What meat chickens should I raise? What's the differences?

[AlbionWood]

Great summary!

It's not ncessarily an either/or kind of choice. We have a flock of DP birds, let some of the hens brood chicks, eat the cockerels; and we also got some CX and are letting a pair of broodies raise them. (Which is hilarious, btw, easily worth it for the entertainment value alone.) This staggers the harvest (or you could time it so it's all done at once if you like), and will give us different choices for dinner.

 

[Beckycs]

Quote:
Funny you should say that. It got to be exactly 100 degrees on Sunday when we processed 15 Cornish. We started very, very early is all I can say. But we got the job done and will have enough chicken to last a while. We have 25 fryer types still ranging and will process them in about 5 to 6 weeks. I don't think it will be any cooler when we do them either.

 

[eggscetera]

Thanks for the comparison - it's really informative. I raised meat birds this summer for the first time- 25 Freedom rangers. They're delicious. I kept a roo and three hens for hatching out chicks in the spring (i hope they make it that long). I never really did the math on how much it would take to winter these birds. We have 8 inches of snow on the ground right now so there's no forage and feed just went up to $20 for a 40# bag of 20% pellets-ouch! It might be more cost effective to just buy the chicks each spring...

 

[Bucky182]

Jeff, a great summary and very informative you did a wonderful job and it was as FOX News says "Fair and Balanced" LOL One thing I would like to add is there is a bird call the Rosambro from MT-DI haterchy which is some where between a CX and a Slower growing broiler. I have raised them and they finish out at about 10-11 weeks and mine averaged 5-6 lbs dressed. They are also an all white bird with just a few black feathers here and there.

I was wondering if you have tried these or not?

Oh and Deer season in only a couple of weeks away so you should not be too bored!

 

[flowerchild59]

Thanks to all the posters for their information. I think the OP should be stickied.

 

[anthonyjames]

Jeff,

Great post. I think everyone can tell when you are bored. You start to show up on regular basis on the site as your chores diminish. Glad to see you back. I honestly am ready for a break. I can't wait for Thursday. Last of the animals get processed. 150 turkeys.

Only thing I found is that raising the Cornish X compared to the Red Broilers/Freedom Rangers is that you can't get as many Red Broilers/Freedom Rangers through in a year as they require more time and land. That extra 3/4 weeks makes a big difference in reuse of the land if you are only working with 3 - 5 acres. I have measured out my land the way I run my birds and at it's longest point it is just over 250 yards long. In that span I can just about get 3 batches of Cornish X through on length.

For the RedBroilers/Freedom Rangers I am lucky to get 1 batch through because they do forage and eat as much and normally have to move the tractors 2 times per day.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

We are almost there as far as having free time. I have 900 chickens left to process and the turkeys. After that, I'm good! I wrote this last January though... I was really bored and the snow was up to my waist!

I had a good year this year, a lot of learning, again... but a good year.

How about yours?

 

[Oregon Blues]

Brunty Farms, that is an excellent article. Very well done.

In my opinion, the dual purpose are best suited for areas where the chickens can forage and glean a lot oft their own food for a major part of the year.

It's tricky to do a cost comparison between Cornish Cross and Dual purpose because the dual purpose also furnish eggs, which have value and can be used to feed your family.

I raise Cornish Cross because there isn't a lot of forage around here and I have no use for chicken eggs, so the eggs have no value to me. I also do not want roosters crowing. My neighbors are good sports about the poultry noise coming out of my place and I don't want to disturb the quiet any worse than I already am. Something about crowing just sets many people's teeth right on edge and it can cause hard feelings.

Different people like different things and have different goals. I'm just happy that the choices are available, so I can have the chickens I want and someone else can have the chickens they want

 

[Barred Rocker]

Thanks Jeff, you are definitely the go to person for meat birds. I'm planning to start a batch of Cx's next spring. I may be sending you a few pm's to when I do. Thanks for all the info you profide.

 

[mountainvieworchards]

Nice Thread. I have been raising dual purpose birds for a few years. There are a couple things that make the dual purpose for meat a good and sustainable choice for us. We are already involved in breeding several breeds and sell a number of products that more than cover our costs. We sell eating eggs year round, and sell hatching eggs in late winter and spring for $$, day old straight run chicks in spring and pullets year round. We chose breeds that are dual purpose and somewhat on the rare side so the hatching eggs, chicks and pullets command a good price from backyarders and fanciers. Our meat birds are sort of a byproduct of the operation. I end up with a lot of cockerels every summer, more than our family can possibly eat in one year. I end up having to grow out a large number of cockerels to 20 to 24 months to select my breeders for next year. These boys day range and forage actively. Right around this age they make excellent eating. and we get great eggs year round. I butcher a few at a time. There are downsides to this approach of course. The commitment to time of raising and breeding is not for everyone. The roosters do start harassing the hens much earlier than 24 weeks so I like to keep the cockerels separate once they start acting up. There is a lot of crowing. The processing is not as easy as Cornish cross broilers, dark pin feathers etc.

The flavor of the dual purpose breeds is excellent, I personally prefer more dark to light meat and love roasted chicken. But your buyers must be informed about the product so they don't treat it as a store bought chicken in the preparation and cooking.

I have created a demand among my friends for this delicious home grown chicken and cannot meet the demand with my casual kill a few roosters a week habit. So I am thinking of trying some of the Freedom Rangers this summer in a day range management setup. This thread has been very helpful.

Thanks

Andy