4H meat birds

Noraaaaa

Crowing
Dec 6, 2024
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Ohio
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HI! I'm a 4H kid in Ohio and I have a few questions about meat birds. I have silkies and wyandottes and do fancy birds, so I am very unknowing! Hope y'all can help!

I am thinking of getting them from Meyer Hatchery. This is where we get our non-show birds.

https://meyerhatchery.com/products/meat-birds


-should I do a broiler or a roaster?
-does it matter if they are boys or girls?
-how much do they sell for at auction?
-how much do I feed them?
-what are some designs for a moving coop (like a pic or article)?
-what do I feed them?
-do you bring them in pairs or trios?
-how many do you buy if you want two sets of them?
-do you wash them a lot because they are dirty?
-what is a good show-quality meat bird?
-how would I win the meat bird class?
 
I don't do 4H and know nothing about it, but I have raised meatbirds before. I won't be able to answer all your questions, but I'll answer them off of my personal experience.
-does it matter if they are boys or girls?
It depends on what you are going for. Personally, straight run-which gives you a mixture of both, is the best way to go. If you want one over the other, hens are best with an occasional accidental rooster (depending on your numbers). If you do cockerels, you'll have some who are huge and others who are tiny as they are more aggressive and will hog the feeder more. With a mixture or just pullets, you get the same amount of birds with them all close in size.
-how much do I feed them?
I like to provide them with feed 24/7 and in a floor feeder where they can just sit in it and eat their life away. (I needed my birds big as they were feeding a big family.) Some people recommend taking their feed away at night, or do feeding times. I oppose this as these are birds who live for food, and taking it away from them for any period of time is stressful for them. (You want to eliminate as much stress as possible due to the heart issues they tend to have.) Also, ensure they have more than one feeder so everyone can get to it.
-what do I feed them?
I fed mine organic broiler crumbles. Any crumble is good (as long as they come as crumbles, not pellets), but the organic was making their meat look the best. This is according to my butcher (who specializes in poultry) who said my birds were the best looking ones he had ever done.
-do you wash them a lot because they are dirty?
Don't wash them. You want to eliminate stress. For mine, I was cleaning their coop anywhere from once a day to every other day. Shavings is best to use in their coop as it keeps them the cleanest, plus straw and hay would poke their chests as they're sitting on the floor constantly (never provide them with perches!) and trip them up when they're already a high risk for leg problems. If you've got them in a tractor, then you want to move it daily. (Warning: prepare for a messy yard!)

For some added notes:

Depending on your Hatchery's minimum order, I highly recommend doing 15 or 25. I was doing anywhere from 50 to 100, but I had been doing them for a few years. Meatbirds are a lot of work and can be expensive depending on what you are feeding them, so you don't want to overwhelm yourself. (100 meatbirds are like three times more work than 100 laying hens.)
15 is a great beginner amount and I highly recommend. I'll add here, always expect casualties, so always ensure you're getting more than you want. (So with 15, you're giving yourself a buffer say you want 12 at butcher. If all survive, then you can give your extras away.) With a smaller amount, I have discovered there's typically less casualties, and sometimes none at all.

With meatbirds and their fast growing genetics, you want to prepare for health issues. Both heart and leg problems are common for them. On the heart, you always want to ensure they have as little stress as possible and don't have anything coming around them that may startle them. (Say you have a LGD, that might stress them out because it's viewed as a predator naturally.)
On their legs, you want to eliminate anything that will promote injury. That is why I said earlier to not give them perches. If they had them, when they jump down, they could injure themselves, plus they're very clumsy. They're not like your average chicken who can use their wings to better balance themselves. Roots, blocks, and logs are also things they could trip over or jump on and risk injuring themselves upon jumping down.
If your meatbird has a leg issue, unless you've got the time to put into their care, it's typically best to cull. Their lives are very short, so they most likely won't heal before their butcher date and will be underweight in comparison to the rest.

Most companies raise their birds for 4-6 weeks and most are only raised to 6 weeks of age. If you want the bigger birds like me, then raising them to 8 weeks is ideal. These birds are not to be pets! Do not raise them past 10 weeks, as the older they get, the more at risk they are for health problems. Even if they appear like it, they cannot live happy lives like normal chickens because their bodies aren't built for it.


Hopefully this all helps you and I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you with all of your questions. Again, I know nothing about 4H, so this is all from my experience of raising meatbirds. Best of luck to you and your 4H project!
 
I don't do 4H and know nothing about it, but I have raised meatbirds before. I won't be able to answer all your questions, but I'll answer them off of my personal experience.

It depends on what you are going for. Personally, straight run-which gives you a mixture of both, is the best way to go. If you want one over the other, hens are best with an occasional accidental rooster (depending on your numbers). If you do cockerels, you'll have some who are huge and others who are tiny as they are more aggressive and will hog the feeder more. With a mixture or just pullets, you get the same amount of birds with them all close in size.

I like to provide them with feed 24/7 and in a floor feeder where they can just sit in it and eat their life away. (I needed my birds big as they were feeding a big family.) Some people recommend taking their feed away at night, or do feeding times. I oppose this as these are birds who live for food, and taking it away from them for any period of time is stressful for them. (You want to eliminate as much stress as possible due to the heart issues they tend to have.) Also, ensure they have more than one feeder so everyone can get to it.

I fed mine organic broiler crumbles. Any crumble is good (as long as they come as crumbles, not pellets), but the organic was making their meat look the best. This is according to my butcher (who specializes in poultry) who said my birds were the best looking ones he had ever done.

Don't wash them. You want to eliminate stress. For mine, I was cleaning their coop anywhere from once a day to every other day. Shavings is best to use in their coop as it keeps them the cleanest, plus straw and hay would poke their chests as they're sitting on the floor constantly (never provide them with perches!) and trip them up when they're already a high risk for leg problems. If you've got them in a tractor, then you want to move it daily. (Warning: prepare for a messy yard!)

For some added notes:

Depending on your Hatchery's minimum order, I highly recommend doing 15 or 25. I was doing anywhere from 50 to 100, but I had been doing them for a few years. Meatbirds are a lot of work and can be expensive depending on what you are feeding them, so you don't want to overwhelm yourself. (100 meatbirds are like three times more work than 100 laying hens.)
15 is a great beginner amount and I highly recommend. I'll add here, always expect casualties, so always ensure you're getting more than you want. (So with 15, you're giving yourself a buffer say you want 12 at butcher. If all survive, then you can give your extras away.) With a smaller amount, I have discovered there's typically less casualties, and sometimes none at all.

With meatbirds and their fast growing genetics, you want to prepare for health issues. Both heart and leg problems are common for them. On the heart, you always want to ensure they have as little stress as possible and don't have anything coming around them that may startle them. (Say you have a LGD, that might stress them out because it's viewed as a predator naturally.)
On their legs, you want to eliminate anything that will promote injury. That is why I said earlier to not give them perches. If they had them, when they jump down, they could injure themselves, plus they're very clumsy. They're not like your average chicken who can use their wings to better balance themselves. Roots, blocks, and logs are also things they could trip over or jump on and risk injuring themselves upon jumping down.
If your meatbird has a leg issue, unless you've got the time to put into their care, it's typically best to cull. Their lives are very short, so they most likely won't heal before their butcher date and will be underweight in comparison to the rest.

Most companies raise their birds for 4-6 weeks and most are only raised to 6 weeks of age. If you want the bigger birds like me, then raising them to 8 weeks is ideal. These birds are not to be pets! Do not raise them past 10 weeks, as the older they get, the more at risk they are for health problems. Even if they appear like it, they cannot live happy lives like normal chickens because their bodies aren't built for it.


Hopefully this all helps you and I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you with all of your questions. Again, I know nothing about 4H, so this is all from my experience of raising meatbirds. Best of luck to you and your 4H project!
Thank you so much! I am probably going to get abut 7 so I can bring 4-6 to fair. Do you think that a 1/7 would be a normal casualty rate? And thanks for the info on organic feed! Never would have guessed!
 
Thank you so much! I am probably going to get abut 7 so I can bring 4-6 to fair. Do you think that a 1/7 would be a normal casualty rate? And thanks for the info on organic feed! Never would have guessed!
It is hard telling, as with a smaller amount you might not lose any. I'd give it more of a 2-3 buffer with that amount, but then again, you might not lose any. One thing to note, is if you're ordering from a hatchery and not buying from a local feed store, you might have more casualties as shipping is very stressful for them and they don't always make it. My numbers are from getting them from my local feed store where all the weak ones were already weeded out by the store.
 
It is hard telling, as with a smaller amount you might not lose any. I'd give it more of a 2-3 buffer with that amount, but then again, you might not lose any. One thing to note, is if you're ordering from a hatchery and not buying from a local feed store, you might have more casualties as shipping is very stressful for them and they don't always make it. My numbers are from getting them from my local feed store where all the weak ones were already weeded out by the store.
Okay! I can always keep them and butcher them for myself LOL! I think I'm going to do pick up because we are close to the hachery.
 

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