Weight Statistics for RIR,BR,Ameraucanas

[jsmonasmith]

I have 24 chicks that I purchased from my local Feed Store. They get them from a hatchery out of Texas somewhere. I have 9 Rhode Islands, 9 Barred Rocks, and 6 Ameraucanas(Easter Eggers). I have noticed the lack of weights and statistics online so I figured I would share my results as they progress. My first weighing is today at 12 weeks of age, they were all purchased at the same time and kept together on the same feed, I let them out of the coop for most of the day starting at about 8 weeks of age. The feed is a Purina Mills Medicated Chick Starter feed. Percentages are based on the Highest weighing chicken being 100% and the percentage given being that of the average weight. Of the 24 chicks I believe I only have 1 cockerel, they were all sexed as pullets from the hatchery.

At 12 weeks the results are as follows-
RIR: Low weight-2 lbs, High weight- 2 lbs 12 oz, Average weight- 2 lbs 6.5 oz =89.5%
BR: Low weight-1 lb 13.5 oz, High weight- 2lbs 6oz(Pullets) 2 lbs 6.5 oz(only suspected Cockerel in flock), Average weight-2 lbs 4.2 oz =84%
Ameraucanas: Low weight- 2 lbs 2 oz, High weight- 2 lbs 11 oz, Average weight- 2 lbs 8.16 oz =93.5%

I notice the following about the three breeds- RIR have a very uniform build to them(like a large egg shape) and are fairly mild mannered, BR have wider and shorter build with thicker legs and tend to be more human social, Ameraucanas have tall and slightly thin build overall and are incredibly flighty and stick to their own mostly.

 

[AlbionWood]

One of our New Hampshire hens killed by a Cooper's Hawk weighed almost exactly 3 pounds and was about 12 weeks old. (And delicious!) I really want to weigh the roosters (Delawares, NH, BO), they are much larger. The New Hampshire rooster is kind of aggressive and mean, the Buff Orpingtons are placid but standoffish. The Delawares and Sussexes are going to be hard to cull though, they have great personalities.

 

[jsmonasmith]

It's time for my latest update on my chickens weight. I have noticed that they spend almost their entire day outside eating the fresh sprouts that have come up from last years weeds. They seem to only eat their feed in the morning and night and maybe once during the day(3 meals a day). I also notice that when I have to keep them penned up all day that they consume more than double the feed that they do when I let them out. (Funny story- today they tried to eat a tarantula which i rarely see around here so i saved him)

At 18 1/2 weeks the results are as follows-
RIR: Low weight-3 lbs 2 oz, High weight- 4 lbs 2 oz, Average weight- 3 lbs 10 oz =87.87%
BR: Low weight-2 lb 13 oz, High weight- 3 lbs 10 oz, Average weight-3 lbs 5 oz =80.30%
EE: Low weight-2 lbs 12 oz, High weight- 3 lbs 12 oz, Average weight- 3 lbs 6.5 oz =82.57%

Interesting note here: the average RIR weight is the same as the high for the BR, and even though my EE look way bigger than the other breeds they rank right along with the smaller BR's.
I am short one of my smallest RIR's now, we'll say that we "lost" her. But on the other hand, she was very tasty for a tiny chicken. Slaughtered weight was 1 lb 6 oz from a pullet weighing probably 2 lbs and a few oz live weight. They lose a lot of weight at slaughter when they are so scrawny.

 

[SteveH]

Thank you for the stats . I've started a breeding project with the objective of developing a self sustainable , dual purpose , meat and blue/green egg breed that will hopefully provide better stats than those EE or pure Ameraucana or Araucana for that matter

.

 

[jsmonasmith]

Good luck with your project steveH. I am working on a similar project to develop a cross of my own for the same reasons except for the blue eggs, although those may be in there too. On the side I am trying to get into purebred Dark Cornish to supplement my project with. I have found breeders but have not contacted any of them yet. I might even just ignore breeds and colors and simply select on a weight gain and egg production basis, ending up with a bunch of mangy mutts then cross in DC just for their conformity traits. I have Freedom Rangers on the list and even Cornish X if I can get them to breed before they die. I'm thinking of breeding a Dark Cornish roo with the Cornish X hens to get a mostly Cornish bird to use as blood line to cross into my layers. The exact method is undecided at the moment, but the goal is the same, to get early fat layers that taste good. Most of my experimenting won't start until spring when I get my incubator. For now I just have mediocre laying hens masked as supposed dual purpose, oh well.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Thank you for the well wishes . My first eggs are in the 'bator now , and its my first attempt at incubating . Details on several BYCer's projects here :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316007&p=28

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
Youch. Those are some painful stats.

I'm curious, what made you choose these three breeds to work with?

 

[ijon1]

Quote:
Thank you for the well wishes . My first eggs are in the 'bator now , and its my first attempt at incubating . Details on several BYCer's projects here :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316007&p=28

My test batch of Cornish x are just hatching. Two hatched strong. One has sprattle legs. I will have to cull.

 

[schmism]

I just butchered a set of large breed roos.

I should have gotten a "live weight" but processed weight on the 19 week old roo's were ~4 lbs.

BUT they have very little breast meet. Like half of what you would find on a 4 lb cornish x.

while that may appeal to some dark meet eaters, if your looking to breed/raise for public sale, you may find it more difficult to market.

 

[jsmonasmith]

I know! My weights have been very disappointing. To be entirely honest, I chose these breeds because I didn't know what I wanted to do with them. I'm just getting started out with chickens. The learning curve for me has been a steep one. Usually I obsess about things before I pursue them so I have a better handle on them, but I felt rushed to get some birds at my place before winter hit and I had to wait another year. No loss though, I'm learning a lot and I'll have some tiny chickens to put in my freezer soon. Next years project should go better now that I have a glimpse of what I want to do with them.