Meat birds

[NH Homesteader]

I can TRY! Lol I'm not raising pigs this year though, so that'll be missing. I'll have DD help me keep track of eggs even.

 

[sumi]

Whatever you can do will be awesome

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Well....h*ll....I'm a total slacker, lol. I just feed 'em and hope for something back!

Guess I could make a New Years Resolution to be better. I do keep track of feed purchases though - does that count?

 

[NH Homesteader]

I'll make myself a spreadsheet I have OCD tendencies about that sort of thing and studied in a field that was very data-driven so it won't be too terrible for me.

And yes it counts to keep track of feed purchases!

 

[sumi]

A basic outgoing (feed, etc) and incoming (milk, meat, eggs) would be good, FEM. It would be interesting to see how profitable/worthwhile livestock keeping on a small scale is. Who knows, you may end up very surprised!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm afraid to know, lol! Ok - actually I'm not as terrible as I make out. I do keep every farm receipt and keep track of what I spend. I break it down as far as if it's feed, hay, supplies and/or equipment. I also keep track of how much I make off of selling goats and eggs and chickens. I just don't break it down into how much feed for chickens, or pigs, or goats...it's lumped together in feed expenses. It's scary! And, I certainly don't make a profit very often...only year I did was during my divorce when I downsized a LOT and didn't have expenses like a tractor and a new barn.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Just found this thread so sorry I'm a bit "late" to the table but I spoke with Ralph over on Backyard Chickens about this exalt subject which he calls his "Trolls" which are self sustaining meat birds. His recipe is to start with Cornish Crosses, hold onto everyone until they reach mature age (though he watches very closely for bluish combs to appear which means the bird is having breathing problems and he culls them then). Once he has Crosses that have reach mature aged he pairs up his hens and cockerels and takes their pure eggs and hatches them. He then raises those up and pairs them with Rainbow Layers and then hatches those eggs out and those are his "new Trolls" self sustaining meat birds.

Since he is located in the upper north I decided to take his formula and try my hand at it as well though rather then rainbow layers I am going with original Brown Cornish, White Rocks, Naked Necks and an assortment of other "heavy" bred lines. I will start my flock from the chicks ( CC, C, WR, Heavy) receive from Meyers. (I have two pullet Naked necks already). I will be starting a thread following this project and how it turns out.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That sounds like a great experiment @Dani4Hedgies . Can't wait to hear how it goes!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Cool! We had intentions of a meat bird experiment this year but the way things are going I don't see it happening. Plus a couple key birds died. Might do Cornish crosses again this year. We'll see. Might have to focus more on turkeys this year!

 

[Chic Rustler]

So far all I have figured out is RIR are not good dual purpose birds. But anything crossed with a barred rock will make a good meat bird. I'm thinking i segregate my rir rooster and let the buff Orpington rooster take over.