report that then to give price per pound

just assume i get 5 lb a bird the cost per pound is 99.00/ 60 = $1.65 per lb

 

[Beekissed]

I'll be watching this thread..should be interesting to see how everyone does their meat birds. This spring I did a batch of 50 CX from Central Hatchery on fermented feeds~a mix of layer mash and whole grains~ twice a day, then once a day, and free ranged from 2 wks.

I was disappointed with the size of the chicks upon arrival, they seemed smaller than the other meaty chicks I had raised. They also took longer to grow out, as my last batch had feed once a day and free ranged and had topped out their weights at 8 wks(around 10 lbs live wt.). As time went on I realized that these CX might be the "slow" growing broilers of which I had heard.

That suited me fine and I found they finished out big at 10 wks which was my goal anyway..they just needed that 2 extra wks of growth to make it big. I didn't get to weigh them this year as I had to process in a hurry, due to unforeseen circumstances.

Only had 4 chicks die out of the batch and that was early on and due to a WR rooster we had hanging around. Not due to any health reasons..one was smashed by the rooster at 3 wks when he tried to mate it(yes, I killed and ate the rooster). The other 3 drowned in the dog's water bucket at the same age after watching the WR rooster get up on the side of the bucket to drink. They must have tried the same, found all 3 drowned on the same day.

They were the most active chickens I had ever raised and foraged from morning to night, finished great and I can't remember the exact feed costs but it was around $165 for 10 wks for 50 CX. If I had to guess at finishing weights, I'd say they averaged at 4.5~5 lbs each dressed. If I could have kept them around longer, I would have taken them to 12 wks and let them get bigger. At these feed prices, I couldn't go wrong, even if I held them over longer.

Final cost was $4.50 per bird,give or take a few cents. $.90 ~$1.12 per lb. Can't really buy free ranged, all naturally raised chicken for anything near that price, let alone chicken in the store. I feel like I got off really cheap and had a great deal of wonderful tasting meat in the freezer.

 

[loanwizard]

Well howdy Bruce, Julie.

Very late in the season for this type of thread as we are going to have to remember what we did earlier this year, but I expect it will pick up in the spring.

I am bad for feed totals because my meat birds, hogs and layers all eat the same thing, but.....

1st batch- 100 freedom rangers from Kendall at JM Hatchery out of PA. sent 104 birds all alive and well.
Took each and every chick and dunked beak in water.... with rocks... and feed. Lost several due to pasty butt. Learned from Bee about ACV.
Built tractor. Put them in it at 3 weeks. Moved tractor. 1st move flattened 6 like Kermit "Gone with the Schwynn" (Muppet Movie). About killed me as I compared myself to the heartless Institutions and quietly cussed Joel Salatin although he said to use wheels and I didn't so.... my fault. Built permanent fence and moved them to old coop with about 200 feet of fence to make run.















I got into this as a cooperative producer for a friend that markets pasture fed Pork, Poultry and Beef.

1st batch went to 9 weeks. Average weight somewhere around 3 lbs processed. I wasn't happy, about broke even at $2.89 lb.
On the plus side, was told 1 ton of feed per 100 birds, probably used 1/2 that.

2nd batch freedom rangers- 120 birds, ranged in 160' poultry fencing. Only introduced 1/2 to feeder and waterer. 11 weeks, approx 3.25lb average, 1/2 ton of feed.

3rd batch- 150 birds- Lost 10 due to not supplying enough shade. Lost 11 packing too tightly taking to butcher. Kept those 11 for myself.
3/4 ton of feed 12 weeks avg weight 3.75lbs.



Brooder trailer and transporter

Proof that nitrogen definitely helps plant growth.







New Hoop shelter in conjunction with poultry netting.









I may try some cornish just to see what the differences are in raising, weight, time but most importantly, flavor.

Shawn Dostie

Serenity Farms of Ohio
OhioPorkandPoultry.com

 

[bruceh]

i started a new batch of meat birds. i am using 32 cornish x rocks from mt-di poultry.

this will be a fermented feed study with totals to date.

total cost of the birds with shipping. $ 48.00 / 32 = @ $1.50 per bird

feed week 1 starter 5 lbs ( not fermented ) 5.00

total investment week 1 $ 53.00 / 32 = @ $1.65 per bird




these prices do not include brooder set up or cost of unpaturized apple cider vinegar

that cost is a variable depending on your situation:

my cost for pine shaving bedding from tcs = $12.00 / 2 @ $ 6.00
apple cider vinegar = $ 7.00


i will report every tuesday with updates on food consumption and health

if there is any other information you would like to know please post questions here

 

[bruceh]

all birds are in the chiller. never will i do these rangers again. the bones were tough as nails. dressed out very small. average weight was 3.75 lbs per bird.


total birds brought to slaughter - 12

average weight per bird -- 3.75 or 45 lbs total


total cost to raise $ 99.00


final cost per pound- $ 2.20 lb

 

[bobbi-j]

all birds are in the chiller. never will i do these rangers again. the bones were tough as nails. dressed out very small. average weight was 3.75 lbs per bird.


total birds brought to slaughter - 12

average weight per bird -- 3.75 or 45 lbs total


total cost to raise $ 99.00


final cost per pound- $ 2.20 lb

Hmm... I was just going to ask you and Shawn what you think of your Freedom Rangers. They don't seem to dress out any larger than a Buckeye. I've read that Bucks don't have a lot for breast meat, but drumsticks and thighs are pretty good sized. I only have two cockerels to butcher, and I want to save my pullets for breeding. A neighbor who raises Cornish X for his customers is talking about getting Freedom Rangers, but isn't sure since his customers are used to chickens that look like small turkeys.

ETA - Sorry for wandering off track here, but I've been wanting to ask questions, and I know you guys are no-nonsense chicken keepers from the Old Timers' thread.

 

[bruceh]

got to tell bobbyj shawn likes his but then again he has a market for his. from a personal stand point i like the cornish x a lot. i free range mine. they are active and healthy.
when i do the x's .they are all uniform in weight. i raise last batch to 13 weeks and wights went from 8 1/2 to 11.4 dressed out for the oven. also got 5 lbs. of organ meat.
the rangers i raised to 15 weeks.and weights were every where. the average was 3.75 dressed for the oven

the rangers are very rough with the pullets.and some less dominant cockerals .
the cornish x very friendly no fighting at all.

i would not recommend raising cornish x for 13 weeks. the conversion from feed to meat is not worth it. they stop really putting on weight after 11 weeks.

as far as uniformity my rangers had bigger thighs and legs . breast meat only fair compared to the cornish x

just my take on it

 

[mississippifarmboy]

I'll be watching this thread. I've always just ate our culls from the regular flocks. I'm seriously thinking of trying 100 or so meat birds in the spring though.

 

[erinszoo]

Getting 25 Cornish X and roaster mix from McMurray in a week. We wanted a mix because we process our own birds and can't do more than about 5 in a day so we want them to finish off staggered. Will post on day one and then again weekly for their growth with feed usage, weights, etc.