question

[chickenmomma6]

as soon as I get my chicks and ducks outside I wanna do just meat birds. what is the best breed to get and what age should they be butchered. does male or female taste better

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Cornish Cross are the gold standard for meat birds.
Pros: Grows fast, great ratio of turning feed into weight (2:1 FCR, #2, #3, though my personal experience is 2.5:1), great muscle mass. Grow for 6 weeks to get fat birds fast eating feed freely, or grow to 10 weeks on restricted feed for healthier birds with slightly firmer meat. Great personalities, great flock members. White feathers make plucking clean easy. Mild taste.
Cons: Raised on free feed in confinement they can eat themselves to death. While you can raise them out to adults they will only live a few years. Does not breed true. Lays very few eggs.

"Ranger" chickens are an alternative
Pros: Robust birds that are healthier than CX. Will live a longer lifespan, lay eggs more regularly, a little more wily around predators. Will grow out in 12 weeks. Firm meat, stronger flavors.
Cons; Feed conversion ratio is moderate at best and no matter who you ask is easily TWICE that of a CX (3.5-4:1 FCR, #2, #3). Dark feathers leads to more difficulty getting a clean looking pluck. Also a hybrid and won't breed true.

Other breeds
There was a study funded by SARE that studied not only FCRs for heritage breeds (which on average were 5:1, which according to many reports is a comparable FCR to a "ranger" breed) but also flavor. They raised several breeds side-by-side under nearly identical conditions and calculated outcomes for feed consumption, live weight produced, edible weight produced, and most critically flavor. Their results were super interesting indicating that Speckled Sussex and Domniniques have a better flavor than other breeds.
Similarly, my own experiences have found that heavy bodied, nearly dual purpose chickens, can produce a decent roasting bird in a reasonable time frame. A 12 week old group of buff orpington cockerels I raised out for example included one bird that was 5lbs after processing and they were well filled out and good tasting.

My conclusion, based on my own experiences and the documented experiences of others, is that if you're going to try for something even vaguely economical, just go for the CX and manage them carefully. They do best in big open spaces, restricted feed and/or wet feed environments, where they are required to move around every day and put their voracious appetite to good use foraging. Under these conditions I've personally found them to be healthy birds. Otherwise, I eat my roosters from heavier breeds.

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Best Breed: Cornish Cross.

Age to Butcher: We grow ours to 10-11 weeks. They will weigh out at 9-10 pounds after processing. Males put on weight faster. They are the best tasting. Will never go back to store bought chicken.

 

[lazy gardener]

Or, if you have more time to invest, and have plenty of free range available (though you should do a run to keep predators from eating up all your hard work) you might like to try Pioneer (aka Dixie Rainbow) or Freedom Ranger. These birds take longer to grow out (12 - 13 weeks) the pullets make good layers, and they are not prone to the many systemic problems that plague the Cornish rocks. But, CR will give you a better feed -> meat conversion rate.

 

[Golden Brahma 64]

as soon as I get my chicks and ducks outside I wanna do just meat birds. what is the best breed to get and what age should they be butchered. does male or female taste better

Breed : Cornish cross
Age to be butchered : anywhere from 6-8 weeks, I wouldn’t leave it any longer.
They both taste like chicken

 

[RUNuts]

What is your primary goal?
If cheap, better than grocery store and quick, Cornish Cross (CX).
If you do a pioneer/ranger or heritage from a hatchery, it will take longer. Meat will be firmer (do you like firmer?) and cost will be more than CX.

I'm doing another round of CX. Quick is goal. Deliciousness is desired.

Grocery store has become bland and mushy. Unfortunately, so has fast food birds. The attraction has waned.

 

[snow5164]

I’m anti Cornish cross , it’s my opinion.The grazers or freedom rangers are more humane . They grow slower actually walk around and are enjoyable to raise , the Cornish crosscan get so fat so fast their legs don’t support them ,

They are a hybrid made to grow slowly but gain weight too. They are active their flip death rate is low .

We got ours to over 9 pounds last year and only lost one on butchering day ....

 

[RUNuts]

If you feed an 18-20% protein feed, I've had and read about good success. I've done it with 5 CX and hope to improve with this next batch of 25. Go slow and learn. Feed was available 24 hours a day.

The CX were mobile. Ran to the gate to greet me. Happy little chickens. I also made sure they were on grass and had more than enough room. But I understand your concern. Best wishes with what ever you decide.

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Cornish cross can be just as active as Rangers! Provided they are on a strict and limited feed schedule. My 10 pound Cornish cross still scratch around the pen for bugs, they dust bath, run towards me when they see me (because they expect food), can jump/fly 2 feet off the ground. Their meat is the best and I don't have to worry about a stringy/tough bird

 

[ChocolateMouse]

If you want quick and good raise CX. Like any giant breed of animal, if you raise them like garbage they will have garbage health. If you free-feed a great dane with nothing to do but eat they will eat so much their legs will fail and they won't be able to walk, CX are a giant breed and they are no different. Give them a healthy environment and you will have no losses and great tasting birds in a short time frame.

The hype over health problems is blown WAY out of proportion.