I think I’m going to raise meat birds this spring.
Here’s why:
- I’ve been tempted by photos and catalogues offering little chicks once too often. You’re getting those catalogues in the mailbox and photos in your news feed, too, aren’t you? Doesn’t it make you think of spring and new life and the sound of little “peeps”?
- I’ve raised turkeys from poults—my reading and conferring with other meat bird growers indicate to me that raising meat chickens is similar. They eat a lot, grow quickly, drink lots of water and don’t do much else. Well, except get rid of the food and water.
- My family and I prefer to know where the meat on our plate comes from—we like to know the farmers. And, we like chicken. Why not become the farmers that raise the chicken that ends up on our table?
- I have room to raise the little birds, shelter for older birds and time to accomplish the project before raising turkeys for Thanksgiving again. Chicks begin their stay here on our little homestead in a cardboard encircled brooder pen, under a heat lamp in our garage. If I order these chicks to arrive toward the end of April, they will be able to go into the chicken tractor by the end of May, or even a little before. The chicken tractor isn’t huge, but it will hold a dozen birds, especially since it is easily moved on a daily basis. It can be tarped off on rainy days and cool nights.
And as for time—meat birds are ready to be dispatched in about 8 weeks. Little turkeys won’t be coming here until late summer.
So, now that I am quite sure I have the knowledge, references and experience to tackle the project; the logistics of time and place worked out –what’s next?
- Deciding what breed to raise: for this first time raising chickens for meat, I’m going to order the Cornish-Rock cross birds that are bred specifically for meat. Over the years, birds I’ve raised for layers have been “dual-purpose”, and so roosters have been automatically named “Stew” and sent to the freezer. Cornish Cross grow quickly, do not develop personalities and will not be named. Read more about choosing this breed in THIS ARTICLE from Mother Earth News.
- Process them myself or send them out—ok, here it comes. I am not, nor can I be, an entirely self-sufficient homesteader. I have butchered chickens. Yes, I have—I’ve done it all from holding feed the night before, to boiling water in the morning and cutting up later in the day. I will not be butchering these birds. I will need to find a reputable local butcher before I order the birds.
- Feed. The layer hens receive organic feed pellets, along with their diet of greens and summertime yard gleanings. The turkeys received organic feed, too. These meat birds will, as well. My thoughts on this are—if I’m going to put the time into raising the birds because I want healthy birds—they are going to receive the best feed I can find. One big lesson we learned while raising turkeys was to find more than one store in the area that sells organic feed. We will start by feeding them starter, switch to grower and then end up with grower/finisher—with maybe some scratch or corn thrown in at the end.
Shelter, feed, plenty of water. What did I forget?
22 Comments
My husband and I have ordered 25 Cornish cross chicks that should be arriving in a couple of weeks. We have had laying hens for about a year and a half and want to try meat birds as well. I look forward to future posts (and advice) as we go through this process too. The hatchery that we ordered our birds through is also sending us a free exotic breed chick. It will be interesting to see what we end up with.
“I don’t eat animals and animals don’t eat me”. Melanie
Marie-France Robert,
I am with you and Melanie.
I raised Cornish cross start them out early on the range. They do well getting table scraps including meat (beef or pork) as well as food. 10-13 wks growth keeps them very tender. Good luck and enjoy eating.
Hi Meredith,
I have been raising broilers for several years. I agree, the first thing you need to do is find a butcher !! We only have one butcher in over a hundred miles that will process small runs of birds. When you find one, keep in touch with them. Let them know when you expect them to be finished, then call them several weeks ahead of time to confirm your spot. Remember, they go on vacations, get sick, & don’t have enough time in a day …. Just like the rest of us.
Also , keep your birds as clean as possible. I raise mine in a pen, & put a layer of clean straw down every day. A filthy bird can be inedible, & will not make the butcher happy either. You can also dunk them in a tub of water or gently hose them off. You should also do this to cool them down in hot weather. I am adding a mister to the pen this year.
And yes, they will crush each other. Especially in cold weather. I try not to raise them in extreme cold or heat. I try to plan it so that I start after the last frost, and avoid July & August . Also think ahead. Are you going on vacation or away for a long weekend ?? If so, do you have someone you can trust to look after them ?
Finally, all Cornish Crosses are not alike . Each supplier develops their own stock. I use Myers Poultry in PA. All in all, it is a quite satisfying endeavor. As I write this, I am making chiken soup on a cold January day. It was all worth it !! Good luck to you !!
Wow! Great advice, Rose, thank you. I was so happy that we looked around for a butcher for our turkeys before we purchased them–before that, i had no idea it would be so difficult to find one (that we wanted to take our birds to…)
thank you!
i have raised meat chickens Cornish cross for past three years. First two years I had a school bus for them to start in & lots of room fenced for them outside. Never had much leg problems as they had to climb up & down ramp to get outside for food & water & inside for night.
Last year built a 16′ x 12 shed with a 3000′ sq outside pen. Feed is about 70′ from shed, water about 20′. Lots of excersise & few leg problems.
I butcher our own, with help from family, (we do about 80) when they start to crow, around 12 – 14 weeks.
My theory is that my kids know where food comes from & how much it takes to get it, so they will be less wasteful & more appreciative.
We also have assorted egg layers & this will be first year we attempt to hatch some brown grazers from our own stock!
Did you consider growing sprouts and or fodder for them.
I raised 80 black rangers last fall. The reason I ordered 80 was because I was expecting a high mortality rate. I ended up with 78 at processing time and the 2 I had to cull before that was because of mistakes that I made. They are a very hearty breed that love to free range. I processed at 11 weeks, but could have done it a week earlier. they are delicious.
We just processed a few weeks ago… Cornish X. And I would say 8 weeks max. We fed them a non gmo diet and the last week we lost 2. We started with 26 and ended up after 8 weeks with 20.
I have raised meat and have really like doing it I also add dry milk to my feed it helps with the bones and legs. I haven’t had any go lame on me sence also put feed and water away from the bedding sight so they will not just sit and eat and drink. Good luck the meat is really good .
I made the mistake of buying 50 straight run birds. I had them in two very large totes. I then built them a 4 x 8 2feet high pen. They out grew it in 2 weeks. but they had feathers and I live in FL. They went into there coup but they don’t roost. In the day time they had a 20 x 20 covered area to walk around but they really would rather eat. I split 10 off from the 50 to try free range. They were really stupid at first. But they pick up normal chicken responses after a few days. The 40 left was processed 20 one day and 20 the next. We watched a video on YouTube. Coming from NYC I never killed an animal or butchered one. The other 10 we left live out there lives. They died one after another as they got to big to stand or had breathing problem. The last one to die was 20 lbs. My wife never wants to do it again, but I loved it. Did I fail to say that we had 24 egg layers too. Way too many eggs. we were giving them away. freezing them making items that needed eggs and eating 3 eggs every day. There was 5 of us so we put a dent in there production. The last chicken disappeared a few days ago, most likely dogs or wild animals, but he was free and lived a good life for four years.
Thanks for sharing your story! It’s good to know that they can learn to do some of the things “normal” chickens do. Do you think you will try raising chickens again?
What goes in, must come out, so be prepared for a lot more poop with these birds. They are eating pooping machines.
That’s what we found out about the turkeys we raised last year!
I don’t have advice but I can share a funny story about my experience. When I was a kid my dad raised chickens for meat. He’d always process the birds as soon as the cockerels started to crow. Many years later I decided to raise some chickens for meat and bought ten cornish chicks. I decided to follow my dad’s method and have them processed when I heard some beginning to crow.
As time went by they were eating a tremendous amount of scratch. I raised them in a pen and didn’t let them run loose but they did get my lawn clippings. One day I noticed that they looked as big as my egg hens, some even larger. Wondering what they weighed I grabbed one of the larger birds and put it on my scale. To my surprise it weighted over six pounds! I called the processor and made an appointment for the next morning. At that time they charged $1 per bird, and I considered that a bargain.
The next morning I got up a little earlier so I could drop the birds off on my way to work. I put a large box in my VW bus and began to grab, tie the legs of the birds and put them into the box. On my third trip, carrying two at a time, I found the some of the birds I’d loaded had managed to get loose and were running all over the inside of my bus. It took me awhile longer than planned but soon I was off to the processor. When I arrived at work I had to clean my messy pants and shoes.
The birds went into my freezer that night. I ended up giving them away because my wife and kids wouldn’t eat the birds they’d seen in the coop. I continued to have chickens for eggs until we moved but that was my one “meat bird” experience.
That’s a good story! Thanks for sharing!
I agree they will take longer than 8 weeks. i usually raise them to 12 or 16 weeks. These birds can have a high death rate so you need to order at least 10 percent more than you want to put in the freezer. We dropped the death rate to zero this year by switching to a brooder plate. The cornish rocks like to climb on top of each other to stay warm under heat lamps and they will crush each other. The brooder plate kept them from climbing on top of each other so we did not lose bird. You might also loose them due to leg problems or if it gets too hot outside. I try to have them process before it gets really hot in July. Heat stroke is a major problem. However, the cornish rocks do like to forage if given the chance and ours have loved munching on clover and bugs. You should restrict feed after the first 5 to 7 days to only providing feed for about 12 hours a day. This helps prevent leg problems and it encourages foraging. Also don’t feed them until a couple hours after you move the chicken tractor each day. This also encourages them to forage and move around.
Make sure you have a butcher lined up before you buy if you don’t want to process the birds yourself. Chichen processors are harder to find than people think.
I keep the chicks on the brooder in the house for only 3 to 5 days. Then I brood them outside in their chicken tractor. If it is a really cold, I cover the tractor in 6 mil plastic. I use a long extension cord and move the brooder plate with the chicken tractor. It works great.
good luck, they taste great!
This is just what I wanted to hear–good, practical, honest advice! Thank you!
I have raised cornish crisses. I would strongly not recommend choosing them. They are not birds! They don’t eat bugs, scratch or forage.
We now raise Freedom Rabgers on organic pellets, at least once a year. Yes they take longer to get to maturity, but they are more bird like. They help with bugs in the garden and they taste better.
We humanely raise and slaughter our own birds. And our own pigs and ducks.
I, too, have considered raising meat birds, but have stuck to my egg layers simply because I can’t stomach the idea of processing my own birds. I’ve done it; I don’t like it; I’ll not do it again if at all possible. I sure would like to have a freezer full of my own chickens though.
Good luck! I look forward to reading about your experience in a few months. 🙂
Just remember that the 8 week figure comes from commercial processors who raise in confinement and feed a very “Hot” ration that would probably not fit your ideal of organic. So other that being prepared for something more than 8 weeks, then good luck and good eating. I wish I lived somewhere that would allow chickens in my back yard, or I would order some myself.