The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Just had chicken dinner with our first cornish x at 7 weeks. Enough for 4 people for sure with a little extra to spare. MY GOODNESS it was DELICIOUS. YUM. 2 hours cook time and I was very happy with the results. Best I've ever had.

 

[MumsyII]

I want to play with aoxa and Trav. Here is my Blue Split pullet. Gi Gi is out of a Catdance egg I hatched in March. She is very little but a keeper.

 

[aoxa]

I want to play with aoxa and Trav. Here is my Blue Split pullet. Gi Gi is out of a Catdance egg I hatched in March. She is very little but a keeper.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Silkies really make me laugh. So adorable. Maybe some day I can have some.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I think the basic starting point is Cornish and plymoth rock cross. But you would need good genetic stock not the hatchery stock. And from anything I have read in the meat section about it you won't get the results of the hatchery crosses b/c they have been perfecting the bird lines for a loooong time. Also w/ the Cornish they can be testy to breed. There was an Okie that used to post a lot he had real Cornish and awesome ones at that, he was even attempting AI at some point, or talking about it, I think it is the short legs, but just going off memory right now.


What is the reason? More sustainable?, not have the shipping cost?, not dealing w/ hatcheries? Just curious.

It is mainly a cost thing and space thing. I don't mind dealing with the hatchery. But with the cost of shipping the price of a small batch of chicks makes it not so economical for me. I was considering the meat bird because of time and space. If I could hatch out smaller batches it would save me brooder space as well as freezer space. While I can make room during the warmer months to raise a large number of chicks, I only have so much freezer space. Then with the DP it takes a really long time for me to get them large. Since I'm not a big fan of the processing job, the more meat per bird the fewer birds I would have to process. Then I had read that the meat birds eat less food per pound of meat processed. Back to the costs.

We got the pan fry deal this year and it took a lot of space to raise the PO survivors. In a way I'm glad not everyone made it. Then they ate much more food than I expected. I had based my estimated food costs on a chart in the hatchery catalog. It must have been on the keep your chicken hungry side. Then when it came time to process, the roosters were small and very little meat was on any one bird. They did make good free ranges once they were large enough to let loose. But they did not really forage at all in their covered run. The grass is still there in abundance, even after DH broke down and mowed it. But in the end I came to realize I don't want to have large numbers of roosters at one time. And I don't want to process more than 15 in one day.

 

[bbdal]

I had to share this little blue silkie pullet with you guys. isn't she a doll? 9 weeks old I have high hopes for her.

Aoxa, My 2 yr old daughter just had to show this pic to my husband and said "Dada, I want one of these chickens. It's my favorite!" Lol!

 

[Kassaundra]

It is mainly a cost thing and space thing. I don't mind dealing with the hatchery. But with the cost of shipping the price of a small batch of chicks makes it not so economical for me. I was considering the meat bird because of time and space. If I could hatch out smaller batches it would save me brooder space as well as freezer space. While I can make room during the warmer months to raise a large number of chicks, I only have so much freezer space. Then with the DP it takes a really long time for me to get them large. Since I'm not a big fan of the processing job, the more meat per bird the fewer birds I would have to process. Then I had read that the meat birds eat less food per pound of meat processed. Back to the costs.

We got the pan fry deal this year and it took a lot of space to raise the PO survivors. In a way I'm glad not everyone made it. Then they ate much more food than I expected. I had based my estimated food costs on a chart in the hatchery catalog. It must have been on the keep your chicken hungry side. Then when it came time to process, the roosters were small and very little meat was on any one bird. They did make good free ranges once they were large enough to let loose. But they did not really forage at all in their covered run. The grass is still there in abundance, even after DH broke down and mowed it. But in the end I came to realize I don't want to have large numbers of roosters at one time. And I don't want to process more than 15 in one day.

Raising your own and adjusting your hatch rate may make it easier to do small batches, but I'm not sure it will meet your other goals. You mentioned limited space, if you raise your own you will need to keep breeding trio / quad to have the eggs to hatch. Keeping these year round will take away from your space, and add to your production costs since you will be feeding and housing them even when not needing their eggs. The food conversion benefits you get from crosses are in hitting the 8-10 week process mark, if you don't hit that mark you don't have the savings in feed. Your own home grown crosses likely will not meet that time mark. Are there any hatcheries close enough for you to pick up?

 

[MEMama3]

Do they have hatching eggs for meat birds? I was thinking of using a broody layer to hatch meat birds next year. Is that more cost effective?

 

[Kassaundra]

Do they have hatching eggs for meat birds? I was thinking of using a broody layer to hatch meat birds next year. Is that more cost effective?

Not w/ shipped eggs, if you think the PO is hard on chicks that doesn't hold a candle to eggs!

 

[MEMama3]

Not w/ shipped eggs,  if you think the PO is hard on chicks that doesn't hold a candle to eggs!

good point. Plus, I checked Meyer's after posting and their eggs are $4.11ea and they chicks are barely over $2. I wonder why that is. Seems silly to me since you won't get full hatchability.