So I have decided to do Black Australorps for meat birds I have a quick Question

[AnnieSullivan]

I love them they are so pretty with the green on their feathers great pics!!! Is your rooster super noisy though? I think my husband would get pretty angry with a rooster that is constantly crowing lol

I have BA roosters and an Easter Egger roo, and the BAs are FAR quieter than the EE. That EE is really proud of his voice LOL

 

[Mygirls20]

Ya I have heard some breeds can just be horrible and noisy all the time trying to stay away from that I live in the mountains but rooster noise carries and I dont think my neighbors would be pleased with having to listen to that all the time lol

 

[crazytenn]

I have 12 Australorp chicks that are 8 weeks old and they are nowhere close to being big enough to be worth slaughtering. For the self-sustaining crowd of homesteaders these are a hard to beat breed.

 

[chicken dude]

actually i heard that there is a heritage white meat bird that grows up in about 10 weeks. u can find these at s and g poultry at there website. just google search it. it should come up.

 

[missnu01]

lol ya I figured you can never get men to shut up and prove how big they are HAHAHA what kind of pups are those missnu01? They are so cute almost look like pit pups Ya all we hear is our neighbors dogs barking so if they complain about my chickens I will complain about their dogs lol

They are husky pit mixes. We got one, those are his litter mates. And I don't really know what they are..they had the mama dog of course, but she looked like a husky German shepherd mix maybe. And of course I have to take their word on what the father was...lol Chase, our puppy has been a great dog so far.

 

[Mygirls20]

Ya I just got some chicks a few weeks back 8 weeks is way to young to slaughter they are still so tiny. I am hoping they will be ready in 4-8 more weeks?!?! Hopefully

 

[TJordan]

Lol... I've got 9 hens and 1 roo who started crowing at 5:45 am EVERY MORNING about 3 weeks ago, they are 20 weeks this Thursday so I'm looking hard for that first egg to pop up... Sadly the coop we build is WAY to small now so we are about to build a second at around 8'x8' or even 8'x12' to give them room, big yard for them to play in but my birds are kind of flighty so I'm about to have a crash course on clipping wings lol... Now my husband wants to build a meat only coop as well... Not a bad idea but he wants me to kill them when time comes lol... That big baby

 

[dj1barnes]

Started my first flock back in Sept. I got a stright run of BA from McMurry Hatchery. I processed the roos at 16 - 18 weeks, didn't have any scales but IMO they dressed out around 4 lbs. I'm in eastern KS and it got down to 4 degrees last night. The temp didn't phase them a bit. I kept 2 roos for my 14 hens for eggs and to self sustain. 1 roo started crowing about two weeks ago, and my second one a few days ago. Now the waiting game for eggs.
Here are a few pics

I also purchased 20 Black Austorlops from Mcmurry and harvested 4 roosters at 15 weeks old and they were very tough. this is my first attempt at raising meat birds. What did I do wrong?

They have a coop and free range area.

 

[eleaserek]

I also purchased 20 Black Austorlops from Mcmurry and harvested 4 roosters at 15 weeks old and they were very tough.  this is my first attempt at raising meat birds.  What did I do wrong


Did you let them "rest" after butchering for 48hrs or so? Usually in a cooler or refrigerator. It gives them time to go through the rigor mortis process.

 

[dj1barnes]

It was right about 48 hrs. As soon as we harvested them we put them in ice water after ringing them off. We then put them in the fridge in ice water in big bowls.