What are semi-super broilers?

[Buster52]

They are a 4-way hybrid. I don't know about Freedom Rangers.

The same. Four grandparent lines that produce hybrid parent lines that in turn produce the FR.

 

[taz982]

Thank you Buster52! She was using some odd terminology, and even I, someone who hasn't come within 50 ft of a chicken figured that out lol.

I think i'm flip flopping back to free rangers, just because they look cool, and I want a total variety of egg colors if i can get them. The farm near me that breeds Ameraucanas and Araucanas also has a cross breed that makes olive colored eggs. I want to see the rainbow in my egg cartons darnit! lol Though DP chickens may be more financially feasible...

 

[LilyD]

I have both Brahmas and Cochins as DP birds and they do well and are both friendly but do grow slower. I process mine between 20 and 24 weeks of age rather than 8 weeks or 16 weeks for Cornish X or Freedom Rangers. They are still very tasty though. I am experimenting with Dorkings since they are known as a meat bird but are self sustainable on their own. Right now they are just 9 weeks but are getting big. I will be breeding the ones I have this year for meaties for next year.

 

[taz982]

I will keep those in mind. Unfortunately, my fiance is apparently not big on the idea of Dual Purpose breeds. He is worried that it will take too long.

How long do you all think it would take to process 1 chicken, assuming we had not specialized equipment.

 

[LilyD]

I will keep those in mind. Unfortunately, my fiance is apparently not big on the idea of Dual Purpose breeds. He is worried that it will take too long.

How long do you all think it would take to process 1 chicken, assuming we had not specialized equipment.

For me start to fridge it takes about 30 minutes to an hour and then resting. I do one bird completely and then start the next when I am going myself. That way if I find I am running low on time or someone calls with an emergency I can stop with that bird and pick it up again later if necessary.

 

[taz982]

It sounds like people raise and butcher a bunch of chickens at once, then freeze them, instead of raising them year round and butchering them as needed. Is that how most people work?

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is seldom one right answer for all of us. We are all different. Some people raise a batch of chickens and put them all in the freezer at the same time. Some butcher as they go. That's the advantage of dual purpose, while the all-in-a-day fits the broilers pretty well. And there are all kinds of different versions in between these extremes.

I raise dual purpose and generally butcher around three at a time. That way my freezer is not full of meat if we get a power outage and I have enough room in the freezer for my vegetables. Besides, mine forage a lot so it does not cost my as much as some people to keep them alive.

There is not a right or wrong way to do it, just the way that you decide to do it.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Here is my 2 cents -

I think I will be getting Buckeyes for my dual purpose birds. Research says: Rose combs to avoid frostbite in winter, decent size, love the color (close match to my Irish Setter?), good at free-ranging, some broodiness, lay a medium-to-large cream colored egg. Check them out in the Breeds page here on BYC, very pretty birds. Hopefully, I can find some quality chicks when I am ready.

I would like to keep a dual-purpose flock, butchering chickens both as needed and as a mass cull in fall. Maybe learning to caponize if possible to extend the butchering age of the roosters so I don't have to fill the freezer with chicken, I would like to save some space for venison.

With the Cornish Cross chickens, you usually have to order them from a hatchery and there is usually a minimum number to order. Many stores only carry chicks in the spring, so you would need to buy however many you want for the year, all at once. Since they have such a limited lifespan, you don't have much choise of when to butcher them - in some cases a week or two can mean the difference between chicken in the freezer or dead birds out in the pen. If you have a source to buy just a couple of the cornish cross at a time, you could probably keep a flock of different ages - say get 4 chicks every other week. Then you would be able to keep Cornish Cross (Broilers) and just butcher a couple at a time and keep your family in fresh meat.

 

[LilyD]

Here is my 2 cents -

I think I will be getting Buckeyes for my dual purpose birds. Research says: Rose combs to avoid frostbite in winter, decent size, love the color (close match to my Irish Setter?), good at free-ranging, some broodiness, lay a medium-to-large cream colored egg. Check them out in the Breeds page here on BYC, very pretty birds. Hopefully, I can find some quality chicks when I am ready.

I would like to keep a dual-purpose flock, butchering chickens both as needed and as a mass cull in fall. Maybe learning to caponize if possible to extend the butchering age of the roosters so I don't have to fill the freezer with chicken, I would like to save some space for venison.

With the Cornish Cross chickens, you usually have to order them from a hatchery and there is usually a minimum number to order. Many stores only carry chicks in the spring, so you would need to buy however many you want for the year, all at once. Since they have such a limited lifespan, you don't have much choise of when to butcher them - in some cases a week or two can mean the difference between chicken in the freezer or dead birds out in the pen. If you have a source to buy just a couple of the cornish cross at a time, you could probably keep a flock of different ages - say get 4 chicks every other week. Then you would be able to keep Cornish Cross (Broilers) and just butcher a couple at a time and keep your family in fresh meat.

I agree that is why I switched. Even with 4 people it took us all day to process 50 roos and that did one of us for a whole year but not all. We were sharing the work between 4 families so it really wasn't workable for us. We decided to just hatch eggs from the DP birds that we keep. It's a mixed flock of Cochin, Brahma, and Delaware. The chicks came out great. We kept some of the larger hens and the boys we separated to grow out for eating. We can process 3 or 4 at a time and put them in the freezer but we don't have to do all of them at once. I also got a Silver Gray Dorking Trio. They are 9 weeks at the moment. Their size is not huge but it amazes me how hefty they feel for their size. They really are compact birds. I have two hens and a roo that I kept and I will be trying to breed them starting next spring. Hopefully they are as willing as I am. If they turn out well I think I will try to cross the roo over some of my other hens to make larger birds with big breasts. My brahmas and Dellies are amazing but they have less breast meat than a CRX hoping to cross them with the Dorking to increase their breast meat for the next generation. Oh the possibilities!!