Saipan Jungle Fowl as meat birds?

[Farmer_Dan]

I am pretty new to raising chickens. We've raised several egg layers over the last year, but we'd like to raise some birds for meat. Lots of people seem to be warning us away from using the cornish X rock breed so I've been researching what other breeds might work.

It's a choice between Jersey Giants, Cochins, Indian game hens, or Saipan Jungle Fowls. My wife likes the look of the Saipan Jungle Fowls the best

, however, it seems nearly impossible to find a hatchery with any in stock.

Does anyone have opinions about raising Saipan Jungle Fowls for meat? Also, does anyone know where we could order a batch of them?

 

[Ariel301]

I don't know about the Saipan, but am thinking of getting a few to put in my flock next year. I'm trying to breed more gamey-ness into my birds because we have a high predator population around here and I like to free-range my chickens.

I too don't like the Cornish cross, but I warn you now that you're going to get a lot of posts on here telling you that nothing is really good for a meat bird but Cornish cross, they're not bad at all, and you shouldn't consider anything else. It happens pretty much any time someone asks about an alternative bird to the Cornish cross.

I'm sorry, but I don't want a bird that can't fend for itself, eats me out of house and home, and then drops dead the week before I am going to eat it.

Looking forward to hearing about Saipans though. I know they use them for meat in Asia. Ideal Hatchery has them, but I don't know about their current availability. They run out of chickens pretty quick, you have to make an order before they're even shipping them out sometimes if you want a specific breed. That happened to me, I wanted Welsummers and they sold out before I could order.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Ideal hatchery and Cackle Hatchery sell Saipan. However, they take a good while to mature. My hens have done great free ranging, brooding, and raising chicks. Unfortunately, dogs killed my rooster.

To me, unless you have the patience to wait, it'd be more cost efficient to raise broilers or cornish x for meat. Standard Cornish are great meat birds, but again you're looking at 5 - 6 months for a nice meaty carcass. Trust me, the ones from the hatchery are just as quick to roost high in trees as other chickens are.

 

[Bossroo]

Farmer Dan, I do believe that some "experts" are trying to sell you a bill of goods. The Cornish X is the gold standard of the meat bird industry and they are produced by the billions. So someone may just be ignorant of their facts and do require good husbandry for best results. They are different from any egg producers , so they need different management. Talk to a reputable hatchery on the best way to raise these birds and you will not even consider the wana be immitators. For the first 2-3 weeks of age full feed them 24 % protein feed, then limit their feed ... 22% protein for 12 hours then no feed for 12 hours to slow down their growth or you may experience possible leg problems or heart failure issues. They were selectively bred or over 60 years to eat and pack on muscle in the shortest time possible. They are ravenous eaters ( they eat the same amount of feed in 6 weeks as the other breeds eat in 18 weeks) so, they also produce copeous amounts of fertilizer. I have raised many different breeds for over 6 decades , then 3 years ago I came accross the Cornish X and as they say the rest is history. Now I get 4-7 pound (carcass weight) friers in 6-7 weeks where it took 18 -24 weeks for a 3 1/2 pounder for the so called dual purpose breeds . For further time comparison, I got 10-13 pound roasters in 14-16 weeks. Have fun.

 

[Farmer_Dan]

Awesome! Ideal hatchery seems to have them in stock. At least males. I don't mind waiting a little longer for the birds to mature. It's a hobby, but since the realization that the eggs are really adding a good bit to our diet, and we eat chicken all the time, I thought doing some birds for meat would be the way to go.

It may just be me pandering to the masses. Here, in Seattle, it seems like everyone is a tree-huggin-hippie. Don't want to get ousted by my fellow chicken people for raising the abomination that can't even seem to reproduce by themselves. Plus, there's the preditors, we have a sturdy coop, but it's good to have a big strong man around.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Quote:
Good luck with them, Dan! They're really neat animals, nothing like the "fluffy" layers.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Good luck with them, Dan! They're really neat animals, nothing like the "fluffy" layers.

I like the looks of the birds pictured on the hatchery adds , but in your opinions , are the hatcheries offering true Saipans ? Also , is a bird willing to fight a predator rather than fly or run really an advantage ?

 

[chix4smokin]

Farmer Dan, I raised the cornish cross and the red broiler together last spring. The cornish took half the time to raise and were so much bigger. today i got my order of 200 cornish. If you want meat its the only way to go hands down. You will lose a few but you figure that in and it's still the way to go for meat.

 

[Dogfish]

I think the OP, farmer Dan, wants to raise something that is pretty to look at, and different than the CX. Good for you, and to each their own.

Let us know your results.

I'll be sticking with the franken-birds for meat. We have 4 types of layers for our pretty bird. Those CX sure aren't pretty at 4 weeks.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Quote:
Good luck with them, Dan! They're really neat animals, nothing like the "fluffy" layers.

I like the looks of the birds pictured on the hatchery adds , but in your opinions , are the hatcheries offering true Saipans ? Also , is a bird willing to fight a predator rather than fly or run really an advantage ?

in my opinion, they are not true saipan. I'm basing this on having shared my personal experience with folks who have experince in keeping true saipan. The hatchery saipan certainly have the look of an orienal game, and occasionally you will come across one that displays the correct attitude, but the results are all over the place. Nothing constant.