I am thinking of buying more chickens come spring. However I do not need the customary 25 that hatcheries request. There for I am thinking of getting 15 that I would keep for eggs and get 10 or more to slaughter. Now here is the problem I have 12 egg layers I am looking to remove from the flock. But I would want to slaughter or sell these birds in the fall (to still have eggs while the new ones grow). What would be the breed I would want that I could order in the spring say march and would survive and be of a good size by September? From what I understand most meat birds would be long dead by then.
well, the wife and I are hatching some test meat birds out now to see how fast the do grow to eating size. and how much we feed them during the growth period. They are going to be pasture rasied (well backyard anyway. its not really a pasture. though they can roam wherever they want during the day.) We are doing delawares right now with a set of Jersey Giants next. Being that I am originally from New Jersey I'm partial to the bigger Giants. There is even a football team named after them. (ok so maybe only in my mind are the NY Giants who have been playing football in Medowlands stadium in East Rutherford NJ since it opened 33 years a go. And next year they are moving into the New Medowlands Stadium also in East Rutherford. Making them to my thinking the NJ Giants. and they should have a chicken for a Mascot. wow.. Real off topic there. sorry, I gotta get my coffee before I start reading the board.) good luck to you. Oh and I have some good recipies that make use of older tougher birds for when you change out your egg layers in the fall. just pm me if you need some.
Quote:Do you mean you want them good size for meat by Sept., or good size to replace older layers by Sept.? Check out Buckeyes, they might be a good breed for either way. Broilers are meant to be eaten young, slaughtered at 6-12 weeks, depending on whether you have X's or rangers. It sounds like you may be looking for a dual purpose breed, decent layers that get big enough to make a good stewing chicken, (crock pot works great) which is what they will be if they're 7 months old at slaughter, or if they've already been around as layers for about a year or so.
What about one of the sex-links? I have a Gold sex-link roo that is huge at almost 6 months (and he's pretty and sweet drat it all!!)
Quote:Basicly you have 3 types of chickens - egg layers - leghorns, sex links etc. meat birds - the cornish cross types. and dual purpose. Sounds like the dual purpose are what you are looking at - meat and eggs. They vary in size from huge down to mid sized. The larger the bird the longer it will take to mature - for egg laying and for the meat, they will eat more feed to get there. They come in all colors - I think Murray McMurray has the best catalog for pictures and sizes of the birds - email them and they will send you one. Another thing to think about if you want a self sustaning flock is look for a bird that is popular in your area. You can sell hatching eggs, chicks, laying hens etc etc. In our area Buff Orps are king, everybody knows what they are. We can put an add on Craigs list and they are gone in no time. If you try to sell a rare breed they say "huh, what is that?". Steve in NC
We are raising White Rocks. Keeping the hens, one or two roos, processing the rest of the roos. We plan on hatching and raising our own birds for food. They are 14 weeks old now, and the roos are getting quite big. They are not nearly as wide and heavy as Cornish X, but we picked up our biggest roo and are guessing he probably weighs at least 4 pounds, and they still have up to a couple months to go to fill out more. There are a couple of small runties, but most of them, including the hens, are big and healthy. We have 24 birds and one 25Kg bag of food lasts about a week and a half. Its only $13 for a bag so its not like its breaking the bank or anything. So far we are very happy with them. We don't have to worry about health problems, and they are great looking birds too with nice personalities. (Minus one bad roo who is starting to crow and bites unprovoked.) We are very much so looking forward to our first taste of fresh home raised chicken. We haven't eaten chicken in about a year and I am craving it like mad! I've got my eye on the big roo who bit me yesterday. I plan on taking pics on how they turn out so I will share more then.
Quote:You can always get 15 layers and 10 cornish crosses. The meat chickens will be a great size by Mothers Day......... Forget about waiting until September.
