Transition from laying to meat

[rehdancer]

I am considering trying meat birds this year and am interested in comments about how this might be different. I currently have 8 ladies and hopefully will sell 4 of them soon. Some of the ladies are starting to act like they'd like to commence to begin to think about possibly being broody - you get my drift. Anyhoo, that got me thinking about meat birds, maybe hatching some, maybe day-old chicks. I understand about introducing new birds/chicks, separating broody hens so they can set their eggs. Just want to know about differences in keeping meat birds vs laying birds. Thanks !

 

[mandelyn]

Have you decided on which type of meat birds? The Cornish Cross will only be in chick form. I haven't seen Freedom Ranger hatching eggs but that might still be a thing.

You could do hatching eggs from a local breeder that does Dual Purpose type birds, those will get a bit bigger than hatchery birds but will need longer finish time.

If you go with a breeder, choose wisely unless you have the space to give them a good 6 months to get big enough to be worth it. Look at the parent birds for depth of body and width, they'll dress out better than any lean layer body type. Growth rate will vary widely between breed AND bloodline.

 

[rehdancer]

Haven't decided on a breed yet but you have given me lots of food for thought. I was looking more for ideas on housing (my coop is only big enough for 12 birds, I was thinking pastured or tractors) and feed. Thank you for your info !!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some of this depends on which birds you choose, Cornish X, Rangers, or dual purpose. This can affect housing and feeding and even what age you butcher which affects how you cook them. Lots of nuances, not necessarily a cleat yes-no type answer.

I only grow and process dual purpose. I've never tried the Cornish X or Rangers. I hatch my own and raise them just like the ones I keep to lay eggs. I eat pullets as well as cockerels. Mine are based on hatchery birds, not birds from breeders. Lots of nuances there. And a lot based on personal preferences.

Many people on this forum try raising Cornish X with their regular chicks the first time they raise them. From what I read on here most don't do that the second time they raise the Cornish X. I have not read that so much about the Rangers. A couple of things drive that. CX chicks pretty much eat, poop, eat, poop, drink, eat, poop. They poop a lot and make a mess. They also grow really fast so they may block the regular chicks from the food. Again there are nuances with that. Some people get the CX to forage a fair amount on pasture. Others fail at that. They use various techniques. There are threads on her about some of those. One is restricting feed to sort of force them to go forage but that can slow their growth.

I raise my dual purpose cockerels with the rest of the flock and feed them the same, which includes them foraging. Some people house the cockerels separately and feed them a higher protein diet.

If you hatch your own, what will you do with the pullets? Some people sell them, I eat mine. How important is size to you? There are only two of us and I can get two meals out of a fairly small pullet. I like larger cockerels and breed mine with that in mind, but the only practical difference to me is that I get chicken for lunch when I butcher a cockerel. For others size is extremely important. Again, personal preference.

How much freezer space do you have? With my orchard and garden it can get pretty precious around here. With Cornish X you pretty much have to butcher them when they are ready. If you wait too long they often start to die because they grow so fast. With my dual purpose I can butcher when I want, within some limits.

How do you feed them? If you buy all they eat then you want them to be efficient in converting feed to meat. You cannot beat CX for that. Mine forage a lot so I'm not under that pressure to get them butchered.

My general suggestion is to pick one, gather information on that method, then try it. See how it goes. If you are OK with it, great. If not try another method. Find what suits you best.

Good luck!

 

[rehdancer]

Some of this depends on which birds you choose, Cornish X, Rangers, or dual purpose. This can affect housing and feeding and even what age you butcher which affects how you cook them. Lots of nuances, not necessarily a cleat yes-no type answer.

I only grow and process dual purpose. I've never tried the Cornish X or Rangers. I hatch my own and raise them just like the ones I keep to lay eggs. I eat pullets as well as cockerels. Mine are based on hatchery birds, not birds from breeders. Lots of nuances there. And a lot based on personal preferences.

Many people on this forum try raising Cornish X with their regular chicks the first time they raise them. From what I read on here most don't do that the second time they raise the Cornish X. I have not read that so much about the Rangers. A couple of things drive that. CX chicks pretty much eat, poop, eat, poop, drink, eat, poop. They poop a lot and make a mess. They also grow really fast so they may block the regular chicks from the food. Again there are nuances with that. Some people get the CX to forage a fair amount on pasture. Others fail at that. They use various techniques. There are threads on her about some of those. One is restricting feed to sort of force them to go forage but that can slow their growth.

I raise my dual purpose cockerels with the rest of the flock and feed them the same, which includes them foraging. Some people house the cockerels separately and feed them a higher protein diet.

If you hatch your own, what will you do with the pullets? Some people sell them, I eat mine. How important is size to you? There are only two of us and I can get two meals out of a fairly small pullet. I like larger cockerels and breed mine with that in mind, but the only practical difference to me is that I get chicken for lunch when I butcher a cockerel. For others size is extremely important. Again, personal preference.

How much freezer space do you have? With my orchard and garden it can get pretty precious around here. With Cornish X you pretty much have to butcher them when they are ready. If you wait too long they often start to die because they grow so fast. With my dual purpose I can butcher when I want, within some limits.

How do you feed them? If you buy all they eat then you want them to be efficient in converting feed to meat. You cannot beat CX for that. Mine forage a lot so I'm not under that pressure to get them butchered.

My general suggestion is to pick one, gather information on that method, then try it. See how it goes. If you are OK with it, great. If not try another method. Find what suits you best.

Good luck!

Well, I see from your post that I need to make a list !!! I was hoping it would be simpler - silly me !!! Actually I have a mental picture, but you have given me specifics I didn't know existed, which will help with my decision-making. And yes, I would go with a hatchery, no question about that. More exploring to be done = more fun !!! Many thanks to you !

 

[nicalandia]

I am more of a Laying hens type of guy, so I keep mine hens for as many years as they are productive. So I am used to individual hens and their personalities, so its hard for me to butcher young chicks at the age of 8-12 weeks.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Don't get hatchery birds unless you are ordering meat birds- ie CornishX, Rangers, Red or Black Broilers.

"dual purpose" hatchery birds are not dual purpose. They are layers that eat too much. If you want dual purpose birds you need to source them from standard bred stock.

 

[archeryrob]

Right on with Egghead. I bought hatchery dark cornish and am very disappointed with them. I have RIR hens larger than my cornish hens and they don't have any better of a breast.

I think I found a line on some heritage barred rocks that are large and they use show roosters to increase the size of their birds and they are sustainable.

 

[rehdancer]

Thank you to all who responded !!