Ramblings of a newbie starting a self-sustaining meat bird flock…

[imacowgirl2]

They were every bit of six or seven months before they started laying. Let me check and see if I made note of when they started. It was a couple months before we incubated, not because of waiting for eggs to stabilize or anything, but simply because we had layer eggs in the incubator before that and I didn’t have an easy way to put the hens with the rooster before then.

I don’t have it exactly noted, but looking it up with other events I remember happening before/after, I think they were right at 6 months when they started laying. And we incubated about 6 weeks after they started laying…two chicks from two eggs set for that batch

 

[Mwhit]

I don’t have it exactly noted, but looking it up with other events I remember happening before/after, I think they were right at 6 months when they started laying. And we incubated about 6 weeks after they started laying…two chicks from two eggs set for that batch

Thanks for the info. I just separated my breeding group and they’re at 12-13 weeks, so I have some waiting to do.

 

[imacowgirl2]

Thanks for the info. I just separated my breeding group and they’re at 12-13 weeks, so I have some waiting to do.

I remember wondering if they were ever going to start laying lol

 

[Molpet]

Curious if anyone has troubles with these Delaware


Found this on FB
Update on McMurray "Enhanced" Delaware Broilers. We processed 4 hens today at 11 months old. We raised these birds last year in hopes of a sustainable flock. They grew fast, were super easy to raise, clean, and docile. Great meat quality, and very tasty. McMurray says these birds will breed and can be raised as a sustainable flock. I'm here to tell you all, that is not the case. We kept these 4 hens back just to see how they did long term. They continued to grow, more like a meat bird than a Delaware. They were extremely fat and started showing signs of health issues recently, like poor egg quality. What I found inside was SHOCKING.

They amount of fat in their abdomen, around their intestines and their hearts was intense. All 4 had advanced fatty liver disease. The largest one had an entire lobe of her liver that was necrotic - a chunk had literally broken off and was just free in her abdomen. It was the texture of cooked liver. Another one had three to four crushed eggs in her abdomen. Not in an oviduct, just crushed, decomposing eggs in her abdomen. Several of her developping yolks were runny and off colored.

I am SO glad I processed them today. None of them were showing overt symptoms of serious disease, but these girls would have been dead with the first heat wave, if not sooner. They'd never even been through a molt. These are not birds that can survive long term. They make good meat birds but that's it.

 

[FunClucks]

Curious if anyone has troubles with these Delaware


Found this on FB
Update on McMurray "Enhanced" Delaware Broilers. We processed 4 hens today at 11 months old. We raised these birds last year in hopes of a sustainable flock. They grew fast, were super easy to raise, clean, and docile. Great meat quality, and very tasty. McMurray says these birds will breed and can be raised as a sustainable flock. I'm here to tell you all, that is not the case. We kept these 4 hens back just to see how they did long term. They continued to grow, more like a meat bird than a Delaware. They were extremely fat and started showing signs of health issues recently, like poor egg quality. What I found inside was SHOCKING.

They amount of fat in their abdomen, around their intestines and their hearts was intense. All 4 had advanced fatty liver disease. The largest one had an entire lobe of her liver that was necrotic - a chunk had literally broken off and was just free in her abdomen. It was the texture of cooked liver. Another one had three to four crushed eggs in her abdomen. Not in an oviduct, just crushed, decomposing eggs in her abdomen. Several of her developping yolks were runny and off colored.

I am SO glad I processed them today. None of them were showing overt symptoms of serious disease, but these girls would have been dead with the first heat wave, if not sooner. They'd never even been through a molt. These are not birds that can survive long term. They make good meat birds but that's it.

View attachment 3489191

That's intensely crazy! None of that looks remotely normal. I wonder what she was feeding them...

Reading the reviews on the Murray McMurray website about these birds (even there) shows folks had mixed results, so I decided not to get these and instead try the Ginger Broiler (since I was ordering from McMurray anyway). It seemed a step up from CX health-wise, although second generation will not give repeatable results. Figured I'd see how I like them, and the select for the largest birds if I end up breeding them.

Seems like the idea behind these Delawares is to make a larger spent laying hen. Unfortunately, for the amount of eggs these produce, I'd rather have that space in my flock filled by a better laying hen. But I can see where folks who have more space than I do may find the idea behind this breed appealing.

 

[Molpet]

That's intensely crazy! None of that looks remotely normal. I wonder what she was feeding them...

She was feeding layer feed

 

[FunClucks]

She was feeding layer feedView attachment 3489215

Ah, now it begins to make sense. Murray McMurray did not state this breed would require weight restriction or feed management. I too, was under the impression you could raise these with an egger flock and process when desired.

That wouldn't fit in my management system at all. Glad I passed these up.

 

[Mwhit]

Curious if anyone has troubles with these Delaware


Found this on FB
Update on McMurray "Enhanced" Delaware Broilers. We processed 4 hens today at 11 months old. We raised these birds last year in hopes of a sustainable flock. They grew fast, were super easy to raise, clean, and docile. Great meat quality, and very tasty. McMurray says these birds will breed and can be raised as a sustainable flock. I'm here to tell you all, that is not the case. We kept these 4 hens back just to see how they did long term. They continued to grow, more like a meat bird than a Delaware. They were extremely fat and started showing signs of health issues recently, like poor egg quality. What I found inside was SHOCKING.

They amount of fat in their abdomen, around their intestines and their hearts was intense. All 4 had advanced fatty liver disease. The largest one had an entire lobe of her liver that was necrotic - a chunk had literally broken off and was just free in her abdomen. It was the texture of cooked liver. Another one had three to four crushed eggs in her abdomen. Not in an oviduct, just crushed, decomposing eggs in her abdomen. Several of her developping yolks were runny and off colored.

I am SO glad I processed them today. None of them were showing overt symptoms of serious disease, but these girls would have been dead with the first heat wave, if not sooner. They'd never even been through a molt. These are not birds that can survive long term. They make good meat birds but that's it.

View attachment 3489191

Whew that’s disgusting. Those Delawares were on my list to try. Not anymore. Thanks for sharing!

I have to admit I’m a little concerned about these New Hamps having similar weight issues.

 

[Mwhit]

That's intensely crazy! None of that looks remotely normal. I wonder what she was feeding them...

Reading the reviews on the Murray McMurray website about these birds (even there) shows folks had mixed results, so I decided not to get these and instead try the Ginger Broiler (since I was ordering from McMurray anyway). It seemed a step up from CX health-wise, although second generation will not give repeatable results. Figured I'd see how I like them, and the select for the largest birds if I end up breeding them.

Seems like the idea behind these Delawares is to make a larger spent laying hen. Unfortunately, for the amount of eggs these produce, I'd rather have that space in my flock filled by a better laying hen. But I can see where folks who have more space than I do may find the idea behind this breed appealing.

That's intensely crazy! None of that looks remotely normal. I wonder what she was feeding them...

Reading the reviews on the Murray McMurray website about these birds (even there) shows folks had mixed results, so I decided not to get these and instead try the Ginger Broiler (since I was ordering from McMurray anyway). It seemed a step up from CX health-wise, although second generation will not give repeatable results. Figured I'd see how I like them, and the select for the largest birds if I end up breeding them.

Seems like the idea behind these Delawares is to make a larger spent laying hen. Unfortunately, for the amount of eggs these produce, I'd rather have that space in my flock filled by a better laying hen. But I can see where folks who have more space than I do may find the idea behind this breed appealing.

Let me know if you decide to keep a few holdovers from the gingers, I’d be curious to see how they do. I have a batch of ginger broilers as well that I’m thinking about crossing with my NH.

 

[imacowgirl2]

Whew that’s disgusting. Those Delawares were on my list to try. Not anymore. Thanks for sharing!

I have to admit I’m a little concerned about these New Hamps having similar weight issues.

The hen I processed around 7 months had normal looking insides and no more internal fat than the ones I just processed at 14 weeks. That being said, obviously a lot can change in 4 months. I was planning on processing one of my 7 month old roosters soon, but maybe I will just hold on to him until the end of summer and process him around 11-12 months