What meat chick should i get?

[Jesusfreak101]

Just like te title my husband and i are considering getting meat bird, what do you suggest, i was thinking cornish hens but not sure after reading that they have leg problems. I realize i am going to put them in the freezer but i also dont want them to suffer when they are alive. Help me pick the right breed please thank you.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Properly managed, Cornish Cross are an excellent choice for the home-grower and are not as prone to the issues encountered under commercial management. That said, there are some things to consider in choosing which meat bird is best for you - this thread is an excellent resource:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ld-i-raise-whats-the-differences#post_5449752

 

[keesmom]

I posted this on your thread on the same subject in a different forum.

Well, what sort of meat bird are you looking for? If you want the maximum amount of meat in the least amount of time on the least amount of feed, the Cornish X is hard to beat. They are ready to butcher around 8 weeks of age and are the same breed as the commercial chicken available in grocery store. However they are susceptible to heart and leg problems. Restricting their feed to just 12 hours a day and pasturing the birds can reduce those problems.

Red and Black broilers are slower growing alternatives as are Freedom Rangers. I have raised Freedom Rangers for the past 2 years and have been happy with them. They take a little longer (12-14 weeks), do not have the same health problems as the Cornish X, and have more flavor.

Then there are the dual purpose breeds. They do not excel in either the meat or egg department. They fall in the middle with good egg production along with decent meat production. It takes much longer to grow them out for meat, and there will be far less than you would find on a Cornish X. But they make outstanding stocks, soups, stews and canned chicken.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Well they would have to stay with my egg layers we have enough room, if we need more we have two acres so we could increase their space but it would take time. I want a bird thats easy to deal with and and will taste good. I assuming any bird besides store bought will have a better taste.

 

[MorganC]

Personally, there are only two breeds to choose from, Freedom Rangers/Red Rangers and the Cornish Cross. Investing in a dual purpose breed for the purpose of meat is simply a waste of time and money. They may work in more, back-to-earth areas of the US, but for what most people think about meat birds, they simply will not do.

I agree with the earlier posts, Cornish Cross are an amazing breed! They are a hybrid (which is not necessarily a bad thing) and grow quickly. I just finished raising 70 of them (started out with 78) and didn't have a single leg problem! Lots of people have said that the Cornish no longer have any leg problems because it has been 'bred out' of them. I don't care what anybody says about breeding something out of genetics, if you are not managing the birds properly you will get all of those problems right back again! So yes, they are great if they can have plenty of space to move around (like your backyard) and are not fed too much. I just took all my birds in to the butchers and they were a little smaller than I would have liked, 5-6 pounds, but they were free range and I had them on restricted feed. But they taste wonderful!

I have a few family members that want to raise the Rangers. These birds are designed to go to a minimum of 12 weeks and are said to be better and ranging than the cross. Contrary to popular belief, this breed/these breeds ARE NOT heritage breeds. The Rangers too are hybrids. I am not real hip on taking birds to 12 weeks and when I went in to have my birds butchered a guy came in after me with 24 of them and not joke, these birds-14 weeks old- had 2" of ugly yellow fat on them. I am also not very hip on their body design, very sharp and bony and they have a huge abdominal cavity, making the Cornish look tiny. They don't fill out well and are more tough when dressed.


But......to each his own!!!

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Mm ok well if they do well i dont care lol i guess i try the cornish as i can pick them up from a local feed store. I dont mind having some dual purpose like we have but i dont want to keep that many simply because how long it take before they go to freezer camp. As of right now our eighteen hens and one rooster (he going in freezer in october hopefully if he big enough) they run around in a hundred foot(based of how a roll of fencing) by two hundred foot fenced area they mostly free range. They frogs, bugs, seeds and plenty of grass to eat i give the fuirts and veggies along with grower cumbles and scratch thats mostly grains and very little corn. As long as the meat birds can eat the same i am happy and like i said we have lots of space but i want to keep them in the already fence off section that we have. We have cows that range on part of the two acres that we have (family ranch about total 200 acres) so it be a pain between the dogs and cows to try to redue the fence line if we need to.

 

[MichaelZ13]

Cornish Cross will not have leg problems if you withhold feed 12 hours per day (overnight) and they have a little room to roam either free ranged or in a tractor. The ones I raised this year were absolutely beautiful healthy birds. And if you can pick up the chicks at the feed store, that is a plus since any that were sickly have probably already died.

 

[keesmom]

I have a few family members that want to raise the Rangers. These birds are designed to go to a minimum of 12 weeks and are said to be better and ranging than the cross. Contrary to popular belief, this breed/these breeds ARE NOT heritage breeds. The Rangers too are hybrids. I am not real hip on taking birds to 12 weeks and when I went in to have my birds butchered a guy came in after me with 24 of them and not joke, these birds-14 weeks old- had 2" of ugly yellow fat on them. I am also not very hip on their body design, very sharp and bony and they have a huge abdominal cavity, making the Cornish look tiny. They don't fill out well and are more tough when dressed.

I have raised Cornish X, Freedom Rangers and a "heritage bred" (Faverolles). Granted I have only done 60 Rangers over the past couple of years, but none of mine ever had any extra fat. And certainly none were bony or tough. All of them were well fleshed. The amount if breast meat harvested was similar to what I would get from an 8 week old Cornish X, though it has a little more chickeny flavor to it. The main difference was in the dark meat. The Rangers have longer legs. Combined with the longer growth period it resulted in more flavorful dark meat (in my opinion). I like dark meat, which is why I prefer Rangers. However this fall I wasn't in the mood to raise 25 of them so I am going with Cornish X from a local feed store. They were a good deal given they were already 10 days old. It is amazing how quickly they reach butchering age.

To the OP, true heritage breeds do take a long time to reach maturity. For most people it doesn't make sense economically to raise them for meat. I just happen to have extra cockerels and pullets from my spring hatching, along with older unproductive hens that are culled in the fall. While they do not provide a tremendous amount of meat, they do produce outstanding stock that the meat class birds cannot, and they are great canned for later use.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Thats good to know. I plan on trying the cornish as then rangers come from pa and i think the trip we would lose close to half if not more birds. We cull when or layers stop laying. And today my rooster will be culled tomorrow by myself or my husband he has no meat but i really could care less he tried to get my daughter right next to me we been very careful with her around him. And he didnt care that i was there, my husband wanted him to gain weight before we culled him but i dont have the extra money to build him a pin to get fat in so he gon
Ing to make one fine tasty chicken pot pie! I cant wait to try my own chicken my mom who allergic to chicken(we think its the hormones they put in them) she excited to try them to make sure and if she can eat these chickens she going to go hog wild.

 

[MorganC]

I have raised Cornish X, Freedom Rangers and a "heritage bred" (Faverolles). Granted I have only done 60 Rangers over the past couple of years, but none of mine ever had any extra fat. And certainly none were bony or tough. All of them were well fleshed. The amount if breast meat harvested was similar to what I would get from an 8 week old Cornish X, though it has a little more chickeny flavor to it. The main difference was in the dark meat. The Rangers have longer legs. Combined with the longer growth period it resulted in more flavorful dark meat (in my opinion). I like dark meat, which is why I prefer Rangers. However this fall I wasn't in the mood to raise 25 of them so I am going with Cornish X from a local feed store. They were a good deal given they were already 10 days old. It is amazing how quickly they reach butchering age.

To the OP, true heritage breeds do take a long time to reach maturity. For most people it doesn't make sense economically to raise them for meat. I just happen to have extra cockerels and pullets from my spring hatching, along with older unproductive hens that are culled in the fall. While they do not provide a tremendous amount of meat, they do produce outstanding stock that the meat class birds cannot, and they are great canned for later use.

I'm glad you have had success with the Rangers, as from what I have seen come through the butchers shop for the last two years I would beg to differ, but that is only what I have seen. I wouldn't say they are comparable to the Cornish but to each his own.