Talk to me about your dual purpose coop schedule

[Hedgeland Farms]

Hey everyone,
If you don't mind to share your schedule for your dual purpose coops.

This is what I am thinking.

Hatch out chicks from said coop for the freezer 1 or 2xs a yr.

Rotate the complete flock out after 2 yrs....

At the 1.5yr mark set a replacement hatch... and cull off the flock when the new flock reaches 6m (laying age)

Literally that's as far as I've gotten...

I don't want to harvest older chickens if I can help it, so it's likely that the entire flock will go to auction come time to replace.

At what age do they tend to be roasters?? We don't roast a ton of chicken so to cull my entire flock for the freezer (@2yrs)I feel would be a waste ...especially when they'd be good to lay for another 1 to 2 yrs I imagine...(barred rocks)

What do you do??
How do you manage rotation??

 

[Molpet]

That age I pressure cooked for an hour

 

[FunClucks]

I pressure cooked a year old rooster for 20 minutes and it was fine. Whole chicken, no skin, in with about 4 quarts of water and chicken soup veggies. Lovely broth and tender chicken. Tasted like BBQ beef.

 

[Sussex19]

I have no set age for culling hens.
I will cull them whenever I no longer like them, or they don't have a place in my flock.
For example, I have one hen which throws lovely chicks, so even when she doesn't lay so many eggs I will keep her, as I want to be able to hatch them.
Or, if a hen is an extra good broody, then even if she doesn't lay, that is a good enough reason to keep her.
If they don't have anything particularly good about them, then I will cull when they don't lay eggs, or, even before that if they are a good example of the breed, or fit in with my goals.
Do you have a rooster in your flock? Or in other words, will you be hatching your own replacements?
I do, and like a flock of all different ages, so would never cull them all at once. If you are going to buy all your replacements, then that might not work so well, in which case what I wouldn't work.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I have no set age for culling hens.
I will cull them whenever I no longer like them, or they don't have a place in my flock.
For example, I have one hen which throws lovely chicks, so even when she doesn't lay so many eggs I will keep her, as I want to be able to hatch them.
Or, if a hen is an extra good broody, then even if she doesn't lay, that is a good enough reason to keep her.
If they don't have anything particularly good about them, then I will cull when they don't lay eggs, or, even before that if they are a good example of the breed, or fit in with my goals.
Do you have a rooster in your flock? Or in other words, will you be hatching your own replacements?
I do, and like a flock of all different ages, so would never cull them all at once. If you are going to buy all your replacements, then that might not work so well, in which case what I wouldn't work.

Thanks...
Yes I plan to hatch my own replacements.

I think I'll just have to see how the flock developes (that's what I am taking from you)

And cull and replace as needed....

Is that kinda what you're meaning you do??


I'd like ...in a perfect world...
A harvest in spring and one in fall....

That's how I was thinking..Hatch out chicks...specifically for nugget purposes...

 

[Sussex19]

Is that kinda what you're meaning you do??

Yes, exactly.
But do remember, this is just what I do, and not necessarily what anyone else should do!

That's how I was thinking..Hatch out chicks...specifically for nugget purposes...

All my cockerel get harvested, usually around 18 to 20 weeks, although lately I have been leaving them a bit longer, up till 30 weeks or so.
They do have a slightly stronger flavor, (which I like, but other people might not) and need slow roasting, but they have so much more meat on them.
Most of the pullets stay, at least until they are laying, so I can judge how good they are.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Yes, exactly.
But do remember, this is just what I do, and not necessarily what anyone else should do!

All my cockerel get harvested, usually around 18 to 20 weeks, although lately I have been leaving them a bit longer, up till 30 weeks or so.
They do have a slightly stronger flavor, (which I like, but other people might not) and need slow roasting, but they have so much more meat on them.
Most of the pullets stay, at least until they are laying, so I can judge how good they are.

I think that's where I am struggling is the harvest of the hens....

Boys will be harvested aside from one or 2 if my current cockerel can't cover them all my girls.

When to replace the hens...

I think that'll be based on the individual ....

Itll likely be a trial and error type process for the first yr....as..obviously..ive not done this before.

I am in the process of getting Meatbird Manor up and running so that I'll have a separate pen for the ones on the chopping block...

 

[Sussex19]

I think that's where I am struggling is the harvest of the hens....

You're not alone there

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

You're not alone there

Thanks...
Eventually I'll find the "right time" to harvested a hen.

I think for me it'll be prior to laying unless I need to replace egg layers...

 

[NatJ]

This is what I am thinking.

Hatch out chicks from said coop for the freezer 1 or 2xs a yr.

Rotate the complete flock out after 2 yrs....

At the 1.5yr mark set a replacement hatch... and cull off the flock when the new flock reaches 6m (laying age)

When you hatch chicks, about half will be males and about half will be females.

So from any specific hatch, you have the option of butchering them all, or keeping some of the females to become replacement layers.

Here is a system I've done in the past and liked:
There are two coops. One is suitable for year-round use, the other is only suitable for summer use (has wire-mesh sides, which are not enough shelter for a cold & windy winter).

The main flock of hens and rooster spend their winter in the year-round coop.
When the weather gets warm in the spring, eggs go in the incubator, and the main flock moves into the summer-only coop.
When the eggs hatch, the chicks are brooded in the year-round coop.
Sometime during the summer, most of the young males get butchered, along with any pullets that have obvious problems (runt, crooked beak, etc.)
In the fall, the pullets start laying around the time the older hens start molting and the weather starts getting cold. So it's time to butcher the old rooster and the old hens, along with any extra cockerels & pullets. That leaves one cockerel and a bunch of newly-laying pullets to spend the winter in the year-round coop, and the cycle is back where it started.

Of course there are many variations you can do.
You can sell the old flock instead of butchering them & making soup.
You can replace the old flock every other year instead of every year (but then you have a time when they are molting and not laying eggs.)
You can replace half the hens each year instead of all of them (colored legbands make it easy to tell what hens are how old: just use a different color each year.)
You can hatch more than one batch of chicks each year. Either do a second batch after butchering the first batch, or divide the coop and raise them in separate sections.
You can keep the hens & rooster in the year-round coop, and raise the chicks in the summer coop (although I think the more sheltered year-round coop is better for brooding chicks.)
You can have as many extra coops as you like, if you want to raise large numbers of chicks for meat.
And of course you can eat pullets too. You don't have to save ALL of the nice ones for egg layers. But if you save the best ones for breeding, your flock will tend to get a bit better each year.