[STING]

Hi , I am new to forum.. would like to rear my own table birds. Please advise on breed and how to do it successfully living in a village in a semi ? I am worried about  noise for neighbours hence would be wary of cockerels in case they start crowing early before they are dispatched.I have 7  layers, 3 of them are hubbards , 3 salmon faverolles. Might want to try processing one hubbard and one salmon fav. What is an optimum number of birds to keep in a 10 by 6 foot run? I am planning to get the chickens from young age.. have to think about it carefully as I have a Jack russell girl who hates the chickens?? What do you think  i should do? get them at a few weeks old when they can go straight into the run after i have dispatched of the older birds? Thank you in advance . 

[Sylvia]

10x6 ft. is really not big enough for more than, say, 3 or 4 birds unless you can move it regularly. Also you will need to rest it between batches. You can get commercial table birds that are fit to kill long before they start crowing

[Rich/Jan]

Chicks of 3 weeks old are a bit young to put out into a run this time of the year - I would go for another week or so unless you are providing some sort of heat source within the house.  Faverolles are a biggish bird but slow growing as are a lot of other big-boned breeds (Brahma, Jersey Giant etc).  Some of the commercial breeds are quite quick growing but be careful they dont outgrow their strength and go weak in the legs.  Naked necks or hybrids of these are quite meaty birds but try a few different chickens and assess their growth rate and then decide - not just on size but also on flavour.  You dont need to have a cockerel but I would have a shed/arc/whatever that is easily moved periodically to allow the run to clean up.  Best of luck.  Jan

[StephB]

Hi,

Do you have a garage, shed or spare room?  Just wondered, as the most cost effective way to rear your own meat birds is to buy in day old commercial chicks.

We buy in 20 Ross Cobb chicks for about £1.20 each, rear them under a heat lamp in a pen in the barn and then free range them at 5-6 weeks and cull them at 12-14 weeks depending on the size they have gotten to.

They are not sexed but they get culled long before any cocks start crowing.  They are no bother at all and taste great.

I would imagine in your 10 x 6 pen you would only fit in 3-4 of them per time as they do grow quite big.  Although you could have around 4-5 batches per year so you could manage to grow quite a few birds through a year.

I have worked out that it costs in the region of £5 per bird to buy and rear to table weight.  It can't compete with Tesco's tortured value birds that sell 2 for £5, but I had been buying butchers free range chicken for years and a small birds used to cost me £13+ so as long as you want high welfare chicken then you will save alot of money.

Otherwise you could have a utility bird that will supply eggs and meat.  Only issue with that is you will need a fully grown cockerel to breed replacements and with that you get the associated noise.

Best of luck with what you decide.
Steph

[STING]

Thank you all. Steph you mentioned Ross Cobbs, do you know who supplies them ? We live in Kent.. What size pen do you have for 20?
When it comes to culling time, what tool do you use since the cobbs are quite large? I worry about not being able to do it properly due to size.. I have not done this before  and thinking of attending one course in Hampshire .. but its a long way to travel to learn how to cull a chicken, so I am trying to find a local place , but no luck yet..

How much rest between batches do I need to give the run?
I have a covered run which is dry and a coop- currently housing my 7 girls.

I have a shed with plenty of ventilation and lighting. So once I start, this might be the best nursery space before I move them at 6 weeks or so into the  run and coop. Regards

[STING]

Oh I forgot to ask about the processing.. How long does it take you to cull, hang , eviscerate and dress the chickens ready for the table? I understand hanging them for a day or two improves flavour..
Surely you do not process them all on one day? Just think it would take a long time to do all of them in one day... Thanks

[Tilly]

Hi STING
 I am reading your post with interest as I would also like to raise some table birds this year.......

I know that "doing it yourself" is not the cheapest option, but if they taste as good as my home reared turkeys did last year you can not compare it to  commercial poultry meat.

- I live in Norfolk and am on the look out for some Ross Cobb fertile eggs or day old chicks so will also be interested as to where I can purchase some  .... if anyone has any info.

good luck    with your new venture

Tilly 

[StephB]

Thank you all. Steph you mentioned Ross Cobbs, do you know who supplies them ? We live in Kent.. What size pen do you have for 20?
When it comes to culling time, what tool do you use since the cobbs are quite large? I worry about not being able to do it properly due to size.. I have not done this before  and thinking of attending one course in Hampshire .. but its a long way to travel to learn how to cull a chicken, so I am trying to find a local place , but no luck yet..

How much rest between batches do I need to give the run?
I have a covered run which is dry and a coop- currently housing my 7 girls.

I have a shed with plenty of ventilation and lighting. So once I start, this might be the best nursery space before I move them at 6 weeks or so into the  run and coop. Regards

Hi

We use a 30ft x 15ft run with a small shed attached.  They don't need perches as they get too fat to hop or fly 
My husband culls them in the traditional way of holding the legs and pulling the neck until you feel the vertebrae separate.  very quick way of doing it.  We then pluck the birds and hang then for between 2-7 days, depending on how warm it is.  In July we would gut them the next day but in December we hung them for a week as it was so cold.

We have three batches a year so there is usually a couple of months between each batch.

It is all surprising easy. xxx

[StephB]

Oh I forgot to ask about the processing.. How long does it take you to cull, hang , eviscerate and dress the chickens ready for the table? I understand hanging them for a day or two improves flavour..
Surely you do not process them all on one day? Just think it would take a long time to do all of them in one day... Thanks

Hi again,

We would cull and pluck all 20 birds in one day.  You get up abit of speed after the first 10 

We hang them between 2-7  days, until its convenient for us to do the next stage.  batches reared in the arm weather would need to be processed the next day unless you have a spare fridge to hang them in.

Gutting and dressing the chickens is pretty quick.  To gut, dress and tidy up a bird it would take about 5 minutes.

Hope this helps.  It would be good to find a local smallholder who you can befriend and can help you with your first batch or you could go and help with theirs, just to get the confidence.  After your first batch you will be off.

[chrismahon]

We don't hang ours since they started gassing up and tainting the meat in a day. Think it was caused by intestinal worms dying. So the condition of the ground needs to be completely worm free or you use expensive wormer or you kill and prepare in one short operation. Takes us an hour from despatch to get one ready for the oven but it helps a lot if they have longer for the blood to drain away. I'd rest the ground at least a month after scattering lime but be aware that all wild birds can drop worm eggs.

[STING]

That's really useful advice about befriending a local small holder so that I can participate when they are processing theirs. I hope to find someone local in Kent who can help me out to give me the confidence.
I do prefer to hang them for a while- I do recall my grandma doing the same years ago. Shem I was too young to participate.
I worm the hens regularly  with flubenvet so there should be no  problem with worms..
Thank you!

[Castle Farm]

I'd set up with a commercial white type as they are usually ready before they start crowing.

I don't know what the post about worms causing gas is all about I've never had that happen. You just need to stop feed for 12 hours or so which empties the gut (it's the feed fermenting in the intestines that causes it to go green). Give clean water though.

You will take at least half an hour to pluck a bird. Do it while it's warm, as it's easier. I usually do a few and the gut and dress. All this hanging is because when you kill a bird it tenses up. Hanging it is supposed to relax the meat, but in a production plant they go straight through from live to chiller in about 4 minutes or less.

If you feed a pelleted feed the birds will grow fast and may go off their legs, Commercial types don't go far away from the feeders. Lack of exercise causes the sinews and tendons in their legs to get week, that and the weight they can get to.

I feed all my birds on a grain diet and not pellets. If you feed them on a commercial feed your only going to produce chickens that taste like the supermarket ones.
I have a web page with a bit about table birds (Traditional) and a facebook page under Utility Poultry Keepers.

[STING]

Thank you Castle farm , will check your web site and try the commercial type birds as I am a beginner. Want to have a regular supply, so will start with a batch of ten or so, hope i can get  them a couple of weeks old..

[Barrett]

Sting, I did the Ross Cobs for a while, they are a breed on there own, they can be aggressive at feed time once they get to a certain size do not let children near them, there back ends are very smelly because they are wanting food all the time even free range ones.  Don't put them in with any regular hens as they make there lives a misery, once you have killed, bled, plucked and gutted that is when you rest your chicken for 48 hrs in the fridge, I did one of mine in the morning and then cooked it for Sunday lunch at it was terrible tough as old boots, the meat needs time to relax.  Hope this hasn't put you off, there is nothing like your own chicken and the Ross Cobs can get big I had one that was over 7lbs in weight.

[PetiteGalette]

I've raised Hubbard/Cobb birds from hatching eggs and have never found them to be aggressive. I make sure there are more than enough feeders and food to go round and remove the food after 1.5 hours so they have to range for the rest of the day.
They are MoH's favourite eating birds - the taste is brilliant!
Have to agree about the back-ends, though!