I was thinking of ordering from mcmurrays and getting Jumbo Cornish X Rocks. What do you raise?
Does anyone raise chickens for meat?
We did the cornish cross thing. I didn't know God could make birds that stupid. They make my turkeys look like they should be on Jepordy. They did grow extremely fast, but consumed enormous ammounts of food. I'm not sure that it was really cost effective, you need to feed them high protien food to support their growth. Their legs give out on them early from the weight and they will actually sit or lay by the food dish and eat.
We got some nice large eating chickens in 3 to 4 months, but I really feel that the flavor was lacking compaired to standard breed chickens who grow slower. Tenderness was a bit better though, but that's not that big of a deal to me unless I'm frying it. I just cook it a bit slower and longer.
I think my favorites are the large breed laying chickens.( Barred rock, buff orphingtons and such) I buy a lot of straight run chicks or hatch our own eggs and use the roosters for meat.(You will get 2/3 to 3/4 roosters to hens). I raise them on grass in a huge pen (the cronish crosses WERE easier to keep contained) so they get free range as well as feed. They are healthy and flavorfull and totaly drug and additive free.
We dip and pluck to butcher and then package with one of thoes freezer sucker things. (sorry, brain fart on the name of it) SOme packages are half chickens, some are cut up and some are whole. I make broth out of the backs and wing tips of the cut up ones. Not much goes to waste. I feel good about that.
I've gotten so I really hate it when we run out of our chicken meat and I have to buy thoes pasty, floppy things from the grocery store. ( I also feel really, really guilty eating them knowing how they were raised)
Definately think you should give it a try. Throw a turkey or two in with them while you're at it!
I raised 4 turkzillas this year. One got injured by a male wanting to mate so she was dress last weekend, the other 3 are going sunday. My mother got the idea for meat chickens in her head and wants me to raise some. Of course she is 1 hr 45min away so I get to do all the work, she is my mother so I will do it. We will be doing the dressing etc to keep cost down.
At what wieght do you slaughter them? McMurrays says roos are 3-4lbs at 6-8 weeks and hens are that 1 1/2 to 2 weeks later.
We found that they were a bit slower than that. We got them in late may and butchered in September when it cooled off. The were easily in the 3 to 4 pound range then.
We love the Cornish Rocks for meat.
Just make sure to use a grower feed.
Who cares how dumb they are...they are great eatin' birds.
That's true. It's probably better that they are dumb anyway.
I send my extra cockerels to freezer camp and tried to buy dual purpose / winter hardy breeds. Orpingtons, cochins, australorps and chanteclers.... all good eating but not as big as a "meat bird". The chanteclers had a darker meat, but quite tasty !!
We did have someone give us a couple of their Cornish rocks and definitely more meat, but can't say they tasted any better than my dual purpose birds. Am toying with the idea of raising some next spring since I didn't really plan on hatching many eggs...lol.
But we all know how that will work out, I'll end up doing both and be over run with chickens =0)
Julie
" They make my turkeys look like they should be on Jepordy. "
too funny! soundsl ike what I read at www.themodernhomestead.us the couple write for Mother Earth News and Backyard Poultry, and he once tried the Cornish cross. he has good suggestions on dual purpose breeds and free ranging, plus all the details on butchering [stuff i needed to know B$ i killed the goose!]
tf