ready to raise please help

[Chicken girl 15]

So my delimma is that I have 5 kids (3 teens and 2 rapidly growing youngens) my husband and me that I feed nightly. We love chicken in any way you can cook it. So how many cute little birdies will I need to prepare a meal? That should help me figure out how many I need to start. Any help is great, thanks in advance .

 

[chiques chicks]

If you are referring to meat birds, like the fast growing Cornish cross, think whole chicken in the supermarket. That is roughly what you will get, size wise.

Be aware that you will need to feed them and they eat a lot and will not reproduce, other slower growing breeds are needed to reproduce. Most also don't get as large.

Chicken in the supermarket on sale is cheaper than any I can grow for myself. But the difference in taste is worth it, as well as knowing what went in to them, no antibiotics, etc. I also know how they were raised.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

That's our problem as well. Chicken from the store has an odd taste and was 99% of the time raised poorly . I want to feed for the health of my family not the convenience of pre cleaned. It on average takes 2 whole chickens to feed us so maybe cx are not the best route for me. Time to replan. Maybe just add more of the WL, BA, &RIR to our bunch and do like we planned and hatch out every so often then process.

 

[Toddrick]

I don't do meat birds, but I would try and breed them myself. The breeding would be a fun project, and since you're eating the progeny you don't have to worry about culling them for any other reason. I'd get some Barred or White Plymouth Rocks, Delawares, Sussex, Cornish, and just enjoy all the constant breeding/hatching.

Here is an interesting thread for you to look at:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/184354/breeding-cornish-x-rocks

 

[chiques chicks]

I'm single and hatch regularly. Primarily orpingtons. I have no problem producing enough for myself plus extra, it just takes months to get to decent size. It's a great way to use all the extra roosters no one wants. I have a processing day followed shortly thereafter by canning day. It's rather easy to produce plenty, just plan for various age birds, perhaps every two weeks or once a month depending on freezer space.

If you decide to try CX, buying them by the 100 can reduce the price. Process 25 a week for a month, you end up with everything from fryers to roasters. And they can be raised on grass to reduce feed bills and slow growth.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

You can easily get in two batches of cornishX by late fall. With a family that size I'm sure you already have a chest freezer so plan on the # of birds each batch to how much room you've got to store them. The size of the birds will be determined by how long you let them grow. Note they can get leg problems and heart failure if left to grow too long without limiting feed. 6 weeks is usually 3.5-4 lbs dressed and it climbs fast from there. I'd not let them get bigger than 7 lbs for fear of health issues and that's about 10 weeks.

If you purchase straight run the males grow faster so can aid in spreading out the butchering for two different weekends.

 

[funnyfarmmom]

That's our problem as well. Chicken from the store has an odd taste and was 99% of the time raised poorly . I want to feed for the health of my family not the convenience of pre cleaned. It on average takes 2 whole chickens to feed us so maybe cx are not the best route for me. Time to replan. Maybe just add more of the WL, BA, &RIR to our bunch and do like we planned and hatch out every so often then process.

I have 7 kids, my oldest daughters boyfriend, my husband and myself here. It takes 2 birds at a time to feed us as well. I just started raising cornish x accidentally this spring, but Ive done 3 rounds now of about 15 birds each. I think I want to do one more set of about 30 this year and call it good til next spring. That should get us through the winter. We may not eat chicken as often as your family does though.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

If you have the space and facility's do 50 at a time.....

This assumes you have a brooder and some sort of coop. I raise a lot of chicken, 150 at a time starting in the spring and ending in the fall, I get birds every 3 weeks. They are raised in chicken tractors and the taste of these birds is incredible, the best chicken you'll ever eat incredible. Here's why I say atleast 50:

When ordering 50 you can get them for about .90 shipped each

With a family like yours you'll prolly going to eat a minimum of 4 birds a week, but prolly more.

Just because you start with 50 doesn't mean you'll end with 50, figure on 10% loss of its less than that great.

Once you process the birds you'll have enough to have chicken at your leisure, if you did 25 and you lost 5 you would run out of chicken before the next batch is ready. I've learned the hard way you don't want to have to ration yourself simply because you didn't get enough birds.

Ok so now that we have a base line, 50 birds will eat around 800lbs of feed in 7 weeks. That equates to about $5 a bird out of pocket before processing, you absolutely cannot buy food that good for that price. We have our birds processed because of state limits for about $3 each. That's $8 per bird.

If you have additional questions let me know, I'll try to answer them the best I can

 

[funnyfarmmom]

If you have the space and facility's do 50 at a time.....

This assumes you have a brooder and some sort of coop. I raise a lot of chicken, 150 at a time starting in the spring and ending in the fall, I get birds every 3 weeks. They are raised in chicken tractors and the taste of these birds is incredible, the best chicken you'll ever eat incredible. Here's why I say atleast 50:

When ordering 50 you can get them for about .90 shipped each

With a family like yours you'll prolly going to eat a minimum of 4 birds a week, but prolly more.

Just because you start with 50 doesn't mean you'll end with 50, figure on 10% loss of its less than that great.

Once you process the birds you'll have enough to have chicken at your leisure, if you did 25 and you lost 5 you would run out of chicken before the next batch is ready. I've learned the hard way you don't want to have to ration yourself simply because you didn't get enough birds.

Ok so now that we have a base line, 50 birds will eat around 800lbs of feed in 7 weeks. That equates to about $5 a bird out of pocket before processing, you absolutely cannot buy food that good for that price. We have our birds processed because of state limits for about $3 each. That's $8 per bird.

If you have additional questions let me know, I'll try to answer them the best I can

I dont mean to hijack, but would you care to share where you get them at this price? So far the cheapest Ive found is $1.35 each plus about $20 for shipping. And thats females only, males or straight run are both higher.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

I dont mean to hijack, but would you care to share where you get them at this price? So far the cheapest Ive found is $1.35 each plus about $20 for shipping. And thats females only, males or straight run are both higher.

I sent you a PM