To grow cornish hens what age do I butcher and when can I give them grower?

[bigz1983]

You could sell them as point of lay pullets at 4 months old for $10 each.
Take the money and buy chicken at the grocery store trust me you get alot more meat this way.
Rhode island reds pullets will be tiny and barely have any meat on their bones.
Trust me my wife and I butcher our extra cockerels and there's not much meat on them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have RIRs, not Cornish X. I was just thinking I could grow them to the size of a cornish and butcher young.

No, it doesn't work that way. The Cornish X have been developed by selective breeding to produce a lot of meat at a very young age and be really efficient to convert feed to meat. Their purpose is to provide a lot of inexpensive meat. There are chickens that have been developed to be really efficient at providing a lot of eggs but arem't all hat good for for meat. The RIR's are dual purpose, reasonable at producing eggs and can be used for meat but not real efficiently at either, nothing like the specialists for meat or eggs.

I raise dual purpose birds for meat. I also eat both cockerels and pullets. The pullets especially will never have a lot of meat in them. Many people only eat the cockerels and sell the pullets but that doesn't suit my goals. We are all different.

I kind of agree with NatJ, try a few different things so you gain some experience and find what is really important to you. No plans ever work out exactly as we think they will but keep asking questions as you go along and we'll try to help.

 

[The Renaissance Woman]

It is safe to feed them chick starter at any age.
Yes, you can continue to feed them chick starter until you butcher them, or until the bag is empty.

If you want to switch to grower food, the bag probably has a recommended age. You can switch at that age, or at any age after that.


If you like them tender, you can butcher at 8 weeks or so, no matter what kind of chicken you have. I'm guessing maybe 2 pounds for RIR at that age. Males will be larger than females, and different breeds (or same breed from different sources) may grow at different rates.

When you butcher them, they will look much skinnier than the "Cornish Game Hens" in the store. They have a different body shape, at all ages, so growing them longer will not change the proportions much.

The longer you raise them, the bigger they get, but they also get gradually tougher as they get older. Whether the extra meat from older birds is worth the extra feed they eat to get there, and the extra time you spend raising them, I can't say-- different people have different preferences.

This is helpful, thank you! I have thought about the older they get is it worth it for the amount of meat you get. For all that time, effort, feed, and expense, I have wondered if it would be worth it. I was thinking of butchering around the 12-week mark. Then I don't have to deal with them all summer. I have wondered if there would be much of a growth difference if I continued using chick starter to the end. I had also wondered if that would be ok for them nutritionally or if it would hurt their growth in any way? Would grower make them grow anymore?? I would prefer to use up the chick starter if it doesn't hurt their health or hinder their growth.

 

[The Renaissance Woman]

You could sell them as point of lay pullets at 4 months old for $10 each.
Take the money and buy chicken at the grocery store trust me you get alot more meat this way.
Rhode island reds pullets will be tiny and barely have any meat on their bones.
Trust me my wife and I butcher our extra cockerels and there's not much meat on them.

Smart idea. My only thing is to avoid store bought chicken which I find gives me inflammation over naturally raised chicken meat. I would never have believed it unless I saw it and experienced it for myself.

Last fall I had to butcher my two cockerels and you're right, there's not much meat on them. Well, it was ok, but they were bigger boned. I had one too many cockerels than I expected and they were starting to cause a ruckous. When I butchered the one and cooked it, it turned out a bit tough. The next one I let it season in the fridge, wrapped in parchment paper so it wouldn't dry out or sweat, for about 5-6 days, then roasted it on low heat, 325. It worked out perfect! Tender and declicious!

 

[The Renaissance Woman]

You can butcher them at any age.

If this is your first time, I would suggest you butcher them at several different ages, and see what you prefer. For example, you might start at 8 weeks and do one every week or every other week. People have widely different opinions about the "best" age, and they all have good reasons for those opinions, so it really comes down to what YOU like.

Good suggestion! I guess it is a trial and error process until I figure out what I'm happy with.

 

[NatJ]

I have wondered if there would be much of a growth difference if I continued using chick starter to the end. I had also wondered if that would be ok for them nutritionally or if it would hurt their growth in any way? Would grower make them grow anymore?? I would prefer to use up the chick starter if it doesn't hurt their health or hinder their growth.

Chick starter should be fine.

 

[3KillerBs]

I was just thinking I could grow them to the size of a cornish and butcher young.

As explained above, that just won't happen because they don't have the fast-growth genetics that have been bred into the Cornish X parent/grandparent lines for the past 50-some years.

You might find this thread interesting: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/one-cull-cockerel.1512131/

 

[CNJ]

I have wondered if there would be much of a growth difference if I continued using chick starter to the end. I had also wondered if that would be ok for them nutritionally or if it would hurt their growth in any way? Would grower make them grow anymore?? I would prefer to use up the chick starter if it doesn't hurt their health or hinder their growth.

I see two different types of chick starter at my feed store. The medicated broiler starter has a higher protein 22% than the non medicated chick starter at 15%.

My adult egg layers would prefer to eat the broiler starter rather than their egg layer pellets, but this affects the quality of their egg shells, so I limit the amount they can eat. However, you can feed medicated broiler starter to Cornish X or other meat birds all the way to butcher day.

The higher protein promotes faster growth and the amprolium drug protects the chicks from disease caused by wild birds.

Typically when we order birds from the hatchery they vaccinate the birds, so they don't need to be fed medicated food. However, if we hatch them our selves we should feed them medicated food.

The thing that bothers me with my chickens is they like to drink the stagnant muddy water leak from my above ground koi pool.. I keep fresh water dispensers full around the yard, but they still drink dirty water.

 

[NatJ]

and the amprolium drug protects the chicks from disease caused by wild birds.

Are you referring to coccidiosis? I think that is the only thing amprolium protects against, and chicks can get coccidiosis even when they have no contact with wild birds.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I process any bird around 8-10 weeks as trying to sell them...what if no one buys them? Youd be feeding them longer I just processed a 16 week old only kept it around for warmth for the other chick then weather became a problem and no one bought her so had to wait bit the younger they are the tender they are. The older the more rubbery they are for me anyways My cut off is 18-20 as meat gets dryer tasting