Meat Birds

[greyfields]

Thank you for the compliments. Let me try to answer your questions here.

1) I would use an incubator. Start with a cheap one and see if you enjoy doing it, then move up to one of the mid-range Octogan series. With so few chickens, even in breeds noted for going broody, you would still not know with certainty if you would even get any that would go broody. The hybrids (red stars) probably will not go broody, since they have that trait bred out of their parent breeds.

2) The Red Stars are their proprietary strain of Red Sex Links. These are hybrids made by crossing a RIR roo on a Leghorn hen. You cannot rebreed RSLs and get more RSLs. So for breeding, you will need to separate your purebred hens for the time you'll be collecting the eggs for the incubator. You didn't mention what flavor of cockrel you'd be gettingk, though.

 

[eaemnc]

I'm still debating but today came up with these to look into for being non aggressive: I read about Cochins but their hens lay small eggs and I don't want to breed that into my coop. Possibly Blue Orpingtons, RIR (I don't want an aggressive rooster) so I'm thinking not this breed for our coop, Amarucana Brown/Red Rooster I loved what these look like don't know much about their temperment or ways towards being aggressive.

I want to breed egg size (large / extra large), looks (not as important), and continuous laying abilities into the new chicks. I'm open for many suggestions here. I did read something about Naked Necked Turkens laying very large eggs reliably. I just hate what they look like and know that there has got to be a better looking chicken that does just as good a job. Once again quite open to suggestions here

hugs to all and thanks for helping out!!!

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[greyfields]

I think everyone chooses their breeds for their own reasons. We have mostly English breeds in all our livestock simply because my wife is English and someday we want to have a Smallholding on that side of the Atlantic. So, I don't want to be a n00ber when I get over there and have some experience (and maybe work out embyro transfers so I don't lose all my good work here in the US).

If it were me, and I wanted good egg production which is reliable generation after generation, I'd look into making my own Red Sex Links or Black Sex Links (which I do make). It means you keep some hens simply for parenting the offspring, which are terminal sired by a Rhode Island Red. The genetics, production and longevity of the sex-linked hybrids is simply the best you can do - and doing the breeding yourself is amazingly satisfying.

A lot of people will tell you that hybrids will lay so much that they "burn out" too quickly; but this is really not the case. Hybrids in commercial / industrial production flocks all burn out too quickly. It just happens to be their using hybrids (or I guess Leghorns and Rocks somtimes).

 

[eaemnc]

How do I get a RIR Rooster that isn't agressive? I don't think that will be possible when getting it as a hatchling. That is my only problem with the RIR Rooster. Any ideas about that?

Thanks so much,

Ann

 

[Yukonchick]

These two in the pic were butchered at 8 weeks.I butchered most of my meat hens at 9 weeks and it worked out to about 4 to 5 pounds a bird. I fed them twice a day. Only lost 2. One died at a week and a half and the other at about weeks.

 

[Yukonchick]

ya, i got 32 Cornish giants. All hens and we're pretty happy. Butchered 20 last Saturday and they dressed out at close to 5 lbs at 9 weeks old. Only lost two. One died when it was very young and the other got some kind of acites disease I'm guessing and it died a week before slaughter day. Nice healthy birds though. They look exactly like the store bought but the taste is much better. More texture and flavour.

 

[SteeleFaithFarm]

Cornish giants? Is that a Cornish Jersey giant cross or just a large Cornish? I have a couple dark Cornish roosters and hens as well as white Jersey giants. I'm just looking to try crossing a couple different breeds to see if I can get something that dresses out well between 12 and 20 weeks. My Delawares are 14 weeks old and are doing well. I was also thinking of crossing a dark Cornish to some off my red stars. Does anybody have any backyard crosses they like?

 

[Yukonchick]

My cornish giants come from a hatchery in Alberta. They are a cross. I'm assuming it is a Cornish crossed with a Jersey. Very large in the breast area and an excellent tasting bird.