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raising chickens

M

mosi nee dave

New User
Gave away about 13 ducks all cleaned and frozen to nieces and friends this christmas it was a great hit.Thinking next year of raising a few more ducks and chickens.Processing plant is only 2 miles away so the cleaning and packaging is easy.What breed chickens and ducks are good meat breeds?Also I grind feed for steers with my own grinder so I can make my own feed .I have cob corn to grind.What else should I add to the grind recipe and what screen ?A course grind or a fine grind.
 
This is just me I would use a 3/8 screen, and add some soy bean meal to make a 12 to 15 % ration and some oats would not hurt for fiber. which the corn cob may cover.
 
Broilers are typically the best chicken for meat. Not technically a breed but that's what we call them. It only takes 8 weeks to go from chick to butchering. As far as feed goes I always used shell corn ground with a 1/4 inch or smaller screen and mixed with a poultry supplement from the local co-op to get the protein percentage up to about 20% or so. There are some slower growing breeds that will have fewer leg problems and will range more than the broilers, such as the white rock on the site below.
Hoovers Hatchery
 
On putting corn cobs in the chicken feed, before you do, I recommend you check on that with someone in the feed business or someone that has had chickens for some time. I had chickens for laying eggs years ago and can't remember ever putting cobs in chicken feed around here. I had my feed ground and mixed in town. Please ask someone who really knows.
 
You don't want the ground cob in the feed. It's just filler without much usable protein. They'll be spending too much time picking around in the feed to get to the good stuff. Jim
 
Here is a web site that will give more than you need to know about chicken feed. Growers need 20% protein or more to make wieght at 8 weeks.
http://www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html
 
Anything but leghorns. White rock, red rock, buff orpington (yes, that's actually a breed of chicken, not a character on the old "Blondie" show). Most, if not all of the "dual purpose breeds" lay brown eggs. That is a plus today. Not in my day. Brown eggs were looked down upon by society in general because they "tasted strong". Whatever that meant. Well, what it meant was that white leghorn eggs brought more money. But, leghorn hens didn't pack as much meat. We would butcher the laying flock at the end of the season and start anew with the new crop of pullets. So, meat was always a consideration. The world has turned upside down now and most everyone is clamoring for brown eggs. Personally, there's not a bit of difference.
 
My neighbor never goes 8 weeks....7 or less usually 7 1/2 to 8 weeks from start to finish..Cleaning cake out and ready for day old chicks
 
We raised Rhode Island Reds chickens and White Pekin ducks. We raised about 75 roosters for eating and about 50 pullets for laying. We ate the roosters when they about frying size and when they were a pretty good size we baked them. My brother raised the ducks and we ate them too. My brother and I found a Guinea nest full of eggs so we took some of the eggs and put the eggs under an old setting hen. You should've seen those baby guineas darting around and the old hen clucking for them. They were the best watch dogs as they would holler when anything strange was around. They roosted in the trees at night. We ate a few of them too. Hal
 
Poultry don't need the cob Don't grind the kernals to fine, they waste more. Their gizard will take care of the grinding. With oats or wheat, let it soak and ferment a little They really like that.
 
I believe the best "dual purpose" is the Black Australorp. Excellent layers of brown eggs, medium size bird, make excellent fryers or broilers.
 
White eggs are discounted in New England.Leg horns dont do well in cold climates so white eggs were shipped in and not as fresh as local eggs.People who have have never had a fresh egg think they taste funny.Brown eggs are discounted in the south.
 
(quoted from post at 17:26:42 01/02/11) White eggs are discounted in New England.Leg horns dont do well in cold climates so white eggs were shipped in and not as fresh as local eggs.People who have have never had a fresh egg think they taste funny.Brown eggs are discounted in the south.
Click to expand...

I always thought this was funny. Being from Maine eggs are almost always brown, like 7/8s of what you find in the store is brown with a few cartons white ones mixed in.

Never knew the breed was one of the reasons (there are winter hardy white eggs layers) but it makes some sense. I always thought Mainers where just stuborn. :p

Anyway, the Cornish Cross seems to be the meat bird of choice around here, you just need to be ready to butcher them when it's time or else you have leg problems.

I run some Rhode Island Reds for eggs, don't think I could eat them at this point, they've become pets.

K
 
I raise corn, and chickens also. I grind my ear corn thru a hammer mill, add flakes of alfalfa hay, and soy bean meal. They thrive on it.Dont go very heavy on the bean meal, you dont need protien poisoning! The cob has never been a problem, but my biggest screen is too small at 5/16". The cob is powder. I am ordering a larger screen 3/4" from Rubber Belting and Hose,Inc online, for my sears hammer mill. The responders here have given you the right stuff, about the Cornish birds, for meat. Dont let them get too big! Ducks I dont know a thing about,However even Rode island Reds will quit laying in the winter, unless you extend their day with a chicken house light. I use one 4' florecent shoplight, with a cheap rat shack timer, and it comes on at 4:00 pm, goes off at 9:00 pm and comes back on at 6:00 am till daylight at 8:30. The flock is still laying well and I have 25 per cent white leghorns, and the rest are Rode Island reds.
 
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