Ordering heritage meat birds....pullets? or st run?

emulkahi1 · #1 01/31/10, 01:11 PM

Hello all--

I am working on my chick order for this spring. Last year I ordered 75 dual purpose birds, figuring that I'd just use the roosters to stock my freezer. I did do that, but don't know that I really want to repeat that method, lol. 30-something roosters all hitting maturity at once--my GOODNESS

. It was bedlam, and that many mature roosters all at once sure did make scheduling butcher day a real emergency! There was no peace for anyone, lol. Plus, I'd like to eventually sell broilers, and I would like them to be a bit more filled out on butcher day (in other words....the roosters that I had....their hormones kicked in and turned them into terrors before they'd filled out to their relatively mature weights. So I ended up w/ rather scrawny freezer carcasses).

This year, I believe I've decided to order Dark Cornish chicks (also sometimes called "Indian Games"...NOT the cornish rock X's) for my meat birds. However, naturally I guess, the pullets are significantly more expensive than the st. run. I was wondering......is it worth the extra expense to order the pullets so I don't have bedlam on my hands as I wait for the birds to reach their mature weight? I've had trouble finding how long it actually takes these birds to reach full weight, but from bits of info I've come across here and there, I am guessing it'll be around 20+ weeks.

So, I think that my question is.....has anyone had experience w/ raising this particular breed of chicken for meat...and if so, would you consider it worth the extra expense to order pullets so you didn't have to deal w/ rooster hormones while waiting on the birds to reach butcher weight? Also, do you remember how many weeks it did take them to reach that weight?

Thanks so much for your input...

Erin

Little Quacker in OR · #2 01/31/10, 01:51 PM

What a good thing! To get even more good answers from specialists go to poultryconnection.com and click on the poultry forum. There's other forums there too like Waterfowl, Game Birds etc.

Have fun! LQ

chickenista · #3 01/31/10, 01:58 PM

I have had some Dark Cornish in my life. Do not believe the pics you will see on some of the hatchery sites or in their catalogs. Their legs aren't that long etc.
I was not as impressed with the Dark Cornish as I have been with other breeds.
They were a bit slow growing, not any extra breast meat to speak of and the hens are only marginal layers.
For us, though we have many, many birds, we have found that we enjoy the White Rocks. Or a mix of White Rocks and other dual purpose breeds.
They grow out quickly with a nice deep breast and great taste with tender flesh..
Our experience with the Dark Cornish was not very satisfactory as far as a economical and efficient meat option or for layers either.

Wisconsin Ann · #4 01/31/10, 03:01 PM

Now me...I LIKED the dark cornish. excellent foragers, very heavy (they're close feathered, so are heavier than they appear) and the girls are almost as big as the boys. (ours came from Cackle...might be that different strains grow differently). They do NOT lay well, but they are FIERCE mothers. Very good at that. Meatwise...they're about as good as anyothers. and I'd guess at 16weeks for a nice table bird.

My personal favorite for the table is the Marans tho. lots of size, nice birds, and if you order just boys, VERY cheap. (I've never had anything but the cuckoo variety, but they suit me quite well) They seem to mature a little earlier than the cornish. They are not the greatest foragers in the world tho, from what I've seen. 16weeks and a 3.5lb bird dressed weight. (quite a bit of dark meat, but the breast is nice and long..just not DEEP)

texican · #5 01/31/10, 03:07 PM

Is there a rule they all have to be butchered at the same time?

I 'can' see getting all the dirty work over at once... we had a mass slaughter a couple years ago... I really didn't like it.

I'd buy what I wanted... if it costs more, so be it.

Personally I prefer breeds that will reproduce on their own, barring that, I incubate and save re-stocking fees. (Cuckoo marans in the incubator right now)

Freeholder · #6 01/31/10, 06:25 PM

Have you considered Buckeyes? I've seen pictures of Buckeye carcasses (butchered at about sixteen to eighteen weeks old) and they looked pretty good, and they are supposed to be decent layers, too.

Kathleen

Oldcountryboy · #7 01/31/10, 08:20 PM

Start collecting small plastic barrels. Cut the bottoms out and make a door toward the bottom and make a roost inside. Then you can leg stake a rooster next to each barrel. Keep the tether somewhat short but long enough to walK around a little bit. Then when the roosters reach 3 months old you can fill your freezer or sell them.

Around here with all the Asians that we have now, a good tastey rooster will fetch $9 bucks each.

two_barking_dogs · #8 02/01/10, 10:02 AM

I raised Dark Cornish for about 5 years as our meat bird. I liked them. As stated they are much heavier then they looked and were decent foragers.

I butchered at 12 to 15 weeks but I think that at 20 weeks you might have tougher meat then I'd like.

I used to get about 4 eggs a week per hen, they layed through the winter. The eggs were smaller though then we got from the black A-Lops we currently have. We always hatched in the bator so can't talk about their mothering skills.

If I had a better ability to keep separate flocks I'd have them again for cross breeding purposes

GoldenMom · #9 02/01/10, 11:45 AM

If you are sometime planning to sell birds like these keep good track of your input costs and exactly how long it took so you can charge your customers appropriately. There's a reason Cornish X are the preferred bird for broilers (actually MANY reasons).

emulkahi1 · #10 02/13/10, 10:27 AM

Thank you, everyone! I did end up ordering straight run dark cornishes. I'll be interested to see how it turns out. It is all kinda trial and error for me at this point, so if I don't like this breed, I'll try something else next time around. I'll try to remember to let you know how it turns out (and if it once again turns into rooster bedlam before butcher weight is reached..... :P). Golden Mom--thank you for the tip about keeping good track of costs. I am learning that right now, w/ my egg operation. I feed certified organic feed, and it increases my costs, which is something I have had to make sure doesn't cause me to lose money. I've also been adding up what it would be...in feed alone....to keep these broilers until they reach the appropriate weight. Anyway, it's a learning process, so I might try the cornish x's eventually. I'm not against the idea per se, but do prefer the heritage, slower growing breeds.....

Thanks everyone, for your ideas and advice!

Erin