Pro's and Con's, Breed Choice

[BCMaraniac]

Yes, the hens are mostly black, with some copper to mahogany feathering around the hackles. The roosters are very colorful. The bird in my avatar is a BCM/Lavender Orpington Cross. He has some mahogany in his hackles, but not anywhere else. I would think that his miniscule coloring is because he is a cross and not pure. I am going to be interested to see how the pure capons color out without all of the testosterone.

The hens are quiet and docile. They find their place in the pecking order, but aren't at all aggressive. And for whatever reasons the Marans hens are the first ones to bed at night.

 

[SunnySkies]

I've processed several roosters of various breeds and mixes, heritage and DP. IMO, they don't have enough meat ns they can't be used for grilling, frying or roasting because they are older at processing and therefore tough (resting and brining only goes so far).

So, when I wanted birds I could cook any way I wanted I poked around. I did not want CX. But I read good things about Freedom Rangers and Rosambros. I found some from a fellow BYCer and raised them last summer and processed them in September.

What I liked:
Most were still foraging until the moment of death. I picked them up out of the pasture (free ranged, no fence, movable night coop) and carried them to the chopping block.
Quiet and calm, no fighting, although we free ranged them
Excellent growth. Averaged 7 lbs in 11 weeks.
They were happy to go out, for the most part. Two of the bigger ones sat with their faces in the trough and ate nonstop, but 12 on/12 off helped
Relatively more heat resistant, for lack of a better term. They were unhappy with the heat, more so than my layer flock and breeding flock, but I did not lose any to heat. I put a mister on them and left them to it.

Cons:
They pooped a LOT. Like I was moving the night coop every day or twice a day.
They ate a LOT. Maybe not as much as CX, but more than I had planned, but part of that was we were delayed in processing due to life circumstances and that last week was feed that went to fat
The black ones I got in my order were hard to pluck, even with an auto plucker

They are some good eats. Way better than my DP or heritage birds have been, but I love a good grilled bird and not so much chicken and dumplings.

 

[Natalijaasbj]

Good point for those who love the taste of Cornish (Freedom Rangers I never tried) . Actually that is the whole point of my raising chickens DP. I get used to "skinny" and "gamey" looking chickens in Russia. , Yes there is more - much more meat and plumpiness in CX and probably FR, but I felt that the chickens here in the US were tasteless in Supermarkets. The breast is mushy and huge, the taste is plain in my opinion.
So if you rasie DP I guess for the grilling you just have to kill it younger before it crows.
But again, I heard that there is much work and investment involved with raising Cx but the taste was not much "tastier" than in the Supermarket. I probably would just buy Organic CX instead of all this hassle.
I heard Freedom Rangers are the better bird overall, but again I do not like the idea buying chicks all the time. I prefer my dP raise the little chicks for me for free

 

[call ducks]

Hi,

Raising a heritage bird for meat is not worth it in today's world. Costs more, tough, and well tough.

You should consider a rustic broiler ( The person who developed, them originally calls them rustic broilers) They take 9-12 weeks to dress out and have much better flavor than a commerical broiler bird, but grow faster than a dual purpose. They have a~ 4:1 FCR whereas heritage have a 8:1 to 10:1 FCR (Feed conversion ration so lbs Of Feed : weight Gained).

I would say give them a try. They are great broilers. There are different types of rustic broilers (Sasso,ColourPac,Redbro,Tricolour) etc. And each strain has a slightly different growth rate so put some research into the strain before purchasing and if you have questions feel free to ask me!

 

[aoxa]

My broilers forage better than any of the heritage breeds I raise, other than the Buckeyes.

You do have to limit feed for the broilers, but the feed conversion ratio can't be beat.

You can read about my experience raising them in my signature.

PS: Spring right around the corner?? I wish.

 

[StewedMammal]

I like the sex-linked cockerels. They are cheap to buy and put on more meat than the purebreds at hatcheries.

 

[yogifink]

PS: Spring right around the corner?? I wish.

LOL, yeah sorry about that...we even start sowing our tomato seeds in February!

 

[SunnySkies]

Even a young DP bird doesn't grill well..I have tried. Sigh. I'm definitely doing the Rosambro/Freedom Rangers again. It was completely worth it. I got 200 lbs of meat I can use any way I want in under 12 weeks, and they foraged extremely well.

The DP birds I processed at the same time just don't hold a candle.

Storebought CX are not very good. A farm raised free range broiler is very good.

 

[Natalijaasbj]

I guess this is a question of preference. Somehow people have been eating DP chickens for century. I did not try grilling the young bird DP just yet, I will try next batch. I just do not like the thought of buying FR every year I guess. Is this really worth it? I mean money wise?

 

[BCMaraniac]

I guess this is a question of preference. Somehow people have been eating DP chickens for century. I did not try grilling the young bird DP just yet, I will try next batch. I just do not like the thought of buying FR every year I guess. Is this really worth it? I mean money wise?

I do think it is a preference. We had a roasted CX for Thanksgiving. It was good, but not as flavorful as the capon slip Marans that I had last weekend. My hubby likes having the big plump roasters, so I will have to see if the capons will foot the bill. Otherwise, I guess I will be raising a few of them each year.