I have purchased some of the meat chickens for this year. They finally had some Cornish Rocks at Tractor Supply and I took all 10 that they had. I was very pleased since 10 was exactly what I wanted. I like to buy the meat birds in 2 or 3 batches so that I don't have to butcher them all at once.
Cornish crosses or Cornish-Rocks, are specially bred for large scale, efficient meat production and grow much faster than egg laying hens or traditional dual purpose breeds. They are noted for having very fast growth rates, a high feed conversion ratio, and low levels of activity. I should be able to start butchering in 8 or 9 weeks. Though some people butcher as early as 6 weeks, I like to leave mine a bit longer.
I have been to Tractor Supply several times in the last few weeks and they have only had pullets so when I got these home today I, of course, was not really prepared. They went into the cat litter box brooder until I could fix up their real home. Where I wanted to start the chicks off this year was in the greenhouse. There are 4 small pens under the bench in the greenhouse. I left them there when we redid the greenhouse specifically for this reason--so that I could start the meat birds off in there. However, the dogs breaking into pens this year has caused me to be more cautious. I had bought more chicken wire to run around the outside of the greenhouse but hadn't actually got it put on yet so I had three sides of the greenhouse to put one run of wire on the bottom (the other side is where a larger pen is and I hope it will not need extra chicken wire on that side). Then I had to get bedding put in the pen, get the light, water and food set up.
It is finally done now and they are all settled in and seem to be comfortable. They won't be able to stay here permanently but hopefully by the time they need to move I will have the larger pen fixed as it is my last large pen.
Frugal Days Sustainable Ways
I love your chicks, I also started new birds this year, all purpose to renew my flock. barnevelders, I will have to see how they do. Love your blog have a great night.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have some barnvelders but even though I have tried to hatch barnvelder eggs a couple times, I did not get any chicks. I have had other dark layers though- marans and welsummers. I am not really into breeding birds anymore though.
DeleteWe haven't raised meat birds for several years, but hope to this year. DH built a plucker which works great. I will need to make some room in the freezer but will probably can some up as well. Have you ever had yours fall over and then die because they can't get up? I would go out and feed and all was well. Checked back in an hour and there's one on it's back, dead. I think they spar and then fall over and can't get up because their breasts are so big.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand is that when a meat bird "flips" it is heart failure. I have had just a couple do that. One was a project meat bird of mine that was over a year old. Here is some information on this:
Deletehttp://www.scribd.com/doc/4881566/Sudden-Death-Syndrome-in-Broiler-Chicken
Interesting, I have never heard of sudden death from heart failure, but it stands to reason since they grow so fast and have such huge breasts.
DeleteI think they develop extra fat around their hearts which is what causes the heart failure but I am not positive about that.
DeleteI didn't know about the type of chicken you mentioned. I'm not sure yet if we're ready to get chickens for meat, but the eggs sure are good. Thanks for the post! I obviously need to check this out a bit more.
ReplyDeleteSandi
Cornish X are the same bird you buy in your grocery store. They were bred to grow fast and produce a bird with a large breast. If you want meat for the table, you should probably start with these. There are a few others like Freedom Rangers, but I have not tried them.
DeleteWe're going to try meat birds for the first time this year! Have you been happy with the Cornish crosses?
ReplyDelete-Jaime
Well, they are "meat birds" so they do sit around, eat a lot and poop a lot but, yes, I have been happy with how fast they grow and what a nice big bird you get from them.
DeleteThose chicks look absolutely adorable! We have never specifically raised chickens for meat but when we've hatched them ourselves, if any are cockerels we'll kill them for the table - best chicken I've ever eaten! I am definately looking forward to when we have more space and can raise meat for the table!
ReplyDeletePhilippa
Hi Becky!
ReplyDeleteThis is something we hope to do this year too. We will be following your exploits with interest..
Martin :0)
How do you manage to distance yourself between the "aww chickens" and "yum, chickens!" haha?
ReplyDeleteBy the time you butcher they are not little cute chickens anymore. You are tired of the poop and tired of the feed bill.
DeleteWe used to raise meat birds when I was a kid. I loved dad bringing the box of chickens home, they would like in the lounge room under a lamp for about a week before they went outside into a brooder. Looking back its interesting that I never got attatched to them particularly, I think because there were always new chicks coming to be grown on and they were the most fun to play with.
ReplyDelete9 weeks - that's pretty quick. Have you calculated cost per pound?
ReplyDeleteI have not. To tell you the truth, I have never really been all that interested in what it cost. I am sure it is more that what it costs in the store but that never was the point for me. I know, I am rather strange, some things I do just to save money and other things I do probably cost more but I feel that the benefits far outweigh the cost. And for me the benefit of raising my own isn't just that the meat is better and I know what is in them, I also get the benefit of the experience in doing it.
DeleteAlso even though I spend more on raising meat chickens, I may save on produce because of the garden (HOPEFULLY!)so it will even out somewhere...maybe.
There is certainly value in learning to do for yourself! For me it would be about controlling the food source (even if more expensive) but I understand and appreciate your position as well.
Delete