Raising chickens for meat

john in la · Apr 9, 2017

Have raised Cornish crosses in the past but did not like the results.
I think it defeats the purpose of raising a home flock when the bird is so fat all it does is sit there and eat.
I can get that at the store.

Have been looking at some of the slower growing crosses like Freedom Rangers because I "think" I would rather a free range bird over the so fat it can not move Cornish.

I know I will be giving up breast meat and better feed conversion by not using the Cornish.

So school me on the different meat chickens out there.
Where did you get them and how did you like the results.

Traditional Farmer · Apr 9, 2017

White Rocks used to be the old standby meat chicken.I order chicks from Murray McMurray have gotten a lot of chicks from them over the years and they've been better than
any other hatchery I've tried.

Bob Harvey · Apr 9, 2017

Again, 'used to be' a 'Barred Rock' variant the got big fast. HTH

Leroy · Apr 9, 2017

I prefer the thigh over the breast. More moist meat.

rlp in Co. · Apr 9, 2017

I like legorns the best, lean and they are the best layers.

stonerock · Apr 9, 2017

red rock island, let them lay for a year or more then butcher,good layers and good eaten not fat

CenTex Farmall · Apr 9, 2017

We did Freedom Rangers once. They dressed out darn near as good as the Cornish cross but did actually do some foraging and could walk normally. IIRC they took an extra month to finish Vs Cornish cross.

The last couple of years though we've been hatching our own from our motley collection of layers. I wound up with a couple of broody hens and I let them do the work. Takes five or six months to finish the yardbirds but I have no feed or labor in them other than closing the coop at night. Not as much meat but more flavor compared to all others.

Geo-TH,In · Apr 10, 2017

BIL'S dad would get free leghorn chickens from farm store. I saw him use a hot wire to castrate the roosters. His chickens were free range and grew very large. I asked him what happens if his surgery wasn't successful? His reply was I'll have it for supper.

A capon is a castrated cockerel (rooster).
Caponisation produces a bird prized for its tenderness, and takes the stringiness out of a cockerel's meat.
The Romans are credited with inventing the capon. They castrated roosters, which resulted in a doubling of size.

Five years ago I got a bad case of histoplasmosis, fungal infection in lungs, from helping neighbor convert a chicken coop into a hay storage. Now I don't want to get close to chickens.

Google histoplasmosis. Histo is found in chicken poo. I grew up with chickens and never heard of histo until I got it for the first time when I was 63. It can be deadly. Be careful raising chickens.

Hogleg · Apr 10, 2017

I do Freedom Rangers. Takes me around 11 weeks to get them to butcher size. They then run around 3.5 to 4 lbs processed.

John

wilson ind · Apr 10, 2017

Still talking chickens?

wilson ind · Apr 10, 2017

How is this hot wire thing done?

Leroy · Apr 11, 2017

YES, I think the breast meat is overated, I buy the thighs at the store. So loosing breast meat would not bother me.

Raising chickens for meat

john in la

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Traditional Farmer

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Bob Harvey

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Leroy

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rlp in Co.

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stonerock

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CenTex Farmall

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Geo-TH,In

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Hogleg

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wilson ind

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wilson ind

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Leroy

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