How do Buff Orpingtons do as meat birds?

[wsmoak]

I have a nice little flock of Buff Orpingtons (plus an extra Barred Rock hen).

I'm debating either buying some Freedom Rangers (or other meat birds) to raise, or just getting an incubator and raising more Buff Orpingtons.

One concern is that we don't need *that* much chicken. What am I going to do with 25 birds all ready at once?!

It seems (never having done it) that I could hatch six or so every X weeks and keep up with demand. Then again, maybe it *is* easier to do 25 at once and just put it all in the freezer.

Thoughts?

Thanks, -Wendy

 

[ShadyHoller]

People have strong opinions about whether it's best to raise a CX in 6-10 weeks, or a DP bird for twice that long. I would just say that if you have the patience for growing a traditional DP bird out for meat, a Buff Orpington should be a fine choice. We do Delawares or Delaware-based crosses, and they work great for us. I have thought about including some Orps in our modest meat bird project. Barred Rocks are a great DP bird.

We don't go through all that much chicken at once either, but we find it works best for our schedule to grow out a whole year's worth of meat birds and slaughter them all at once, and then put them in the freezer. In a vacuum bag, they hold up just fine and don't freezer-burn.

By doing it that way we increase our efficiency: we only have to fire up the scalding tank once, we only have to get the picnic table bloody once, we only have to go through the effort of roasting the carcasses, simmering the stock and then pressure canning it once, etc. It doesn't matter if you are doing 10 birds or 1000, it's the same amount of effort to bring the scalder to a boil, and to clean up afterward, etc. I like going through those steps just once, and getting it all over with.

(edited to fix typo)

 

[SpringChickens]

I personally would raise your own BOs, just because they're going to be much more cost effective than buying new birds (if you can hatch your own). You could even hatch twice as many as you think you want to eat, and sell the hens for a profit on craigslist. I would personally try to just give eggs to a broody hen when you get the chance, so you don't have to worry about raising the chicks yourself either.

Its up to you to decide how you want to process them. We pluck by hand, and find that if we do more than 10 or so birds a day, we are VERY sick of processing chicken by the end. We're also not extremely efficient at it - it takes us about 30-40 minutes per bird total (2 people working). ShadyHoller made a very valid point that the set-up and clean-up are the same if you do 1 bird or 100, but its worth only doing a handful at a time for us.

Good luck.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
If you think this is a true statement, I'd suggest you do some figuring on what it takes to maintain your breeding stock for 365 days a year and the amount of meat you get from their offspring. I'm not suggesting one shouldn't use DP for meat, but don't do it because you think they are more cost effective than buying chicks of a meat specific breed and feeding them out. I've done the math, and it isn't even close.
Oh, BOs make good meat birds. The only bad thing is they take a little longer than some others, at least mine do.

 

[Country Parson]

Quote:
Agreed. I have a nice little flock of dual purpose birds and have no problem culling the occasional bird for eating. The larger breeds (like my white or barred rocks) are actually nice little meat birds (certainly not the meat of a CornishX, but still nice). But, factoring in the costs the DP breeds are FAR MORE EXPENSIVE to raise, at least that's what my records show. They take considerably longer to get to weight, thus consume more feed.

CornishX are the cheapest option (though you get hit with the costs all at once. 25 meaties will go through LOTS of food in an 8-wk period of time).

 

[SpringChickens]

Quote:
If you think this is a true statement, I'd suggest you do some figuring on what it takes to maintain your breeding stock for 365 days a year and the amount of meat you get from their offspring. I'm not suggesting one shouldn't use DP for meat, but don't do it because you think they are more cost effective than buying chicks of a meat specific breed and feeding them out. I've done the math, and it isn't even close.
Oh, BOs make good meat birds. The only bad thing is they take a little longer than some others, at least mine do.

Thanks for the perspective. I think my numbers may be skewed because I free range my birds, and they actually eat very little (processed) feed total. I currently have a flock of 26 birds which go through a bag of feed ($8/50lbs) every six weeks - that's only $70/year, plus they pay for themselves well with selling eggs. By raising their chicks, I can sell the pullets at 10-12 weeks for $10 each, and eat the cockerels myself. I figure if I raise an additional 26 birds for 16 weeks, paying $11 for 50lb bag of chick starter, I only pay $33 for those 26 birds, not including potential profit on the pullets. If I ordered meat birds from somewhere else (which I have done in the past), I end up paying much more than $30 for 26 birds (CornishX) plus shipping. Then, those birds went through a lot more feed because they didn't get out and forage around like my DP birds do.

That's just my experience though, and it is probably skewed because my birds free-range as much as they do. I would be interested in the numbers you have come up with.

 

[bigredfeather]

Spring Chicken - I'm sure you're right with your calculations for your situation. I hadn't thought about those of you in a climate that allows your flock to free range the majority of the year. So let me clarify with.... it's not cost effective if you live in a climate like we have in Ohio. Sorry, I didn't intend to be condesending.

 

[Bossroo]

Location, location, location... In N California, I was able to have a flock of chickens in a hen house and very large fenced in area and have the broodies raise their chicks. Free ranging would mean heavy losses due to mostly dogs, then racoons, possums, and a rare coyote or two. In one dog attack I lost 27 hens, so I reenforced the area with a much more sturdy 6' highchain link fencing. When I did my math, I found it much cheaper ( like half due to feed costs) to just buy chicks than have the broodies hatch a few batches of chicks. However, at my neck of the woods of the "Big Valley" of California... due to very high numbers of coyotees ( I see at least 6-10 every day on my place), racoons, possums, bob cats, fox, stray dogs, dumped cats, red tailed hawks, etc. it is next to / is impossible to free range any chicken. I would be forced to build a Fort Knox and full feed them there. Therefore, if I was to hatch my own chicks, they would cost at least three times as much as the most expensive chick from any source out there. Or, my most economical option, buy 25 Cornish X chicks, raise them in a horse stall inside a steel barn for 6-8 weeks 3 times per year and I am done. In SW Washington, I see people ( about 20) raise their chickens ( from 2 to about a dozen) in a hen house and enclosed chickenwire pens of their backyards/ small acreage. They say they have very few predators to contend with. However they said that the coyote numbers are growing and some others are now starting to see losses due to them and some racoons. All, but one hatched their own, said they bought their chicks from Fisco or other feed stores.

 

[SpringChickens]

It's amazing how much location really plays into it. We're very lucky we can free range our girls the way we do, although it definitely helps that we have a red heeler who does a great job keeping the predators at bay (and there's not a huge number of predators in our area anyway). We've only lost 6 birds in the last 2.5 years to predators, and none in the last 8 months since we started having the dog sleep outside.

BigRedFeather, don't worry, I wasn't offended at all. I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to counter your argument

Everyone's situation is different. I just hope the OP is getting some benefit from our banter - differing opinions are good, right? It lets you see all the different sides to a situation

 

[SIMPleChick]

Quote:
If you think this is a true statement, I'd suggest you do some figuring on what it takes to maintain your breeding stock for 365 days a year and the amount of meat you get from their offspring. I'm not suggesting one shouldn't use DP for meat, but don't do it because you think they are more cost effective than buying chicks of a meat specific breed and feeding them out. I've done the math, and it isn't even close.
Oh, BOs make good meat birds. The only bad thing is they take a little longer than some others, at least mine do.

I would love to keep a roo to keep my little flock going but I will have to wait to move to a bigger property where I can have a rooster. Can't wait though! The little boys I have right now would be perfect but I can't keep them this year!