Rhode Island Reds for meat birds

[Ridgerunner]

Our goal is to have a self sustaining homestead, well, as self sustaining as is possible.

To me, self-sustaining means "you don't spend money" as much as it means they can reproduce. That means they feed themselves or you grow their food yourself as much as possible. I grew up on a subsistence farm in East Tennessee, though dad got a factory job to get money mainly to send us to school. Even at $0.20 per day per kid for school lunch it adds up plus decent clothing and other things. Our chickens were able to feed themselves almost year round. If there was snow on the ground we fed them corn we grew ourselves. You are in Minnesota, you will be feeding them.

Dad did not have breeds, though he got some Dominique and later New Hampshire to try to improve the stock and interject genetic diversity. He had chickens that probably were at least partly from the chickens the pioneers brought with them, a barnyard mix with a lot of game chicken in them. They were small compared to what people think of meat birds but Mom could feed a family with five kids with one small hen. Chicken and Dumplings is not only comfort food, it is a great way to stretch a chicken. The individual parts served included the tradition chicken pieces you can get at Popeyes plus neck, back, gizzard, and liver. I don't know why she did not serve the heart, I eat it.

The main purpose of chickens on our subsistence farm was eggs. Eggs were a staple, eaten every day. Every egg may not have been grade A large but they were big enough. Many of the hens did lay almost every day in prime laying season. In the fall the older hens would molt and stop laying, but some of the pullets would lay throughout the winter. Egg production did dramatically drop but never totally quit.

You will read on here that today's breeds can't live like that. If you have specialty chickens like the commercial hybrid layers or the Foo Foo birds they are probably correct. The dual purpose breeds that Dad got managed. They did not reach show bird size, did not maximize what some people call their genetic potential. They were not as small as the game birds but were not a lot bigger. But they fulfilled their purpose, maintain genetic diversity and at least slightly increase the flock size.

I'd like to have up to half a dozen hens (who continue to lay somewhat over the brutal MN winter) and a rooster or two, then hatch and raise as many meat chickens as possible over the summer to butcher every fall.

Dad kept around 25 hens and 1 rooster. We did not keep track of the hen's ages so we had some older ones that were not laying well. Practically all the eggs were fertile. Since they practically cost nothing to keep keeping the older ones did not hurt.

I keep track of the ages and typically overwinter 6 to 8 hens and pullets and one rooster. I keep new pullets every year and eat the older hens to keep egg laying up. In the summer I may have as many as 50 chickens running around, most of them growing to butcher age. You could meet your goals with a half dozen hens and a good incubator.

They've previously only butchered turkeys, though, so the details of raising chickens are new to them.

It's not that much different, I've raised a few turkeys but very few. I got hatching eggs so did not keep turkeys for eggs. I consider raising chickens easier than turkeys, they are less delicate. Butchering them is basically the same. Those friends are a good resource.

 

[NatJ]

I'd like to have up to half a dozen hens (who continue to lay somewhat over the brutal MN winter) and a rooster or two, then hatch and raise as many meat chickens as possible over the summer to butcher every fall.

With that many hens, I'm guessing you could put 2-3 dozen eggs in an incubator each week. That adds up to a lot of chicks quite quickly.

If you don't mind managing chicks with a bunch of different ages, and you don't want to eat too many eggs at that time of year, that flock size can probably produce plenty of chicks to raise for meat.

So far, we supply as much feed as they like, but free range as much as possible. We also give them leftover produce and stale bread products from our kitchen. They cluck so happily when we do, and for any chickens we have, I want them to live happy lives while they are with us!

The more chickens you have, the more feed you will have to provide. Twice as many chickens usually need more than twice as much purchased feed. That is because the free ranging and the other things will be divided among more chickens, so each chicken gets less of their food from that.

 

[Geena]

I love my Rhode Island Reds

You should check with @cmom to see if she has any chicks or hatching eggs available. She has big, beautiful RIRs.

 

[bhaugh]

Skip the hatchery for true reds. There are some breeders who have taken on old lines such as the Mohawk (beautiful birds) line and kept it going. The only true way you’re going to know if this breed is right for you is to find a breeder and get some for yourself.

 

[cmom]

I still have my Reds but they are in pens with my leghorns. 7I have not separated them into breeding pens. The only birds I have hatched out so far this year are my Rhode Island Whites.