[Terri]

I know of a gent who would like me to raise some meat chickens for him. He is NOT interested in the modern cornish crosses. He would like like colored chickens. He ALSO knows of 60 households of the same ethnic group who would ALSO like colored meat chickens. As an added bonus, they would like them live and they will butcher them themselves.

Here is the rub. I have NO idea how long it takes to raise a non-cornish cross to butchering size. I ALSO do not know how much feed one of those chickens would eat, so I don't know if this idea is economically feasable or not.

Has anyone here not only raised the meat chickens, but kept track of how long it took to to raise them to butchering size, and how much feed it took? Cause, inquiring minds would REALLY like to know!!!!

 

[Guest]

Hey, I'm new here but I have been raising chickens full time for the past couple of years. If you're gonna raise old fashioned chickens it takes as twice as long or longer as it does to raise the ones from the grocery store. It takes about 16 pounds of feed to raise a chicken up to 4 pounds. That is if you keep them confined. It'll be a little less if you let them out to forage for themselves. But it'll take longer to reach the same weight. However, they have to have a coop to protect them from bad weather and predators. (I've lost more to neighborhood dogs than anything else.) So that is the biggest investment from the beginning. But money can be made selling the ole timey chickens. Where I live, we have a chicken processing plant. Most of the people that work there are Mexicans and Guatamalens. They won't eat the white chickens though. They will pay 10 bucks for yardbirds. So like I said you can make money but it takes 3-5 months to get your birds big enough and you have to have a place to keep'em. I have Rhode Island Reds and they are pretty good for meat but better for eggs.
Garand

 

[Chickenguy44]

These and a whole lot more questions are answered over on the Poultry Forum. Check them out! There are a nice bunch of folks, and many have years of experience. You can get most any question you can think up answered there, if you'll just search the archives! Good Luck!

 

[Terri]

Ah, alas, I have gotten ahold of the LAST man to sell meat chickens in our area.......

Apparently, nobody wants to pay more than $3 for a rooster....

I think that this business oportunity is not for me! :waa:

 

[fin29]

Ideal sells a Black Cornish that they claim grows just slightly slower than the regular broilers. I would then assume that it would take an extra couple or three bags of feed for 50 birds. If no one wants to buy them from you, approach an Asian market about selling them. In Chinatown in Boston, a small silkie goes for $15-20 (medicinal use) and the dark-feathered meat birds are $3-4/lb.

 

[Mike in Pa]

I'd bet it was an Asian you were talking to. Just ask him what he expects to pay or shoot him a number. A lot of them seem to like it if they are fed naturally ... or so I heear. If so, it'll take a while ... maybe 14 or 16 weeks.