meat bird

I hatched 20 of my own eggs and came up with at least 14 cockerels. They are Production Red x Prairie Bluebell mainly, and are flighty, active, and a number of them are aggressive to each other and me. They are only 5 weeks old, and about the size of a songbird, not quite the size of a pigeon...

I'm trying to grow and process some meat chickens for the first time. Would like recommendations for which Cornish Cross strain to purchase, and from where. I've heard that different strains have different qualities. If this goes well, I'll probably do it again. If it goes poorly, I may not...

I need the high egg production from Golden Comets and White Leghorns, and was curious about other's experience concerning the fattening up (I know that they will never reach the weight and size of meat chickens) and meat of White Leghorns and Golden Comets. What is the average meat that is...

Hi all. We are starting a fibro broiler project and are looking for advice. We intend to use Svart Hona, a slightly stockier (and winter-hardy) fibro breed than the more popular Ayam Cemani; they top out at 5-7lbs, vs the Cemani 3.5-5.5lbs. However, that's adult weight, not butchering weight...

I’m starting a project line of Dark Cornish specifically for meat and would love to share the ride with y’all! Current goals are to push for early fleshing at 12 weeks first and foremost and also work towards correct type and color. I have been tossing around the idea of using some cornish cross...

We will be processing our first meatbirds in the fall (6 Cornish X from Meyer Hatchery). My fiance grew up in Europe and remembers killing the meat chickens on his grandparents' farm by chopping off the heads, so originally we just planned to do that. But the more I research, the more I'm unsure...

I just processed my first two birds. More out of necessity than planned but it has been a good learning experience for the future. The second bird had some dark spots throughout the process so I was wondering if anyone could tell me what they are and other things to look for when processing a...

Hey there, first time raising Cornish Giant meat birds. I’ve had laying hens for a year and aside from my dog killing 3 have had zero issues or illness with any. I got these chicks on April 28th, hatched the 27th. They are unvacced, on regular chick starter. Plain water, have had maybe 3 days...

Any breeders looking to sell heritage meat breed chicks or hatching eggs? Looking to start a sustainable flock from good lines. Any recommendations?

HI! Looking for opinions. We are currently building the run for our meat birds. Hubby asked me if he needs to build some sort of "box" they can go in to at night. Do the broilers need to have this type of area within their run? Please post pics of your designs.

This is just for curiosity’s sake since I can’t have chickens at the new place but maybe it will help somebody else soooo….. What’s the cheapest place to buy meat birds? Specifically Cornish Cross but also maybe ranger types? I know it probably varies some or some maybe have sales or...

My husband purchased birds at tractor supply and he bought leghorns. I think it is just a really healthy leghorn lol My husband thinks she is a meat bird now. What do you think our chicken is?

I have my brooder (water melon box) set up in the shed. I am going to try (99% chance in vain) to get my broody to care for them before turning on the light. I hate electric in the shed as it is a tender box! It is already set up and is as safe as possible, but I am just extra paranoid. I have...

Hello fellow chicken lovers. I've got some roos we need to harvest and we're still new as we've only did this once before. My husband wasn't a fan of cutting the throat because the bird was looking at him the whole time which I agree makes it difficult when we're not used to this lifestyle yet...

We have three roosters I’ve been trying to give away for over a month, and I can’t find anyone to take them. But we also don’t want them - one is a jerk, the other two aren’t the breeds we thought we were buying. And although we weren’t going to start meat birds until next year, it looks like...

This is our first time raising cornish cross. They are currently 8 weeks (today actually) and we have given a controlled amount of feed and pulled feed at night for their entire lives. They are absolutely at slaughter weight and a few are starting to have issues walking. I could not get into...

As I’ve been researching which DP to get for meat birds, I keep coming across people saying to make sure to buy from a breeder. It sounds like some hatcheries are good, but breeders (breeding for meat quality) should be better. I’ve searched on other websites and here on BYC, on Facebook and...

Hi everyone, I was scrolling through this forum trying to read up on what people thought of the taste/size/etc of the Cornish Cross chicken breed and decided to post my own results. We butchered ours at 5.5 weeks, and wow, what a range in sizes we got! Our runt was 2.5lb and Big Bertha was 4.3...

Hi All, I have a conundrum. I started a meat flock last spring with 5 hens and a rooster. They are Rangers that I held out from a batch I got in the spring. My goal is to have a self-sustaining meat flock. Everything is going fine, except for the rooster. I've never had a rooster that crows...