Raise only females and kill half for meat?

[Akane]

Like others have said layers are lighter and meat birds are heavier. Butchering layers will hardly give you any meat. Layers will also grow much more slowly. They won't be a large enough size anywhere near as fast as the typical meat birds. You also won't get many good eggs from 1 year or less hens. If your aim is maximum egg production you want to keep them through their 2nd and possibly 3rd year before butchering and replacing with new layers. Otherwise you'll be butchering them just as they start to reach peak egg production. If your aim is meat it just makes sense to get breeds designed for that which will be all straight run because you butcher them before they are old enough to lay, mate, or act like roos. Broilers are ready to eat in about 8weeks while layers aren't full size and laying until about 6months. It's not economical or smart to purchase layers just to butcher young.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Does he have major objections to how you wish to do the garden, coop, runs, materials or breed of birds? If so, maybe you can get him to work with you on some of that, and get him off this absurd idea he has about the chickens. (What breed are they to be, BTW?)

Perhaps I'm reading into this all wrong, but it sounds as if he's got his back up and wants to do it this way just to be contrary to what you want. Or maybe he just doesn't know anything about chickens, yet. His way, they lay little pullet eggs for a few months, after you've fed them for anywhere from 4-8 months, depending on breed, then just as they start to lay bigger eggs, off with their heads! All to get undersized, scrawny, tough, bony carcasses hardly worth bothering with. Then buy more chicks and do it again.

Has he raised chickens before? Has he plucked them? Have you dressed them out before? Has he? It sounds like he needs a reality check.

I only eat my laying hens if they meet death by misadventure, and I'm on hand to salvage the meat right away. Any bird past about 20-22 weeks is going to require the crock pot or pressure canning. No fryers, there. They just aren't worth killing on purpose, for food.

JM has lovely color rangers, you get straight run, they go to freezer camp at about 9 weeks. Layers need to stick around awhile to get your money out of them. Keep those girls around, you can sell enough eggs to pay for most of the feed.

I have layers who are several years old, still chugging away, laying eggs faithfully, and still not meaty enough to bother butchering. But they lay huge, beautiful eggs.

 

[willheveland]

Quote:
Good advise,If you want meat go with a meat bird.If it's eggs your after get layers,but don't process layers.Most breeds have their best performance in the 2 nd year and beyond. Will

 

[norahsmommy]

no neither of us has ever raised chickens, hubbys dad used to and so did his grandfather. My husband has been begging to do it but he doesn't do any research. I am big into studying something before I try it so I don't mess up, and from everything I have read butchering females is a waste. I didn't want 25 or more chickens to start out with I wanted maybe ten the first year so I could figure them out. Hubby likes new stuff and has great ideas but I always get stuck with the work eventually so I feel like I have the right to have it my way. He has not done any research and has barely talked to his family about chickens and how to raise and care for them. All he said was its easy. thats because its what his dad told him. I never really wanted to butcher chickens at all, but I am making concessions for hubby and said ok. So I feel like we should have maybe 8 females and the rest male and we can process the males when they are big enough. So a straight run would be a close approximation to what I want. Hubby just said he just doesn't want that many roos, period. He wants his say. But I showed him plans for a coop, which he loved, and a garden layout which he loved, and he likes the breeds I picked because they are heavy and good egg layers and setters. I picked barred rocks, partridge rocks and buff rocks. I was thinking of getting some black astrolorps too. I wanted a variety to see what I like.



Quote:
Does he have major objections to how you wish to do the garden, coop, runs, materials or breed of birds? If so, maybe you can get him to work with you on some of that, and get him off this absurd idea he has about the chickens. (What breed are they to be, BTW?)

Perhaps I'm reading into this all wrong, but it sounds as if he's got his back up and wants to do it this way just to be contrary to what you want. Or maybe he just doesn't know anything about chickens, yet. His way, they lay little pullet eggs for a few months, after you've fed them for anywhere from 4-8 months, depending on breed, then just as they start to lay bigger eggs, off with their heads! All to get undersized, scrawny, tough, bony carcasses hardly worth bothering with. Then buy more chicks and do it again.

Has he raised chickens before? Has he plucked them? Have you dressed them out before? Has he? It sounds like he needs a reality check.

I only eat my laying hens if they meet death by misadventure, and I'm on hand to salvage the meat right away. Any bird past about 20-22 weeks is going to require the crock pot or pressure canning. No fryers, there. They just aren't worth killing on purpose, for food.

JM has lovely color rangers, you get straight run, they go to freezer camp at about 9 weeks. Layers need to stick around awhile to get your money out of them. Keep those girls around, you can sell enough eggs to pay for most of the feed.

I have layers who are several years old, still chugging away, laying eggs faithfully, and still not meaty enough to bother butchering. But they lay huge, beautiful eggs.

 

[Akane]

This is where I'd just split it. "I'm going to get these chickens and care for them this way and you get what you want and do what you want with them." Then we both get what we want and it's not my fault if the other person makes a dumb mistake with their half. Sometimes people can't be reasoned with but compromises can still be made.

 

[patandchickens]

What about this. Order 1 1/2 times as many layers as you want to overwinter, plus like 8-10 broiler chicks (CornishX). That way, you will have some 'spare' layer hens PLUS some genuine store-type meat birds to process. (Not at the same time, tho, unless you order the broiler chicks much, much later. They will have to be grown separately from the layers btw; just subdivide the pen/run).

That way you (and, more to the point, your husband) will have something to compare between, and can decide which way you want to go in future years

Also, how do you want to cook the chickens you raise to eat. If you want roast chicken, or very tender anything-else, you pretty much need CornishX broiler chicks... 20-30 wk old layers will be tasty (if not highly meaty) for stewing/fricassee/etc, and maybe ok for fried chicken if you like *chewing*, but will not roast up very well.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[FarmerChick]

norahsmommy

ok, so it seems to boil down to this

he doesn't want a ton of roos.

meat bird varities come in hens also. raise meat bird girls and hubby is happy they aren't a roo!

 

[norahsmommy]

I talked to him about meat birds. He said no. He wants dual purpose because he thinks meat birds are trouble with health problems, and freaks of nature.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
You might want to look this chart over, before you decide for sure what to order. Look at the average weights, and whether they're fast or slow maturing.
Then check links for the breeds you're interested in, and ask who's raised them, and how fast they actually grow. I've found that "early maturing" just means they lay reasonably young, but it doesn't always mean they grow very fast. Rocks are slow growers. A roo may get up to around 7-8 lbs., but it will take him almost a year to do it.

Delawares would be a better choice, if you want just one breed, (table-size roos in about 16-18 weeks) or chanteclers, or some other bird that's been a popular meat breed in the past. (Pre-Cornish X era) The Cornish-X hens, if you can keep them from dropping dead of congestive heart failure, make great meat birds, and if they live, lay nice big brown eggs. But they'll eat you out of house and home, if you keep them. If you got maybe 10 pullets of your layer breed, and 15 Cornish X, you can butcher the C-X's at 8 weeks, (and you'll be happy to see them go, the little stink bombs) they'll be huge. DO NOT feed 24/7, or half will likely drop dead early. (Look in the Meat Bird section for details on feeding.)

 

[norahsmommy]

...as you can guess, he can be a hard person to live with. I am tempted to just shake my head and order what I want because he wont remember to do it.