[mwncigirl]

We are thinking of growing some meat birds this year and wondering people's thoughts on whether to use hatching eggs (we have an incubator), day old unsexed chicks (that will obviously need heat) and five week old chicks (obviously most expensive to buy), the chicks will incur £20 delivery fee. Any thoughts on costings? Is it worth buying the five week and saving on the effort and heat costs??


I just can't decide!

[Jackie 2]

I bought 5 week old goose chicks and was very happy as I didnt need heat and they didnt need a great deal of looking after so for me if you are unsure then 5 week olds

[chrismahon]

Lot of hassle incubating, hatching and rearing. Power cut or breakdown and you can lose the lot Mwncigirl. Worth it for Pedigrees but not just for meat birds. Incidentally the commercial export vet told me that the latest version of the Hubbard is ready (and so slaughtered) at 5 weeks!! When I spoke to him the farm he was visiting next had 200,000 of them.

[the great composto]

ready at 5 weeks - wow!  that must put terrible strain on their legs.

[Marches Farmer]

If you're going to raise your own poultry for that quality of meat you might just as well go to a supermarket and buy it.  To me raising an animal that cannot walk/mate/give birth naturally (I'm thinking Ross Cobbs/Broad Breasted turkeys/Belgian Blue cattle) is wrong, wrong, wrong.

[mwncigirl]

I do agree Marches, but when you are we only have a little smallholding, money is tight, and I'm not sure if we can afford to go down the rare breed route for meat. Even if we sold a few on we'd only make a couple of quid per bird. It works out expensive to rear when you're only doing 10 or 20. Hmmmm.

[Derby_menagerie]

I'd suggest trying to breed some crosses of your own, Light sussex hen to an Indian game cock is ment to give a decent useful sized cock bird and also the females will lay well. Marans are also a good dual purpose bird and will get to a good size if the right strains are used. I've raised Ross Cobbs myself, but I raised them outdoors and on a grain mix rather than the commercial feeds, They were never off their legs, but naturally they eat more and sat down more than my traditional breeds, some nights I had to physical pick them up from the feeders and put them inside the shed , I got them at 5 weeks old and killed at about 12, good tasting meat, good sized bird and good life! So just because the birds are breed for commercial raising dosn't mean smallholder principles can't be applied! Where abouts are you? perhaps you could arrange with someone local to share a delivery and reduce the costs?

[Marches Farmer]

Are you near a livestock market that holds poultry auctions?  Our local one is on twice a month and, provided you're very selective and don't get carried away, can result in some excellent bargains.

[Mrs Snoodles]

If you have your own incubator I would hatch. meat birds develop so quickly - they feather up super fast, so your heat costs are minuscule.  I would aim to get them off day heat at say 10 days max then night heat at 3 weeks (max) and then out (obviously it depends on temps near you).  All you need to be careful with is when you put them outside, keep them draft free initially, in something like a shed for a week or so then see if they are ready to go fully out on their own.    You may find an ark very useful at the stage, you can move it not fresh ground and the space will be small enough for them to huddle if chilled. 
I wouldn't bother with auctioned birds for eating - you have no idea what you are getting, what they carry with them, how they have been reared and if the birds are truly going to make a decent carcass.  if you stick the hybrids y know what you will get and your efforts will be rewarded.    You can grow them onto bigger size, get more meals out of each bird and save money this way.