Where to Get Large Birds

[Hamburg]

I would like to get a few large birds, to potentially use in meat crosses in the future. I ordered Bielefelters last year. The breed is suppose to produce 12 pound roosters. I don't think mine would go 8 pounds he is no bigger than my marans. I get it, hatcheries want to raise smaller birds for economy. I don't believe any of the hatchery posted weights. I want a few birds in the 10 to 12 pound range. Has anyone been able to get birds this size? If so where.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I got Malays which can get between 11 - 15lbs.

 

[crazychickenman007]

I have jersey giants which are supposed to be huge. They aren’t full grown yet though so I can’t really speak to it

 

[Hamburg]

I got Malays which can get between 11 - 15lbs.

Do you cross your Maylays with other birds? What is their temperament like? I don't put up with aggressive birds.

 

[Hamburg]

I have jersey giants which are supposed to be huge. They aren’t full grown yet though so I can’t really speak to it

Where did you by your Jersey Giants? If you think about it down the road, let me know what they are like when they mature.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Do you cross your Maylays with other birds? What is their temperament like? I don't put up with aggressive birds.

I'm planning on doing some crossings with them, just haven't yet.

They're bossy, not overly aggressive. They're just the pushy leader type.

 

[Hamburg]

I'm planning on doing some crossings with them, just haven't yet.

They're bossy, not overly aggressive. They're just the pushy leader type.

Thank you, I will keep your birds in mind.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Thank you, I will keep your birds in mind.

You're welcome. Sounds good.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Don't put much faith in any weights posted by hatcheries. I doubt very many of them weigh their own birds. Instead a lot of them that do post weights seem to use the SOP weights, the weights breeders shoot for when showing the birds. Those show birds are specifically bred to be that big plus they are fed a special rich diet to get them to grow that big.

Even if you fed a hatchery bird that diet, they are unlikely to reach those weights. The hatcheries are not into producing show quality birds, they are mass producing birds that somewhat look like the breeds and colors they are supposed to be. Some hatcheries are better than others. If you want the biggest birds of a breed you need to get them from a breeder that is specifically breeding for that size trait. Breeding for that is hard expensive work. If you find some of those you'll see the difference in price for the hatchery mass-produced birds versus some that a breeder put a lot of work into. The better stock you start with the better your flock will be.

One thing I've noticed with hatchery stock. If you get 15 to 20 cockerels of the same breed from a hatchery (I have) there will be a big difference in the best and the worst. I haven't tried breeder stock when they are breeding for size (I have for other reasons) but you will see some difference in them too. If you do go for a specific breed, don't just get one or two. Get a few so you can select the best to breed and eat the others. Even the rejects from a breeder's flock will probably be better than the best from a hatchery as long as that breeder is breeding for size and they know what they are doing.

I ordered Bielefelters last year. The breed is suppose to produce 12 pound roosters. I don't think mine would go 8 pounds he is no bigger than my marans.

To me breed doesn't mean that much unless you know what flock they came from, whether it is a hatchery or breeder. I don't raise Bielefelders but did a little searching online. I found a few sites that say the roosters can get to 10 to 12 pounds. I also found some that said the roosters are 7 to 9 pounds. The German SOP (where they were created) quoted 3 to 4 KG, which means 7 to 9 pounds. Maybe there is a flock out there somewhere that has Bielefelder roosters that weight 12 pounds but I think yours probably did all he could. It also sounds like you only had one. Did you get a good one or a bad one?

If you are going to go this route, talk to the people where the rooster is coming from. See if they can convince you what size to actually expect.

 

[crazychickenman007]

Where did you by your Jersey Giants? If you think about it down the road, let me know what they are like when they mature.

They’re hatchery birds so like you said I’m sure they’ll be smaller than advertised. They are much larger now though than any of my other hens were at this age. I’ll save the post and try to remember to comment in a few months to update on the progress.