The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: bloomer on September 20, 2010, 05:58:04 pm
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Advice please all you lovely people
Our adventures with egg laying chickens are going well, we're not getting the production we hoped for yet but we have 6 friendly birds that the kids are enjoying taking care of we are already planning on expanding the laying flock in the spring.
We are also thinking about birds for the table, but i need more info on these to help me decide whether they are a viable option for us, whats the best age to get birds for the table at? Am i right in thinking they are best not fully free ranging so they grow faster?
Am i right they are best kept seperate to the laying flock?
We'd be looking at doing 6 at a time probably as otherwise we'll need a bigger freezer!!!
Any help and advice greatly recieved!
Also does anyone know of a good supplier in the midlands (coventry area ideally) for meat chicks.
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Yes, I'm having the same questions: which bird, how long etc. A part of our garden is ruined because of having a greenhouse on there all summer, but there's no grass seed to be found anywhere so I can just as well have chickens on it for the coming few months :D
I don't really like the idea of meat birds that can't stand on their legs anymore if they're over 20 weeks old - can anyone recommend a good hybrid?
Eve :wave:
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I keep my cockerels separate from the layers and pullets because they need different feeding. They are in a smaller area but that is through lack of space really.
I don't buy hybrid chicks but have good results from my own hatched Light Sussex and Buff Orpingtons.
The only advantage of hybrid birds is that they are designed to grow faster on less grub, but I think you lose out on flavour.
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so at what age would light sussex or buff O boys fed on growers pellets be ready for the table?
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(http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h117/castlefarmpoultry/Welsh%20Black/Dressed003.jpg)
(http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h117/castlefarmpoultry/Indian%20Game/Dec6th176.jpg)
I have been producing my own tablebirds for a good many years and have tried them all in my time.
To save having to write it all out again on here have a look on my website there is a bit about tablebird breeding and production on there.
The bird in the photograph is a Welsh Black x Welsh Black. The Oven ready is a Welsh Black dressed at 7lbs free-range 28 weeks on a grain diet.
www.castlefarmeggs.co.uk
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7lbs... are supermarket chickens killed at an earlier age or are they just a smaller (fast-growing less flavourful?) breed?
Think I might need a bigger roasting tin :D
Eve :wave:
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as i understand it most supermarket birds are killed at 6 weeks...
part of my reason for wanting to bring on my own table birds is the flavour of supermarket chicken just isn't there.
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6 weeks? Blimey!
Same here with the taste - and with 7lbs birds we'll have meat for a few days of just the one animal, so the whole it's-so-much-work-for-1-dinner argument is put to rest! :yum:
I've ordered a few books of amazon and have been trawling the internet, too - can't wait, now!
Eve :wave:
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We got 12 Hubbard day olds last night. They will be ready to kill at about 12 weeks. I paid £1.50 per bird. This tme I'm going to keep a note of inputs. The Hubbard is a hybrid; we raise them in a pen outside (once they are feathered) but not a huge pen, but they are on grass. We've had them before and the flavour has been very good.
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Rosemary, what weight are these birds approx when ready? 12 weeks in a smallish pen sounds good, as I'm the kind of person who likes to do a small scale trial run first - we can try those big 7lbs afterwards, hubby got all dreamy-eyed when he saw those! :yum:
And after 12 weeks our lawn still has enough time to recover next spring ;D
Eve :wave:
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so at what age would light sussex or buff O boys fed on growers pellets be ready for the table?
I kill the first ones at 20 weeks and keep the rest for another couple of months, they have the best flavour.
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Castle Farm, they look seriously good birds. Whereabouts are you and do you sell hatching eggs?
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Just seen that you are in Hay-on-Wye, if you have some hatching eggs I will collect.
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Hi there, i've kept table birds 4 two years now this is how i do it.
I buy in 25 birds at 2/3 weeks off heat coz i dont have heat facilities, costs vary hubbards £1.49 each and cornish game cross £2.45 each and French sasso £2.00 each.
I keep them in a house on stilts and in an enclosure 10x5 metres grassed with gooseberry bushes and a large tree.
I have a chap come to despatch and dress the birds ready for the oven, this costs £3 per bird.
I kill the cockerals at around 10/11 weeks and the hens at 13/14 weeks, they are super tasty and each breed is slighty different in taste bloody beautiful, nothing like the tastless supermarket rubbish thats injected with water, yuck!
Hope this helps
Shell from Cornwall. :chook:
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Just seen that you are in Hay-on-Wye, if you have some hatching eggs I will collect.
Bit late for hatching eggs, but I have loads of growers available.
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I've got a laying flock of light sussex and marans who are kept with a light sussex cockerel. I hatch about 10 chickens at a time and start eating them at anything from 10-20 weeks, depending on whim and current stoxk in the freezer - I found the first lot got eaten early due to my enthusiasm to start trying them out. As we've got better at managing the cycle, I now hold off til the freezer is empty and we get a bigger and better bird. Although, I start with the cockerels as I'm always a bit worried about them going tough if left too long.
I think our maran crosses are tastier than the pure light sussex but both are far better than supermarket stuff!
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I did 10 white farm rangers in the middle of the year. Never again, though they had a rather cosy life and so on, it was just so unatural, Im rather new to keeping chickens, But know I will never have them again. Even though they were much better tasting than a super market bird. After about 15 16 weeks I felt that life quality was poor, I ended up giving them out to freinds, as I couldnt eat them all at once. Im going for marans now. Beleive they make a great dual purpose bird.
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woodlandproducts - what was wrong with the white farm rangers? Did they go off their legs? Get too big too quick?
I buy in 25 birds at 2/3 weeks off heat coz i dont have heat facilities, costs vary hubbards £1.49 each and cornish game cross £2.45 each and French sasso £2.00 each.
I have a chap come to despatch and dress the birds ready for the oven, this costs £3 per bird.
This sounds ideal. Where do you get birds off heat at that price, do they deliver nationwide ;D and I would happily pay someone else to come and do all the nasty stuff at the end of life. How do you find out about these people?
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Sylvia, I'm thinking Orpingtons and Light Sussexes, too - what weight are they approx at, say, 20 weeks?
Is there a limit on how old a chicken or cockerel can be and still be tender to eat?
(I don't like the idea of superfast growers. As long as they are 4lbs or over I'm happy, it's ok if it takes longer.)
Eve :wave:
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ok i am being swayed by the possibilitys of slower growing meat birds
question what age do the boys start making cockerel noises as we live in a built up area and they wouldn't be popular i'm wondering if they are possible to grow on and finish before this is an issue?