The owner of the ranch where I live talked to me yesterday about raising chickens for the freezer. She said she would buy them, I could raise them and she would find someone else to get them ready for the freezer.
Ok here are the questions,
What kind make the best?
How long do I keep them before they are ready?
Is the feed for them different from my Layers?
I am sure there are more questions, but I those are the importaint ones before I say yes.
Raising Chickens for meat
Cornish Cross. Often called broilers. Eight to twelve weeks, and yes their food is different from layers. Google Murray McMurray, or any of the top hatcheries for the particulars. If you have a buyer you can make a good profit, and theres lots of info available on the net. Good luck to you darling. Haystack
Thank you Haystack, I ordered a catalog from Murray McMurry a week ago, it should be coming in. She will pay for the chickens and the feed, I will raie them and I get a few for the freezer.
Oh I have pictures of Hay the rooster today, I will post them later.
Cornish Cross are huge meat birds that can barely stand as they mature; personally I prefer something more natural, but if you're raising these for profit I can see why you might want them. Murray McMurray will have a listing of which birds are best for meat. We usually buy straight run dual-purpose birds and eat the cockerels and keep the pullets for laying hens. They don't normally put on weight as quickly as the meat birds, though.
Our Cornish Cross didn't have any trouble standing. But, we didn't leave food out for them 24/7. We took the food away in the evening, and put it back in the morning. We also let ours roam outside and eat grass and bugs. So, they were getting exercise and not just laying in front of the feeders.
They grow fast nonetheless, and have much more meat on the carcass than non-broiler breeds.
Oh, and there's nothing "unnatural" about Cornish Cross broilers. They are a just a cross breed chicken that happens to grow very quickly with a good feed conversion rate.
I used to do cornish cross. They are excellent, much better than the laying breeds. I let mine get a little older though.15 to 20 weeks with lots of pasture. The had wonderful flavor and dressed out at 4 to 5 pounds.
I shouldn't have used those terms, and I'm sorry! I just like the old-fashioned dual-purpose birds that can sometimes set their own eggs and fend for themselves a bit. But the Cornish Crosses are very efficient at putting on weight and I'm sure they are excellent for the table as well.
Greenhouse, you did not say anything wrong, we all think and do things a little different. We all grow in grace and knowledge. Shoot I'm always learning from you guys and having to change my thinking. Thats the beauty of our friendship and differences. I love my friends keeping me straight. I have a deep appreciation of you and all the rest here. I love learning from all of you. Your top notch. Hay.
No no, nothing wrong - just was worried you maybe thought Cornish Cross were some kind of genetically modified (by human hands) chicken.