My own variety of meat birds

[FunClucks]

Thanks for the update! Good information! I'm sure you will, but just wanted to emphasize the need to do research on CX before acquiring them. They act differently than any other chickens, and need specific tailored management (housing, feeding, water, coop/tractor setup, management in general) in order to optimize growth and health during their 2 month lifespan. And you MUST process these on time, or they will start dying on you. They are heat intolerant, get hypothermia easily if they get wet, and need to spend all their lives on a flat surface (no perches for them past a certain age and no slightly raised areas - they can trip and fall over and get trapped on their backs and can't get up because their bodies are too heavy for their wings to move them - I've seen it). They don't scatter out of the way like egg layers, but just sit there until you physically push them back - easy to smash a chick with a feeder or waterer. Learned that the hard way too. Everyone must get their own area of the feeder at the same time, or injuries will result.

They're easy to deal with once you do the research and don't expect them to act like normal egg laying chickens. Managing your expectations of these is key. They do make awesome amounts of meat, and I like their milder flavor, so for me the effort was worth it. If you do end up liking the CX, I'd also recommend checking out the White Rangers from Freedom Ranger Hatchery - they are a 3m broiler that puts on weight slightly more slowly than CX, but has much better mobility and livability if that's an issue for you, and allows wiggle room in your processing date a lot more easily. They also make almost as much meat as CX at their 3m butcher date as CX make at 2m.

Best of luck in your future endeavors! Keep us posted!

 

[Adorae]

Thanks for the update! Good information! I'm sure you will, but just wanted to emphasize the need to do research on CX before acquiring them. They act differently than any other chickens, and need specific tailored management (housing, feeding, water, coop/tractor setup, management in general) in order to optimize growth and health during their 2 month lifespan. And you MUST process these on time, or they will start dying on you. They are heat intolerant, get hypothermia easily if they get wet, and need to spend all their lives on a flat surface (no perches for them past a certain age and no slightly raised areas - they can trip and fall over and get trapped on their backs and can't get up because their bodies are too heavy for their wings to move them - I've seen it). They don't scatter out of the way like egg layers, but just sit there until you physically push them back - easy to smash a chick with a feeder or waterer. Learned that the hard way too. Everyone must get their own area of the feeder at the same time, or injuries will result.

They're easy to deal with once you do the research and don't expect them to act like normal egg laying chickens. Managing your expectations of these is key. They do make awesome amounts of meat, and I like their milder flavor, so for me the effort was worth it. If you do end up liking the CX, I'd also recommend checking out the White Rangers from Freedom Ranger Hatchery - they are a 3m broiler that puts on weight slightly more slowly than CX, but has much better mobility and livability if that's an issue for you, and allows wiggle room in your processing date a lot more easily. They also make almost as much meat as CX at their 3m butcher date as CX make at 2m.

Best of luck in your future endeavors! Keep us posted!

Wow, that's awesome. I will make a note on that for next year. I have learned that I do not like the taste of rooster lol. So maybe I will try to figure out how to caponize my egg layer boys to try to get some weight on them for processing. I'm feeling pretty fluid on all of my ideas, so I could end up with anywhere.

 

[Adorae]

Found a few pictures to share.
These were the Columbian Rock/Freedom Rangers, and the Columbian Rock/Dark Cornish. at around 2 months old.

 

[Molpet]

The Dark Cornish/FR were around the 4/5lb mark, the freedom rangers were the same weight, but a week or so younger, the biggest Columbian Rock/FR was barely 4lbs at over 14 weeks, but very boney. I sold the rest as live birds because they were so scrawny, I figured the girls would be big, but be pretty good layers still. Same with the Dark Cornish/Columbian Rocks. They were just so much smaller I couldn't be bothered to go through all the work of either continuing to feed them, or processing them, and I've been working on reducing my egg layer flock for the winter.

yes the dark cornish crosses take longer to fill out. I like the more flavorful older cockerels. I f you don't like that flavor a quicker growing bird would have less flavor.

 

[FunClucks]

Wow, that's awesome. I will make a note on that for next year. I have learned that I do not like the taste of rooster lol. So maybe I will try to figure out how to caponize my egg layer boys to try to get some weight on them for processing. I'm feeling pretty fluid on all of my ideas, so I could end up with anywhere.

I've looked into caponizing personally, there's a lot of info on this site. Bottom line is, you're going to loose a number of birds before you get good at doing the surgery, and you'll have to be okay with that. Surgery is done between 3-5 weeks, any older and you risk it not being a full excision of the rooster's testes. Can't use pain meds during the surgery due to avian dosages being super difficult for such a small bird, and if you feed antibiotics some of those are contraindicated for birds you're going to eat. The incision heals well on its own if you do it right.

But really, until you're good at it and have a high volume of roosters you have to deal with, caponizing is a lot of hassle, for me it's just easier to process a bunch of CX. If you like grocery store chicken, but slightly better tasing and knowing they were raised optimally in humane conditions, and slaughtered humanely, and especially if you don't like the taste of roosters, CX is probably the way to go. Those White Rangers tasted very similar, if you're interested.

Pretend your "rooster" flavored chicken is beef, and stick a bunch of BBQ sauce on it for BBQ beef sandwiches. Coq Au Vin (classic french version), curry, or really anything heavily flavored works well with this type of bird. And I pressure cook every thing over 5 months, because I'd rather have a slightly off texture (if I miscalculate my PC time) than a tough bird.

 

[FunClucks]

Also, your caponized roosters won't get much bigger than your egg laying hens - caponization just lets them grow to their adult size without the hormone change, it doesn't influence their final size. I've had some pretty small roosters, that were too small to bother with really.

 

[NatJ]

I have learned that I do not like the taste of rooster lol. So maybe I will try to figure out how to caponize my egg layer boys to try to get some weight on them for processing.

Or you could process them very young (no rooster taste) and just pretend they are quail (tiny birds, often processed a little differently than larger chickens because they are so small. For example, instead of reaching in to pull out the guts, a person might cut the bird wide open.)

 

[Adorae]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I wouldn't mind losing the extra egg laying boys to learn the skill. I also cull them and pluck them, then give them to a lady that feeds them to her dogs who have a raw food diet, so if they perish they still have a similar fate. It would be a lot more handy if I end up with a true dual purpose breed for eggs and meat, which could happen after all the excitement of trying all the chickens in the next few years dies down.
I've definitely lost the day dream of growing chicken and eggs to sell to people, and I'm really only interested in meeting my family's needs for eggs and chicken meat. Everyone that's not family turns up their nose at prices that would just begin to reimburse me for my time and effort. So from now on it's just another love language for me to share with those I care about.

 

[chanceosunshine]

This has been a great read. Thank you for sharing your experience! Did you find that your freedom rangers bred truer than you expected?
I have FR right now, they have been my favorite meat bird. We will process them in two weeks at 12 weeks old, but they would make a great carcass now. I’m a little concerned at letting them go longer, but I can’t process them earlier.
This is the first year that we’re trying CX as well. We planned them to be ready when the FR are. We want to compare the ease of processing and the meat. I’m worried that the CX will be too mild. We actually like the stronger chicken flavor.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’m worried that the CX will be too mild. We actually like the stronger chicken flavor.

The reason the cockerels gain flavor is the hormones of puberty. Those hormones cause the meat to develop "texture" so it can be chewy and also develop that flavor. Some people consider that flavor to be "gamey" and don't like it. Several of us, like you, enjoy the extra flavor.

Your CX will probably not live long enough for those hormones to have an effect. You might see some effect with your FR. With Dual Purpose we typically keep them long enough so you do notice it.

I love the idea that you are experimenting for yourself so you can reach your own conclusions instead of relying on some stranger on the internet like me to tell you what you will see. Taste is very subjective, we all like what we like.