My Next Great Experiment

[kizanne]

Ok another week under the belt. The largest broiler X broiler has overtaken the barred rock X Orph

The Barred rock x Orph has lost the lead, he is now 19.5 ounces.

The broilers X are about 16 ounces but the largest was 21.2 ounces

The marans X Orph are around 11.7 ounces

I have some younger ones I was hoping to use to also compare but other than by eye/random weight it won't work cause I"m losing too many of the bands to know for sure which one is which and how old they are.

I do have a broiler x broiler that I'm pretty sure is 2 week younger than the first group and he got bigger faster than his brothers. Some of the 'smaller' broilers I think are girls ( I mean I should have 50% roos but I see mostly roos when I look LOL).

If I get the guts this weekend will be a capon try.

 

[kizanne]

Ok so. The broilers are larger than the barred rock both are in the high twenty ounces.

I also tried caponizing this weekend. I did not get far. I kept them off food and water for about 20 hours.
I had my husband hold them while I cut. I cut the skin very little bleeding, but unlike everyone says I couldn't tell for sure which was the rib I was supposed to stick the retractors in and the retractors seemed huge for the bird. I ended up just closing it up. Good news is the candidate lived.

 

[DuckBoy]

I was thinking about crossing dark cornish roo over red ranger hen any thought every one. Thanks

 

[SIMZ]

This is really interesting to follow! Thanks for updating us.

 

[kizanne]

I was thinking about crossing dark cornish roo over red ranger hen any thought every one. Thanks

My experience though limited the dark cornish were not socialable very cagey. They would be great for predator avoidance. I didn't enjoy them and catching for the slaughter even in a coop was hard. I might try them again later.

 

[kizanne]

Ok so been a few weeks. The broilers are showing me that some had Blue laced Red Wyandottes as fathers so they weren't quite as immature as I had thought. I have a broiler cross seems to be out growing the barred rock/orphington cross but they barreds are more consistent. However considering the broilers may have 'small' fathers if the BLRW got in there, they are going good. they are now going through 50 lbs a week for 15 chickens. I'm getting ready to get rid of the biggest ones in the next couple weeks. I haven't weighed them but I'm guessing 3-5 pounds. I am about to set another batch of eggs which will be a more controlled experiment. Several weeks ago I moved everyone out of that coop except the Broiler roo (still love him), 3 boiler girls (2 red, 1 black) and an australorpe. I have only 4 hens in there and I get 3-4 eggs a day so they laying well which surprises me. When these hatch I should see more consistent good growth cause there will be no BLRW dads.

I'll list weights when we do get to putting them in the fridge. I sent some eggs to a another poster for the NYD hatch and they have liked the growth too. It definately is not Growing as fast as cornish cross but I can hatch small batches and so far I'm happy with the growth. I'll let you know on taste when I get there also.

 

[Baymule]

I have really enjoyed reading your thread. I live on a small lot in the middle of a small town. So, in the intrest of not irritating my neighbors, no rooster.

Thanks for letting me live vicariously through your experiments!

 

[SIMZ]

How old are they now? I was wondering how things were going - thanks for the update!

 

[kizanne]

They are between 13 and 14 weeks old. I randomly caught a few of the larger ones though not the largest. which BTW pretty lucky non of the these guys are crowing yet. I have them in an outside pen with shelter but not a coop per se. My crowing roos go in a coop that gets closed until at least 7 am for the neighbors.

They weighed 6.4 lbs and 5.2 lbs. I have one in there that is larger. That pen also has multiple ages so the smaller / younger ones no idea what age goes with what bird.

They aren't growing exponentially anymore. I know if I wait some more they will get some bigger but not huge. I think I could have started killing around 12 weeks and had 5 lbs before dressing which should give about a 3 lbs carcas.

Me and hubby just haven't felt like killing chickens lately so they have consequently been eating me out of food LOL. I love not having to rush to kill them, not having to worry about them dropping dead but they are eating quite a bit.

I have some more meatie eggs in the bator. Most are set for an order for a lady who wants them after they come off the heat lamp. But I set a few extra and if she doesn't pick up her order I'll keep them and they'll become freezer meat. That batch should be more consistent as I now have only broilers and one australorpe hen. I am seeing some lacing that makes me think some of my first batch had wyandotte dads. They won't put on as much meat as quick. I also have a few other misc. mixes in there.

I sent another batch of eggs out to another BYC member who liked the results so maybe in 12 weeks they can give a report.

If anyone here wants slow grower meatie eggs I can do that for $5 / doz gives you a chance to try a small batch.

I don't know how much longer I'm going to keep my meatie roo just because I have too many roos right now. I think before I go on vacation I'm going to get rid of my meat roo, my orphington roo and one of the wyandotte roos.