whats your favorite breed?

[dan_grow]

a bunch of neighbors have been asking me if they could have some of my chickens to eat and would be willing to pay so i say whats the harm of that extra money to put into my egg flock

i would like to know whats your favorite type of meaty and why?

(grammar)

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I'm doing cornish X right now, but next year will just get a batch of Delaware straight run, and eat the dudes.

 

[dan_grow]

i heard that Cornishes die easily and are prone to having fluid pockets in their breast from bacterial infections.

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Cornish X are prone to just about everything unless you limit their diet, as they do eat as much as they can - Which can cause heart problems, leg problems, body temp problems, and so on.

Me, I think simply raising them is inhumane. My personal favorites are Araucanas (real ones, not the hatchery mutts) as they get a lot of chest meat on them pretty quickly due to the lack of tail. I've never tried such - But I'd imagine real Cornish as well as other Oriental breeds would also be good, and crossing Cornish with such breeders like Buckeyes or Brahmas would be another good choice.

This winter and from there on I'm using Araucana x Marans, as Marans are a huge breed and grow at a good pace, while Araucanas have a lot of good chest and are amazing foragers.

 

[txcarl1258]

CornishX are more hardy than people give them credit for. I raised and showed them for years in 4-H and FFA. Granted they are not as "tough" as the heritage breeds, but what do you expect from a bird that matures in 8 weeks. If given a clean environment and plenty of space to move they do fine. In my 10 years of raising hundreds of birds, I only had a handful that had leg problems. The key is to make them get up and exercise their leg muscles, but you don't want them to run just walk around their yard a bit. Also they do overheat easily. You can limit their feed so they do not grow as fast and normally they are healthy birds who give you an abundance of meat in a short amount of time. One warning though is they are pooping machines! Be prepared to clean their coop A LOT.

 

[dan_grow]

thanks all

ill do a side by side experiment with some Brahmas, buckeyes, and Cornishes to see how well they do under my care and see if each breed is cost effective
after selling or just eating them my self ill try that Araucana x Maran to see how that would work out

 

[Brunty_Farms]

If your looking to see which ones are cost effective... none are going to fit the bill. Unless your neighbors want to pay around $4-6 / pound it's not worth it if you're going to do DP breeds.


I've raised thousands of CX's and can tell you that they are not the horror stories that everyone says. To be completely honest with you, I would get 10 cornish x and 15 straight run DP breeds ( just get an assortment). Raise them in the same brooder with a divider in between them. Do your research on how to raise cornish x's and you will be surprised with the outcome. *if your doing this to make money you will be really surprised*


To make money on CX's you need to charge at least $2.50-$3.00 / pound.
For heritage / DP I charge $6.00 / pound.

My breed of choice for DP would be a good line of Buckeyes. I have both CX and Buckeyes, I process both, and eat both.... so not really a biased opinion. Just being honest.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

We have tried Cornish X before and while they grow out fast etc etc I didn't like the idea of having to buy chicks over and over. They just didn't have the taste that a slow growing bird has in my opinion. Of the different breeds we raise I can give you a break down.

Marans have the best taste
Dark Cornish are solid heavy birds with alot of meat per bird and 2nd in taste
Buff Orpingtons - If you like drumsticks and thighs they are huge.
RIR have a long meaty breast
Speckled Sussex where used as a meat bird in the UK and are like the Dark Cornish
Light Sussex and Ameraucana haven't hit the table yet, we just got them last spring....I'll let you know

We had Mottled Java's and they had a good taste but they were very very slow to grow out and poor layers.

Like Jeff said if you are just looking to fill the freezer then you can't go wrong with a Cornish X. I have a friend of mine that raises them twice a year spring and fall just for the freezer and it works for them. A few months every year of raising them and done with chickens for the year.

For us we sell eggs, chicks, adult birds and we pretty much eat the culls.

Steve

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I couldn't agree more with what Steve said.... taste and texture are great... but you have to sell it to people that are used to eating Cornish x's from the store because it's not the same. Some people will over cook it and completely talk bad about it, saying it tasted like rubber. However if cooked right they are great. But just keep in mind the average person is not used to seeing or cooking a dp rooster.

 

[dan_grow]

i think the slow growers might be better for me after reading the comments because the balk of the people used to raise chickens back down in Louisiana, easter Europe, allover Africa, the middle east, one man from south east Asia (i'm not sure which country though), and my bud from Jamaica they just want a taste from back home but my problem arises not at money (their willing to pay between $20-$40 they used to pay around $40) its being able to please all theses different taste in breed.

thats why i want to try severle breeds at once or over time and see which ones they would rather have.