A Broiler I may not want to do in...

[artemis]

I have 8 broiler birds, 4 "black broilers" and 4 "red broilers".  They were obtained "straight run".  


One of each feather color is female, the rest are male.  


I am wondering... does anyone know enough about meat broiler birds?  The black broiler female is a love.  She's truly affectionate.  I don't want her in my freezer, unless it is necessary.  


I know Cornish Cross cannot survive with any level of heath over time, but I don't know about black broiler hybrids.  Her rooster mates are big, mean and nasty (although their feathers are lovely).  I have no problem sending them nor the red broilers off to the big freezer in the sky... er, my basement.

Any thoughts on perhaps mainstreaming her over with the laying birds?  She's 5 days older than them, and certainly larger at the moment.

EDIT:  If she will have the sorts of issues Cornish Cross birds get, I would be quite ready and capable of dispatching her if need be, to save her that pain.  But I don't know enough about the black broilers...

 

[seminolewind]

I think it would depend on her weight gain. If she's gaining a lot, not good. If she's slower, you might want to try.

[dawg53]

You would most likely have to monitor her feed intake, maybe a diet of some sort specifically for her and no treats. Then again, this might not be healthy for her because of what she is, bred as a meat bird.

[boskelli1571]

Can't help you much Dawg, I know that Red Rangers are broilers that can live a good bit longer than Cornish X and are respectable layers. Give it go and see what happens

[artemis]

I think I will give it a try. If nothing else, if it doesn't work, I have tried. I won't be able to give her a separate feed stream (or, maybe I can, at least during the day) from the other birds (my layers) she'd be housed with.

I did purchase these broilers in hopes that they would not have all those Cornish X defects. To this point, these broilers are not them.

I don't care if this bird provides eggs (although hey, that would be cool). She's simply too nice a bird to do in, if I don't have to.

[artemis]

Here she is, the bird on the right: She's as friendly as my Australorpe pullets.  

[seminolewind]

I would not be looking at any more broilers. And don't name them either. It happens to people when they buy chickens to process , then can't. If need be, I'd have someone pick up the rest when it's time and do the processing in exchange for some chicken.

[Sylie]

I had a couple of cornish cross a few years ago, they didn't have any problems at all but I fed and housed them with my layers. They went to the farm with my very first rooster, a crele old english bantam and his wife, a cornish bantam. The lady that I gave them to said they never had any problems there either, they did end up in freezer camp the following fall but only because that's what she wanted them for.

[artemis]

The broilers will be done a couple weeks late due to the fact I want an expert to show me the ropes, and that is the current timing where he can be here. I have absolutely no problem with dispatching the other 7 birds (just want to KNOW I can do it right, which is something beyond what a video can show...)

None of them have been named, even the friendly one I am planning on saving. I am glad from Sylie to know she should be perfectly fine. Seminolewind, I'll let you know after the date... whether I'll be doing more broilers or not. At the moment, I am.

[artemis]

The broilers are scheduled for the freezer next week, not yet sure which day. Celeste, the black pullet, has been removed from the broilers and is now living with the layers, at the moment in an uneasy truce but it is getting better. She's bigger than any of them (except the cockerel, who is slowing figuring out how to crow) - she's his size.   She doesn't mind being held.  

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[maryellen]

Her legs look like a regular laying hens legs. Hopefully she will stay like this. Maybe the hatchery made a mistake and she really isnt a broiler mix?

[artemis]

Hmmm. Could be possible. She looks just like my Australorpes, only a bit larger. (She is only about 5 days older.)

I was out there today, feeding and watering. She's getting along better, as are the heritage layers, but she still wants OUT of the run, since she's not really part of the layer flock yet.


Edit, this is the first day I could feed them all and they'd let her eat, too. Prior, I separated her off to feed her.  When she was no longer eating, I got everyone back together.   

[seminolewind]

That's great. Celeste may have been a broiler mix that developed more of the regular chicken genes.
Maybe next time get all roos.

[artemis]

Sounds like a plan... I will also do them in earlier, since they're roos..

[maryellen]

I had an ee cornish mix. Poor thing couldnt walk a few months after i got her she was so fat. A meat bird who laid green eggs but couldnt walk. The guy who bred his birds to get that mix was a jerk.

[seminolewind]

My neighbor once bought a rooster who was a meat bird. He didn't know it. He thought something was wrong so he wanted me to take a look. "Larry" the roo had gotten fat so fast that his skin stretched and he was missing patches of feathers. There was nothing I could do but explain that he would maybe live a year, then die. I felt bad, but that was the ugliest chicken I ever met. He had these protruding eye brow bones that made him look evil. Poor thing. He did die around a year old.

[artemis]

Celeste is doing well with the layer birds, and yes, next time I will ask for all males. (In this case I had a choice of Straight Run, or Straight Run... but I know my options for next year.)

[dawg53]

Oct 29, 2018 16:28:37 GMT -5 artemis said:

Celeste is doing well with the layer birds, and yes, next time I will ask for all males. (In this case I had a choice of Straight Run, or Straight Run... but I know my options for next year.)

Great options lol.

[seminolewind]

Yea Artemis, sad but a truth. Roosters are mostly not wanted for anything but meat. I've always kept as many as I can. Silkie roos are pretty good at keeping in a bachelor pad. Glad your hen is doing well.

[artemis]

That hen is doing wonderful. She's usually the first out of the coop when I open the door in the morning. She's actually the friendliest of all the birds... very happy with my decision.

Now... if only she (or any of them) would start laying!!!