Question for broiler breeds

[EggsBeesSeeds]

I have a bit of an odd question. I have never raised broiler breed meat birds. My experience lies with raising and slaughtering the cockerels that result from hatching eggs. I love the flavor of a bird that has had time to grow and develop, yet I would like that bird to have a bit more meat than a 20-24 week cockerel.

My question is this: Is there a way to raise broiler breed chickens to delay their rapid growth by a few weeks? I am not interested in creating feed-to-protein conversion machines, even though I know that is what they are designed to do. I am just doing this for me and my family to eat and flavor is the thing we are most interested in! I would love to allow them to grow for approx 14-16 weeks to develop flavor but also have the broad breast and meatiness of the broiler breed (something I just don't get from the cockerels!). Am I just dreaming? Do they still have problems at 7-8 weeks no matter what size they are? Could you keep protein levels lower to keep them from blowing up like they do or would that harm them in some way? Is another breed (like freedom ranger) something I should look into or are they all basically the same?

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Mehjr10]

There are a bunch of other post on here that discuss this subject. I have raised Cornish X and Black Broilers, both have given good results.

My Cornish X i feed along with some standard babies the same starter grower feed and scratch in a chicken tractor, and let them out with the rest of the flock to wander around the yard. Although they did not roam around nearly as much.. I tried raising some with the main flock but they tend to just lay there and let the other bigger hens and roos pick at them. When they get up to 7- 8 week you will be ready to harvest them they tend to make more of a mess than the rest of the flock. I let mine go till about 9 weeks. They have great flavor at this point and meat quality.. Let them rest in the fridge till rigor passes then Vac Pack them.

My black broilers I ran them in the same tractor with the X's until after I havested them then when they got big enough I put them in with the regular flock to finish off. They do a better job in the yard free ranging than the X's do. They also had good texture and flavor, just not the same size of breast as the X's.

I will do more X's two or three times this summer and fall, to fill the freezer back up.

Good Luck.

 

[EggsBeesSeeds]

So I guess what you are saying is that there isn't a way to raise white cornish x to extend their life to increase flavor? Or maybe you are saying that it just isn't something that has been done (or needs to be)? I apologize if I am being dense but I don't see the answer to my question... perhaps if I clarify: I love the flavor of a 20-24 wk cockerel. I love the meatiness of a cornish x. Can I have the best of both worlds by raising a cornish x longer than 7-9 wks by slowing their growth (somehow)? OR is there another meat bird out there that has the same broad breastedness of a cornish x that grows a bit slower (target slaughter time approx 16 wks)?

I could not find an answer to my question when I combed the forum before I posted this. Do you have a link to another forum post that directly addresses my question? I would be happy to read that and any other information that is already out there. Thanks!

 

[Life is Good!]

I love the flavor of a 20-24 wk cockerel. I love the meatiness of a cornish x. Can I have the best of both worlds by raising a cornish x longer than 7-9 wks by slowing their growth (somehow)? OR is there another meat bird out there that has the same broad breastedness of a cornish x that grows a bit slower (target slaughter time approx 16 wks)?

I find the flavor of a CX much different than our Black Java layers. We raised Freedom Rangers (ie a Red broiler) and I found their flavor much more like our layers than of the CX. I find the CX, even those I raise, to be bland.

Our CX, we raised in the fall - and due to weather, they grew slower than anticipated. (cold, cold, wet fall meant the birds ate like crazy but didn't grow like crazy). We grew them to 12-13wks, they were about 4-5#'s each - and bland.

The FR, we raised in the spring - a hot, hot spring. We grew them to be 11-13wks, and were about 4-5#'s each. They had a much better flavor than the CX's. They had a good sized carcass overall, a bit more dark meat than white, but really not much.

Our layers, we raise as long as we can stand the cockerals (generally about 12-15wks). They are very small, about 3#'s, and great for dark meat, but the white meat doesn't come until about 26wks. Nope, no where near the size chest of a CX, but so much more flavor!

I did a photo pictorial of what each of these carcasses look like dressed (not yet cooked). Check this thread for pictures:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/746021/photo-comparison-java-freedom-ranger-cx-carcasses

I hope this helps! I still eat our cockerals, they just get turned into something that the meat isn't on the carcass (chx n' dumplings is a favorite here). I'd love more Rangers, but store cannot get less than 25 - and I'm done raising that many at once. Would love to do just 15 at a time!

 

[Mehjr10]

So I guess what you are saying is that there isn't a way to raise white cornish x to extend their life to increase flavor? Or maybe you are saying that it just isn't something that has been done (or needs to be)? I apologize if I am being dense but I don't see the answer to my question... perhaps if I clarify: I love the flavor of a 20-24 wk cockerel. I love the meatiness of a cornish x. Can I have the best of both worlds by raising a cornish x longer than 7-9 wks by slowing their growth (somehow)? OR is there another meat bird out there that has the same broad breastedness of a cornish x that grows a bit slower (target slaughter time approx 16 wks)?

I could not find an answer to my question when I combed the forum before I posted this. Do you have a link to another forum post that directly addresses my question? I would be happy to read that and any other information that is already out there. Thanks!

I like the flavor of the CX, and have read that if you let them out to range that growth can be slowed some.. But I do not know if you can slow them that much. You may want to look at the red, black broilers or freedom rangers for the slower growth. The ones I raised as i mentioned grew out well in that time frame and have a good breast size. Similar to the photos that Life is Good posted. As far as flavor wise my crew could not tell you the difference between the CX, Black Broilers of the odd Roo's that we have killed. They are all way better tasting than the Store Brands. Don't know if I got you fully answered but that is the limit of my experiences with the meaties, before raising them it was just the older layers and roos that hit the table.

 

[SJ]

So I guess what you are saying is that there isn't a way to raise white cornish x to extend their life to increase flavor? Or maybe you are saying that it just isn't something that has been done (or needs to be)? I apologize if I am being dense but I don't see the answer to my question... perhaps if I clarify: I love the flavor of a 20-24 wk cockerel. I love the meatiness of a cornish x. Can I have the best of both worlds by raising a cornish x longer than 7-9 wks by slowing their growth (somehow)? OR is there another meat bird out there that has the same broad breastedness of a cornish x that grows a bit slower (target slaughter time approx 16 wks)?

I could not find an answer to my question when I combed the forum before I posted this. Do you have a link to another forum post that directly addresses my question? I would be happy to read that and any other information that is already out there. Thanks!

IMO The breed you want exists as a good strain of either Delaware or a standard Cornish. A good line of Delawares will have a broad breast that is comparable to the CornishX. It will take Delawares a good +20 weeks to really fill into their frames but they do at almost 9lbs live weight. Most people just slaughter before that because you can get respectable meat bird at 14 weeks with a Delaware.
The standard cornish (I prefer the WLR for meat) will also give you the broad breast look. I like to grow the hens for 20 weeks then cull. The males take just as long.
I would suggest looking into caponizing in general but especially with both these breeds. I haven't personally done it but I have seen examples of a capon from both breed and would very much like to be able to produce my own.

 

[EggsBeesSeeds]

Thank you all for your responses. You all answered my question. Thanks! I'll definitely look into raising other broad breasted meat birds like the freedom rangers or black broilers. I also like the idea of "investing" in some Delawares or standard Cornishes. Only one way to find out what I like best: give them all a try!

Yes, I have been VERY interested in learning how to caponize. I would like to "apprentice" under someone highly experienced, but have not had much luck finding such a person around here (northern California; everyone around here does cattle, no poultry!). I just need to work up the nerve to just dive in and do it with the information I have researched and the videos I have watched. I'm really glad there is a lot of interest in this forum regarding caponization. Quite a few poultry enthusiasts I have spoken with either didn't know what it was and were horrified when I explained it or (when they did know what it was) glared at me disapprovingly.

Thanks again!

 

[Jimbosbaby42]

I'm new to the forum and am glad that I came across this thread. The information here is great! May I ask a question though? Where is the best place to order the above mentioned breeds?

 

[SIMZ]

It looks like I'm chiming in late on this, but I think you can get a really good flavor from a regular cornish X at 8-10 weeks if you raise them in a more free-range environment. We've found that they have a great flavor and even end up with some darker meat at that age. The key would be to get them used to running around at a small age with lots of space and teach them to forage and try new foods by 2 weeks. Pick the "lay abouts" to process earlier and let the active ones keep going. We've also mixed in scratch grains the last few weeks, increasing it to up to half for the last week(s). The ones we've processed at 9 weeks were still going strong and probably would have done just fine for a few more weeks (or more?).

We've never tried the other broilers, but love the short term raising of meaties.

 

[pastryman]

If you use broilers. Get them used to eating greens and grass very early. Give them limited feed and let them free range (or in a tractor). Just give them feed in the morning. And a little scratch/grains to sleep on. Use some ACV and perhaps youghurt to keep the stomach running good and utilizing feed to the max.

You can also go with regular breeds. Dorking is very good but slow growing. La Bresse is not that big, but compared to its size it has a very broard breast. It also finds a lot of feed by itself and eat more grass than any other chicken. I am dreaming of making a cross from these two. I woul use a dorking rooster and la bresse hens. They lay a lot of eggs, even in winther. But perhaps it will not be easy for you to find good dorking and la bresses.