Meat Chickens *sigh*

[windwalkingwolf]

Hey we named our rooster Frank too. Nice boy and got tired of calling him the light brahma cross boy. We are always saying "there's a good fellow" to him because so far he's so nice soooooo with apologies to Frank Goodfellow he got his name!

My Franks' name was a take on Frankenchicken, maybe started as a slur, but ended as a gesture of affection, as Frank was always a gentle, loveable, stupid giant. I would never associate my meat chickens with Frank Goodfellow, perish the thought! That would be akin to renaming my little mouse hunter, Cream, "Ross", or calling my best rooster "Laroche". It just isn't done :)

[Skinny rooster]

Wow. *shaking my head* So, you're supposed to feed these birds too?! This is, at best, beyond taking advantage of you: it's gross abuse of your friendship, IMHO.
Do you still own that property down the road, where you used to live and had that greenhouse housing set-up for your birds? If so, is it possible to bring the meat birds there and have Doug take care of them himself? It would be a real shame if this ruins your breeding plans. Not fair to you at all.

No no, he's buying food and is paying us to care for them, and we will get a share of the meat as well :) Richard is a softie, but not THAT soft, and struck a deal. Besides, there's lots of weeds out there for them to mow. My main concern (ok, nightmare) is that they're all going to drop dead before they make it to the Abattoir. If that starts to happen, I will process them myself, but that is time I don't have to spare.
As for my breeding plans, everytime I look at the broilers, I'm tempted to try another 'project' They do NOT breed true, but the tinkerer in me wants to try some cross breeding and is almost convinced I could breed a chicken that gets almost that big, but grows a little slower so they stay healthy, longer. The excited optimist in me says I could do it in 5 generations or less (last time I tried, I quit at F1). The realist in me says I have enough projects and no time to make room for another, and do I really want to nurse mutant freaks of nature through breeding age? No I don't. But now everytime I look at them, a little voice whispers "what if...maybe just a handful...that EE rooster would make a great match..."
I don't need meat birds, I have my Giants for that. They're my only project/breed where the culls all hit the freezer, do not pass GO, but they take forEVER to put meat on, even confined. The little voice in my head wants to find out if I could get a meat bird that does it in 1/3 the time, with fewer of the health issues associated with the Cornish/Rock.
I don't need to reinvent the wheel, but everytime I look at the 800lbs of white meat in my yard, I kind of want to try
I should have my head examined lol

So a guy near me tried using a Chantecler rooster on meatbird hens. The results were really good, he said the chicks were stronger and grew well enough to the point he often couldn't tell the difference between his chicks and the pure ones he bought.

[Skinny rooster]

Ugh pigs, yuck yuck yucky yuck! Nooooo to pigs, I would rather have goats that climb on my roof and eat the shingles off than a pig! Pigs eat chickens, filthy filthy evil creatures, or maybe I am being too harsh lol.

Hahaha, we already have pigs, including two that were raised in the house until they got powerful enough to rearrange the furniture. With a wood stove, I've learned that pigs can push it across the floor at about 75 lbs., a potentially dangerous situation! Hank is 700 lbs plus of pure muscle. He could flip a car over, and he would too, just for fun. He pooh-poohs electric fences and eats 3 x 7 hemlock planks for lunch, and can be vindictive so unfortunately must stay confined. Hamlet on the other hand, is a gentle giant that nuzzles rather than shoves, and is allowed to wander wherever he wants. He's never eaten a bird, though his mother did, every chance she got.
If kept on pasture (or housebroken) they don't stink, and I actually enjoy their personalities.

Lol, so were you trying to change my mind by telling me a story about a 700 pound, plank eating, car flipping, vindictive pig??? Cause it didn't work!

[windwalkingwolf]

He's only cranky when he's not getting his armpits scratched :)

[Jaye]

[Ontario Chick]

So do you actually have a firm date on the processing, or is the guy just stringing you along and one day will stop answering your calls?

[Epona]

Can't believe they are surviving this wicked heat......they usually drop dead pretty quick on a hot one....or is that only mine that do that trick :)

[Killerbunny]

May need to borrow a small pig to root the garden!