What was your first experience with meat birds like?

[Rustywreck]

this past spring/summer was my first attempt at raising them. I ordered 20 and 19 survived.
My decision to raise them was hasty: I wasn't prepared, but knew if I put raising them off one more year I'd probably never do it.
It was a bit of a struggle at times trying to keep up with a big enough place to keep them (i was raising turkeys and layers for the first time also).
I learned a lot this first time, but it was successful enough to not only do again, but I'm planning on tripling the number of meat birds this year.

If you are uncertain and concerned about getting in over your head with 20, give 10 a try. After you raise them once you'll learn enough to raise more the next time. Raising meat chickens my not save you a lot of money compared to a grocery store, but the satisfaction you get from raising them is great.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

My experience ?

BRING FOOD. BRING MORE FOOD!! BRING WATER, BRING MORE WATER !! CLEAN LOTS OF POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP !!!
Recoice on the day the are processed and put into the freezer.

Eat them and rememer the FOOD, THE WATER. THE POOOOOOP!!

 

[Jolyn]

Quote:

I get it....water...food....and lots of poop!!! I'll be prepared!!!

Thanks everyone!!! Your posts have been very helpful!!

 

[AmazonDragon]

Did you all do cornish x?
Has anyone done black or red broilers?

 

[mhaines4102]

Quote:
ditto... DITTO!!!!!

 

[cackle]

Our first mistake was getting our birds late in the season. We had to have a light on them most of the time or at least at night because it was cold and they grew so fast they had little feathers. Then we started out with them in the side yard and that got old fast and we moved them to the pasture where the stink was far away. We did not do our pen right so it was hard to move. We added fresh shavings often to keep them warm and dry.

Would I do it again? It a heartbeat. We need to do some careful planing so the coop can be moved on a regular basis. So yes I will be ordering more come spring.

As Rustywreck said once you eat fresh home grown chickens there is no going back.

 

[minifarmer]

First time, 9 c/x in garage in the city (along with 4 eggers outside). Put off processing until the week before we were supposed to leave for Hawaii...would've put it off longer, but they were starting to crow (at 6 1/2 weeks), and the lead rooster pecked me and drew blood. 3 1/2 to 5# weights. Had to put them in the freezer long enough to forget who's who. Lesson learned: take the last 2 inside at the same time. A single chicken freaks out, bigtime! Noticeable difference in taste between mine and store bought!
2nd time raised 15 c/x (delicious!! and now my very picky sister starts eating them...I let them go 3 monthes just to see sizes achievable; 19 pound roosters and hens started laying at 14 weeks [getting a stay of execution until last month when they stopped laying...16# carcass weight and 2-2# breasts on each...Yummy!) This time ,raising 80 color range broilers from JM hatchery. If you have the room, you may want to start with these guys...very active even now (at 12 weeks). Dive in, you'll love it! Good luck! karla p.s. didn't track what they cost me to raise to those weights, probably not 'profitable', so I call it a hobby, ergo, it doesn't matter!! k

 

[bigredfeather]

I had my first batch of 23 Cornish X's dressed 2 weeks ago. I ordered 25, got 26, and had 3 die. I would suggest housing them OUTSIDE! They smell as bad as a large turkey barn that you may notice when you drive by one. I would also do them when it is warm outside. I had to keep a heat lamp on the entire time. The water froze up several times which added stress to the process. The reward was a freezer full of great meat. The average dressed weight was around 4.5 lbs each at 7 weeks. If it hadn't been so cold, I would have waited two more weeks. I have one brining right now for supper. I kept close track of what I had in them. I ended up with $1.23 per pound in them. I allowed some money for equipment and electric.

If you have the room (freezer and coop), I would go with 20-25 birds. If you get only 10 and a few die, you're not going to have much to show for it. If you're going to put the time and effort into it, you might as well make it worth while.

All in all it was a good expirience. There were days when I thought "why are you doing this?" In the end it was well worth it and I will do it again. I may try some of those colored rangers sometime. They are a little more expensive, but from what I have read here, the survival rate is much greater. I didn't lose enough of them to justify paying an additional $ .80 more per chick, but they sound like they are more like typical chickens and the everyone says the taste is a bit different.

Good luck with whatever you decide. If you have questions, the BYC is the place for answers. People here helped me along the way.

 

[carousel]

with my 7 straight run Cornish cross
I ended up with 42# of processed meat in my freezer. early November. They were processed at 9 weeks of age.
Plus feet, necks and giblets for the dogs. another 3.5#
I eat a lot of chicken and I need to double check the freezer but I think I'm out of chicken breasts! I don't want to eat store chicken any more!
I think I will try to do 10 next time - just don't have any more room for any more and feel I'm doing it "right".

 

[PurpleChicken]

My first experience with Cornish X's was poor. Mortality was high. I lost
8 of 30(approx). Cornish are stinky and sad chickens. Watching their
bodies outgrow their feathers sickened me. Never Again!!!


Now Colored Range Broilers are another story. Mortality was nothing.
They acted like chickens. They were friendly. They could actually walk
up the coop ramp. The didn't smell and they were almost as big as our
Cornish. I'm looking forward to our next batch. jmhatchery.com


We also did a fryer special from Meyers. They were $.50 each for standard
large breed roos. I probably wouldn't do it again. The feed to meat
ratio wasn't even close to the Cornish or Rangers. Heck, we still have a
few.