Meat hybrid chicken

[Tre3hugger]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-attempt-at-a-dual-purpose-heritage-flock.1489689/

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Out of curiosity, how old were the Freedom Rangers when they started dropping eggs?? I thought they (like the Cx) were relatively late to lay, in addition to the weight issues.

 

[bigz1983]

They always have weight issues, they were bred obsessively to put on weight to be meat birds. It is what they are. Mine are freedom rangers from freedom ranger hatchery in PA. I can't speak to others because they are all I've done.
They are healthy other than having a ton of internal fat. I have no doubt if I left them go then they would start dying of problems caused by it. Egg bound, fatty liver, etc. And mine are out in a chickshaw and on pasture. They are active.

A couple hens have become bare backed from over breeding. I think they are the roos favorites and they just don't bother to run away from his pestering. Though they can and do have a run-waddle and can jump up almost my shoulder height.

I have eggs in the incubator now from them. So we'll see the fertility rate soon.

If you are set on trying to breed from meat birds I'd suggest having a non meat bird/broiler rooster/cockerel. To avoid dwarfism. And plan it backwards!
When do you want to set eggs from them? Now count back a week of egg collecting (or however long). From there count back at least 6wks. General consensus seems to be 6wks of laying will work out pullets eggs so you aren't dealing with lots of double yolkers and fart eggs and oddballs. From there count back 22 weeks old to start egg laying. That's the date to get the chicks.

I'd also suggest to get them as only pullets and it's easier to restrict their feed and not have cockerels also restricted that could be growing faster and butchered faster.

I would also get a mineral, like fertrell poultry breeder supplement. Then you can give them an amount of mineral and know they are getting what they need while being able to restrict the feed.

If the Red Broiler hens have weight and egg laying issues then it sounds like my better bet would be to take Red Broiler male and breed it with a hertiage meat bird like a Chantceler, Buckeye, Dark Cornish, Delaware, Jersey giant or New Hampshire?

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Out of curiosity, how old were the Freedom Rangers when they started dropping eggs?? I thought they (like the Cx) were relatively late to lay, in addition to the weight issues.

My birds first egg was 21 weeks. By 25 weeks I was getting a bunch of eggs.

If the Red Broiler hens have weight and egg laying issues then it sounds like my better bet would be to take Red Broiler male and breed it with a hertiage meat bird like a Chantceler, Buckeye, Dark Cornish, Delaware, Jersey giant or New Hampshire?

Broiler birds intensive breeding utilizes dwarfism most times. So the roos of the broilers you raise for meat will carry dwarfing that they pass on and you'll be forever weeding it out.
Also birds with bigger breast have harder time breeding naturally. There's good reason all the big double breast turkeys are hand AI bred. Hard to do a balancing act when you have a ton of weight throwing off your center of gravity.
People do it. Read the thread on "toad breeding" for Cx breeding. But it's hard and they turn up dead much easier.
My roos are a new Hampshire and a Bielefelder (from mcmurray) and they are nicely filled out. And I regularly see him on a hen and make a few attempts before falling off without hitting the target. I think a broiler roo would be very very hard.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My birds first egg was 21 weeks. By 25 weeks I was getting a bunch of eggs.


Broiler birds intensive breeding utilizes dwarfism most times. So the roos of the broilers you raise for meat will carry dwarfing that they pass on and you'll be forever weeding it out.
Also birds with bigger breast have harder time breeding naturally. There's good reason all the big double breast turkeys are hand AI bred. Hard to do a balancing act when you have a ton of weight throwing off your center of gravity.
People do it. Read the thread on "toad breeding" for Cx breeding. But it's hard and they turn up dead much easier.
My roos are a new Hampshire and a Bielefelder (from mcmurray) and they are nicely filled out. And I regularly see him on a hen and make a few attempts before falling off without hitting the target. I think a broiler roo would be very very hard.

That is earlier than I expected. I thought they're laying was closer to the Cornish x 6 or 7 months before it started.

 

[CNJ]

Ok thanks.
So a Red Broiler rooster can mate?
I thought I read somewhere they get to big too mate.

When the Cornish X or Red Broiler are bred, the chicks don't have the same qualities of their parents. The hybrid chickens were bred from different breeds, so the chicks will inherit different genes. However, I think we can reverse engineer them by selective breeding for desired traits.

I crossed a standard Breese rooster with a Cornish X hen and their chicks had different color legs like blue, green, white and yellow legs. We can see that the blue legged ones pulled on the Breese side; and the yellow legged ones pulled on the white Plymouth rock side; and the green and white legged ones got more mixed genes. In addition, none of the chicks grew as fast as a Jumbo Cornish X from the hatchery, but they all have almost twice the weight of a Breese chicken.

I have a lot to work with, I can selective breed for color of legs, weight and second generation vigor. I can also, improve egg laying abilities by breeding them back to the Breese rooster.

In conclusion, I met my objective of breeding a meatier bird, the next step is to lock it down and make it sustainable.

 

[Geena]

That is earlier than I expected. I thought they're laying was closer to the Cornish x 6 or 7 months before it started.

The meat bird pullets I have kept back have all started laying around the same age as dual purpose pullets, even the cornishX. The red broiler hens actually lay pretty good in their first year.

 

[nicalandia]

Some Asils are also very Meaty, this is my Rustic Asil male 6 month old

 

[CNJ]

Easy..............

 

[trescloudy]

Have you read about @duluthralphie s CX rainbow mix he called toads. He doesn't have them anymore but good information.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/toad-raising.1152440/#post-18045134

I love that thread!