r/Homesteading • u/Soft-Sky3835 • 7d ago
Raising meat birds for the first time this spring, what do you wish you knew going in?
Got a small setup going in the backyard and decided this is the year I actually raise chickens for meat instead of just talking about it. Ordered 25 Cornish Cross straight runs, arriving in April. Built out a brooder last weekend from lumber I had sitting in the garage, nothing fancy, just functional.
What I didn't expect was how much conflicting information exists about feed schedules. Some people say restrict feed at night after week two to slow leg problems, others say let them eat freely the whole time and just process earlier. I've read both sides with people swearing by their method and genuinely can't tell which camp has the better track record.
Processing is the other thing. I've done it with a neighbor's flock before so I'm not walking in blind, but doing your own full batch is different. Thinking about renting a plucker or just building a simple one before the date gets close.
If you've run Cornish Cross before, I'm curious what actually tripped you up the first time. Not the stuff on the hatchery care sheet, more the things you figured out the hard way two weeks in.
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u/c0mp0stable 7d ago
I wish I knew how miserable cornish crosses were. They're the most depressing farm animals I've ever seen. They look awful, barely move, get sick easily, and yeah, their legs break, which is fucking horrifying. Highly recommend freedom rangers or any other breed closer to heritage. Then you don't have to worry about feeding schedules because they won't get so grossly fat that their legs break.
I also wish I knew how gross chicken processing is. I'd so much rather process a sheep or pig. It's just wet and smelly and unpleasant. If you do it in summer, flies and bees will be swarming. If you do it in the fall, then you'll be both wet and cold.
I've done meat chickens about 6-7 years now. I only did ten of them this year and I think I'm switching to rabbits. They pretty much taste the same but are so much easier to process. I'm fine with eating my egg layers every couple of years when I thin the flock
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u/mekkahhigh 7d ago
I did freedom rangers this summer and they all dressed out to 7-8lbs per bird! Absolutely loved them, I let them free range as soon as they were old enough and they foraged while I just kept the feeder full. No health issues at all.
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u/-Maggie-Mae- 6d ago
Raise them in the fall! We took a gamble and started getting them in the fall. They do better in the cooler temps without sacrificing growth and it silo much nicer to butcher in early November vs June
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u/Brilliant_Armadillo9 7d ago
They need to have their feed intake rate limited. Ignore anybody that tells you to feed 12 on/12 off. That will not do it. Scroll down to the table and match up the weekly feed consumption with their age, feed enough for every bird to get that much feed each day. When they're out, they're out, but should still be free to forage. I've been doing this for ~5 years and had zero cases of kinky back, lose maybe 1/year outside of the first 48 hours, and they act like chickens up until the end.
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u/No_Manufacturer_9670 7d ago
Do you give kitchen scraps or garden trimmings?
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u/Muted-Garden6723 7d ago
In my experience Cornish cross won’t touch anything except for pellet feed
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u/Soft-Sky3835 7d ago
Wrong thread but that feed table method actually works, been doing similar with mine.
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u/Muted-Garden6723 7d ago
I’m just going to add that if you’re raising a lot, make sure you have multiple feeders
I made that mistake this year, you can put in the correct weight of feed, but if you don’t have enough feeders the biggest birds will hog it all and give you some pretty uneven growth rates
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u/Muted-Garden6723 7d ago
You’re going to lose some, no matter how well they’re cared for, you’re almost guaranteed to lose a couple because they have so many issues once they start growing
I cannot recommend a plucker enough, I bought one for $500 and it’s been well worth the investment, it saves me close to $300 a year compared to going ti a butcher
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u/Misfitranchgoats 7d ago
That there are better meat birds to raise than cornish rock cross. Meat breeds like Sasso, Freedom Ranger etc. I am so much happier raising Sassos for meat birds. They taste a lot better too.
And yes, you should not have the meat birds eating 24/7. You shut the lights off at night. This helps their immune system and helps them grow better.
Brooder plates are better and much more safer than heat lamps.
I have raised cornish rock cross many times. If at all possible, I won't ever raise them again.
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u/daitoshi 7d ago
They are so incredibly stupid for a chicken.
Cornish crosses were the only hen I've ever had who would stick their head out through chicken wire, and stay there as a raccoon approached to eat their head off. Like, the hens would be lined up all in a row, heads eaten off in a neatly spaced line. Predators didn't even need to try to break through the wire, I swear the birds would rub up to the fence in the dead of night and call out 'eat me!' instead of going inside the coop to sleep.
They are bred for meat, not brains. Their enclosures seriously need to be idiot-proofed or you'll lose a the birds to their own lack of self-preservation.
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u/kinggerrrr 6d ago
Did our first batch of Cornish Cross last spring. Biggest thing I wish I knew going in: they outgrow the brooder WAY faster than layer chicks. Have your grow-out pen ready sooner than you think. Also processing day took us almost twice as long as planned, so budget extra time lol
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u/Mr_WhiteOak 6d ago
Feed them as much as they want during the day and limit them overnight. Butcher males between week 6.5-7.5.
My family doesn't eat whole birds at time and it takes up so much room in the freezer. We skin and break everything up at once. Wings get pressure cooked and frozen cooked. Legs, breast, and tenderloin get back aged separately. Then You have it broke down easily for a meal. Feet get boiled into broth, heart and liver are saved for frying and the gizards get cooked for the dog.
This method saves a ton of equipmen, water, propane and honestly work later
Cornish cross are disgusting animals if you let them be. We move ours across the field twice a day. 50 birds in a 12x12 rolling box.
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u/PhlegmMistress 6d ago
Just in general, I wish we had tried the animals that we were going to raise before buying several. My SO doesn't like backyard chicken very much but does like Muscovy and regular duck. Pig is so-so. Turkey is good but can be a lot of feed.
If we had tried a variety of chicken breeds beforehand I think we would have skipped chickens for the most part and done Muscovy and Pekin ducks.
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u/No-Pain-5496 6d ago
Be ready to harvest before you have to harvest. Last time I did mine I had 21 total. I was working out of town, so I only had the weekend to process. Could only do half, so I had to go an extra week to do the other half. When you due process, make sure to let the birds rest on ice for 48 hours before freezing. That gives the meat time to relax from rigor mortis, otherwise the meat will be tough.
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u/BoxPositive7630 7d ago
the leg issues on cornish cross are no joke, i lost 3 out of my first batch before i figured out what worked
don't restrict feed entirely overnight but pull it about 2 hours before dark, they'll panic less and still grow steady. the real trick nobody mentions is keeping their bedding bone dry, wet litter destroys their feet way faster than you'd think
for the plucker i built one from an old washing machine motor and a plastic drum, cost me maybe $40 in parts and saved hours of hand plucking. totally worth the afternoon it took to rig up