will the ross 308 broiler free range?

[unclejohn]

I will be getting 30 of these come spring time and I am wondering if i need to have them caged up or if they will free range in the grass?

Any other information on this breed? anyone have any experience?

 

[unclejohn]

anyone?

 

[unclejohn]

bump

 

[Livi]

As you probably know well by now they freerange just like other chickens. I have 8 now, ready for table in a couple of weeks. Nice and meaty and seemingly healthy and happy.

 

[unclejohn]

nice! i actually ended up getting chicks from a farmer. my birds are about the same size now, will keep the hens as egg layers and slaughter the males and my older egg layers.

 

[Silver Silkie]

If you have Cornish Cross broilers, they will pretty much get fat and sit around most of the day. I raised twenty-five last year as a 4-H project and they just sat in the coop all day. I wouldn't keep broilers for eggs, because they are most likely to die, before they are even close to five months. Because of a broiler's large size, they're tiny hearts tend to not be able to support them and they eventually have a heart attack and die. We lost two last year and that was before they were fully grown! You're best bet is to butcher all of them when they are 6-8 weeks old. If they die during a heart attack, you won't be able to eat the bird, because the meat will be contaminated with the blood.

 

[unclejohn]

I actually ended up choosing not to get the broilers after hearing about the heart attack thing. I got some black sussex crossed with red leghorn instead, from a farmer. then i hatched some of my own eggs in a homemade incubator and bought more chicks off of a farmer.

ended up buying 10 hens and 1 rooster, and then got 15 chicks from that same farmer, and hatched 7 of my own chicks in my home made bator.

 

[Bossroo]

Well Uncle ... This is coming from a person ( ME) who has raised the regular barnyard " heritage" " dual purpose" chickens for about 50 years, then switched to the CornishX . What you hear about the CornishX is mostly hogwash information from folks that have an axe to grind for large business or those that do not bother to learn how to raise a terminal x- bred bird or animal. I as well has MANY others on this forum have raised these birds by the dozens at a time and have raised them quite successfully with NO or just a few losses . ( I have raised the CornishX for over 5 years ... 25 at a time 3 times a year and to date I haven't lost a single one other than a 3 day old chick that got squished in a pile up when the power went out.) All one has to do to raise them successfully as just ask the hatchery ( not some salesperson at the feed store as MOST of them have no clue) as to the proper protocols of raising these birds, then learn and follow the directions . Those that do NOT do this , experience losses and then badmouth this TERMINAL CROSSBRED bird. The Cornish X is the most efficient converter of feed to meat AND does this in the shortest time in all of chickendom, BAR NONE ! All this translates to $$$ in your pocket and a tastey meal in your tummy. Do your own experiment and keep very good records of your costs and you will learn this fact for yourself.

 

[Zeus1803]

As you probably know well by now they freerange just like other chickens. I have 8 now, ready for table in a couple of weeks. Nice and meaty and seemingly healthy and happy.

Can I ask where you got the chicks please

 

[LaFleche]

Can I ask where you got the chicks please

@Livi has last been seen in October 2014 which makes me doubt that you will get an answer to your question.