Performance and carcass characteristics of Delaware chickens in comparison with broilers

[Compost King]

The 15 week Delaware dressed out to 3 lbs, 6 week "broiler" was 3.25 lbs. The Delaware needed to probably be at least 16 weeks to have the same weight, maybe 17. Interesting that this study was funded by Purina. Raising Delawares would double their sales!

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER.. and this chicken dinner is brought to you by our sponsor Purina, making sure you over feed your chickens so Purina can profit!

 

[MROO]

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER.. and this chicken dinner is brought to you by our sponsor Purina, making sure you over feed your chickens so Purina can profit!

This may be a silly question, here, but my 4H kids claim that their broilers are "eating machines," as in, they'll eat 24/7 if they have access to feed, even in the dark when most chickens are asleep on their roosts. So, isn't there a hitch between feeding table birds an extra week as opposed cornishX getting free-access their entire lives? This isn't a case of playing "devil's advocate" on my part ... its a genuine question from someone who has ornamental and egg-production bantams, not meat birds ... me!

 

[jolenesdad]

Not a truly “fair” study.

Even sourced from a hatchery, broiler chicks are ONLY sourced from eggs from corporate genetics.

Delawares, unless sourced from a breeder, have hatchery genetics behind them, which are poor... at very best.

had they worked with a utility breeder they would have different results, though still the same conclusions.

 

[Compost King]

This may be a silly question, here, but my 4H kids claim that their broilers are "eating machines," as in, they'll eat 24/7 if they have access to feed, even in the dark when most chickens are asleep on their roosts. So, isn't there a hitch between feeding table birds an extra week as opposed cornishX getting free-access their entire lives? This isn't a case of playing "devil's advocate" on my part ... its a genuine question from someone who has ornamental and egg-production bantams, not meat birds ... me!

I haven't measured the feed intake of these different birds but others who have ended up with ratios indicating the feed efficiency of various birds. the CX meat birds have the lowest ratio of feed per pound of bird. Regardless of how much they eat a day, every day of life requires up feed without producing meat. The longer it takes to mass up the worse the feed to meat ratio works out to be. Thats the best I can do for answering it. I am certain someone else can explain it better.

 

[jolenesdad]

This may be a silly question, here, but my 4H kids claim that their broilers are "eating machines," as in, they'll eat 24/7 if they have access to feed, even in the dark when most chickens are asleep on their roosts. So, isn't there a hitch between feeding table birds an extra week as opposed cornishX getting free-access their entire lives? This isn't a case of playing "devil's advocate" on my part ... its a genuine question from someone who has ornamental and egg-production bantams, not meat birds ... me!

Yes compost king is saying that each bird has a set amount of feed it must Intake just to meet their daily needs, and then they must grow, on top of that. Also, a heritage table bird is grown for 2-3 times longer than the Cornish cross, not just a week. The “illusion” is that they’re eating more, but it’s just really that they’re eating faster... and over a shorter period of time.

Hand down CX will have the best FCR rate out there, that’s what they’re bred to do. @ChickenCanoe makes a super point.... if they can increase feed conversion to save ten CENTS a chicken, that saves 900 million dollars across the industry in a year.

The most profitable way to raise a low FCR bird is to get them as big as you can as fast as you can, mitigating losses by savings in feed.

 

[Compost King]

The most profitable way to raise a low FCR bird is to get them as big as you can as fast as you can, mitigating losses by savings in feed.

that pretty much sums up what a meat bird is. I would even add that speed is much more important than size. a 3 pound bird in 6 weeks would be considered better to me than a 6 pound bird in 12 weeks. Not only can you fit more 3 pound birds in the same pen size you can get 2 flocks of them in that same amount of time. Not everyone is going to have the same preference I have. A legit complaint to doing birds that small is that a 3 pound bird is not worth the effort to dress out. To each their own.
In all fairness, I don't stress out things and go for the full efficiency methods. I just go out and kill a Rooster when I run out of meat. Sometimes a Rooster can live to 20 weeks, sometimes I am processing them much younger. And Rooster behavior can influence my decisions too. I have no profit motive with meat in my set up, its just an extra benefit to raising chickens for me.

 

[Parront]

that pretty much sums up what a meat bird is. I would even add that speed is much more important than size. a 3 pound bird in 6 weeks would be considered better to me than a 6 pound bird in 12 weeks. Not only can you fit more 3 pound birds in the same pen size you can get 2 flocks of them in that same amount of time. Not everyone is going to have the same preference I have. A legit complaint to doing birds that small is that a 3 pound bird is not worth the effort to dress out. To each their own.
In all fairness, I don't stress out things and go for the full efficiency methods. I just go out and kill a Rooster when I run out of meat. Sometimes a Rooster can live to 20 weeks, sometimes I am processing them much younger. And Rooster behavior can influence my decisions too. I have no profit motive with meat in my set up, its just an extra benefit to raising chickens for me.

X 2 on the rooster behavior factor. A 2 lb Leghorn that is terrorizing all the rest tastes just fine and is worth dressing out to me, since I will be culling him anyway. Sometimes they are only 10 weeks old, while the nice mellow Orpington roosters are fine to 18 weeks old, and even as adults never really harassed the hens the same way. If you could get the egg production efficiency of a Leghorn from an Orpington, Leghorns would be the endangered ones!

 

[Parront]

One thing that reports like that one do not consider is that some back-yarders like me can't keep roosters. The older 15-18 week old cockerels will be crowing before they reach that 3 pound weight, and that doesn't work for me. I will be getting some of those interesting red broilers that take 9-10 weeks to see how they are. I expect that to raise my own meat birds, I will have to get Pekin ducks that have pretty good feed efficiency and do not crow. I have raised a couple of batches in the past, I love duck! It is something worth raising because it costs so much to buy in the store that I won't buy it.

 

[RUNuts]

One thing that reports like that one do not consider is that some back-yarders like me can't keep roosters. The older 15-18 week old cockerels will be crowing before they reach that 3 pound weight, and that doesn't work for me. I will be getting some of those interesting red broilers that take 9-10 weeks to see how they are. I expect that to raise my own meat birds, I will have to get Pekin ducks that have pretty good feed efficiency and do not crow. I have raised a couple of batches in the past, I love duck! It is something worth raising because it costs so much to buy in the store that I won't buy it.

so you are saying that I can raise meat ducks instead of broilers? Hmm. I am also a backyarder that tried barnyard surprise hatching this year. The cockerels made it to 12 weeks before becoming a nuisance. I could have pushed my luck, but had 10 of them starting to compete. Took out the loud ones and the quiet ones filled the void.

Pekins or Muscovies? I heard Muscovies only hiss, but they will fly. Guess I will research Pekins. I'm raising quail at the moment, but love wild duck. Chicken is nice, quail is closer, but duck!

A lost Rouen stayed with us for a couple of weeks. Since she was so friendly, the family decided she was a pet. WE rehomed her. In short, she was loud and constantly calling. Pekins are quieter? You have piqued my interest.

 

[Mosey2003]

@RUNuts they actually sell meat type pekin ducklings, so yes, it's a thing.