Thinking about starting a commercial broiler operation

[dachick]

Hello!

I am thinking about starting a commercial broiler chicken in a 3rd world country. The country imports their meat making it very expensive. I think this presents an opportunity to raise local Cornish-Rocks and sell them at a much lower price than it would cost to import all these chickens.

Now my plan is to start with 100 Straight Run and have them start laying eggs and incubate to increase by tenfold the number before I start selling them. I know that the Cornish-Rocks are raised for meat. But since I need to make them multiply, every how often can I expect them to lay eggs (once every 3 days)? How long do they take to be mature enough to start laying?

When it comes to the feed, can I make my own? This being a 3rd world country, I will not find readily available feeds so I might have to prepare my own...

Any advice will be much appreciated. I have never raised chickens so this could become a nightmare for me lol.

Much thanks!!!

 

[SoJoChickens]

Wow! That's quite the question. I am no expert on commercial production but Cornish Rocks are cross breeds (crossing White Cornish males with Plymouth Rock females for example) so they probably wouldn't make good breeding stock. I am guessing that a good breeding program could get very involved in a hurry. I ran across a couple of docs that may give you a good start but they do not include detailed information on commercial breeding programs:

http://suwanneeriveryouthfair.org/pdf_poultry/p2.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broiler

Good Luck!

 

[FrenchHen]

Being hybrid birds, they don't breed well. They also don't live long enough (usually) to breed at all. It's an interesting and intriguing idea, just make sure you really research out what you're getting into.

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

you are going to need to raise some sorta heritage chicken, not a broiler/meat bird type. They will not breed true and you will not get the same thing in the chicks.

If I was you I would start by researching and studying what you are looking to do and come up with a game plan that is well thought out, before you get yourself into a nightmare situation.

GOODLUCK

 

[deerman]

Yes to beed these you need white rock hens and white cornish males and best to AI them.

rockXcornish to rock x cornish = mutt and slower grower than any of the 3. pure white rock,cornish, or the first cross.

The pure white rock do ok but need butcher at 12 weeks not 8 week, plus white cornish male are hard to find.

 

[dachick]

Thanks a lot for your replies! So it seems that the CornishX might not be the type of chicken that I need to raise. Could anyone please provide me with a dual-purpose bird (good meat qualities and average layer)?

Much Thanks!

 

[CovenantCreek]

White Rocks, Delawares, RI Whites would all be able to give you decent laying from the pullets and good size from cockerels -- PLUS having the light colored pin feathers that aren't as visible after plucking.

There may be good reasons why there aren't any meat producers in the country, so make you sure you check into that. There may be taxes or regulations that make it actually less expensive to bring the meat in from somewhere else. Also look into the regulations regarding getting chickens and/or hatching eggs into the country.

 

[TimG]

Delawares were used in the US for broiler production in the 1940s and 1950s (before the Cornish crossed took over). But, it's not as easy as buying 100 Delawares and letting them breed. If you want to produce relatively quick growing and large birds, you will first have to work with the breeding stock within the breed to select these characteristics.

Similarly with the Cornish crosses, it is not sufficient to get a bunch of Cornish roosters and Rock hens and raise their crosses. The Cornish crosses that are commercially available come from breeding stock that has been developed for generations -- they would not look like your backyard Cornish roosters or Rock hens.

 

[jjparke]

Great idea! How about this though- buy bulk chics from a hatchery, import to wherever, raise, slaughter and sell there? Being a 3rd world country I bet you could get cheap land and labor. Good luck!

 

[wyliefarms]

What country are you planning on setting this up at?