Meat bird chicks are actually hybrid crosses, usually a Cornish with a white Rock. Since they are hybrids they will not pass on the same production capacity, and their offspring will likely be lesser quality. In addition, they are difficult to keep to adulthood, as they grow so fast and large they outstrip their cardiac capacity and tend to just drop dead suddenly, are too large to breed effectively, and are very heat intolerant.I think we might go get a few more and hope for a couple females so we can have breeding stock and really fill the freezer...it's OK if we line one side of our property with coops, right?
If you want to breed your own meat birds you could keep some of the breeds that are used for that cross, or go with a dual-purpose breed such as Delawares (they are great egg layers too). It is probably much less expensive to buy meat chicks.
And then I realized I had not taken them out of the auto egg turner! So at midnight I took them all out. 5 have pip holes (is that what it is called) and 3 were making noises. The ones with pip holes were 3 of the easter eggers. No one has hatched out yet, but I have one that is cracked all the way around. I am keeping my fingers crossed. My temps went crazy in the incubator several times with no one touching it. So I am happy that there is even some peeping.
