Meat Chickens *sigh*

[WLLady]

Oh my goodness!! I think i would go and visit someone and stay until those were gone!! ( psssst i have room lol. No richard). Although i guess the actions are actually nice for his friend....but i agree he needs to buy a farm/hobby farm. And keep his own birds and pigs THERE....
Good luck.....not sure what else to say....

[windwalkingwolf]

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

[windwalkingwolf]

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.

[LongCrow]

I would put a jersey giant rooster on 3-4 white frankenbird hens but use them for meat F1 as apposed to develop anything. Should produce a tasty tablebird.

[Ontario Chick]

I would put a jersey giant rooster on 3-4 white frankenbird hens but use them for meat F1 as apposed to develop anything. Should produce a tasty tablebird.

Totally agree on that one, avoids the whole "what if" scenario/nightmare and much more likely to get direct result, rather then watching a flock of feathered nightmares waddling about the yard

[WLLady]

I would be scared to use them for breeding-they might not make it through the act!!!

[windwalkingwolf]

ENABLERS!!!! Ok, so if I actually DO end up keeping a handful, I will blame you :D

[windwalkingwolf]

I would be scared to use them for breeding-they might not make it through the act!!!

If on a restricted diet, the hens generally weather such things better than you might think. I even had one go broody and hatch me some turkey eggs (they just crush chicken eggs). The boys however, can't find enough balance to hang on long enough to get things done, and just give up.
Even on a carefully controlled diet, however, the hens I had crapped out around the 16 month mark, started to get ascites. Frank the rooster, was 18 months old when he saw the axe, but had been purple in the face for a couple weeks. Despite his diet (at that point I wasn't feeding him at all, just whatever he could get free range), he dressed out over 11 lbs. Hands down, he was the absolute best chicken I have ever tasted, before or since,
But, raising them to that age was not enjoyable for me. Raising them at all, comparing them to my other birds that were hardy, productive for years, required minimal care, and were somewhat predator smart, the meat birds just disgusted me To my mind, there's just something WRONG with a chicken that's bred to be brain damaged, never makes it to 2 years old, and is supposed to be slaughtered while it's still a chick so people can eat tasteless, mushy, greasy white meat. Plus, kept in confinement, they stink. Running loose, they're cannon fodder for every predator.
BLECH.
But, that sensory recall of the taste of Frank (who by the way, was not tough or chewy in the slightest, but not KFC MUSH either), and some, er, encouragement from some PTO members, I'm going to go watch some meaty pullets later today, and maybe band a few to overwinter. If any makes it to spring in good health, and lays, they'll maybe have some conjugal visits with a Giant rooster.
I'm going to be VERY picky.

[windwalkingwolf]

But I'm still mad about the whole thing.
Oh, and, as of tonight, one has now broken a toe, can't walk, and so all the male fleshballs that are feeling their oats are trying to mount the poor thing. Dinner tomorrow I guess.

[Killerbunny]

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!