Personal Meat Birds

[Chic-keyLady]

What is the best way in your opinion, to invest in some meat birds for yourself? Do you prefer breeding your own birds and culling them near to the time of eating them? Do you prefer raising some for a season for freezer camp? What are the trade offs? I have 2 acres of land to work with and don't think my plot is cut out for free ranging. I'm thinking they might start wondering out into the woods or road. There is a decent amount of space between my house and the neighbors, however one complained about the chickens from the last owner of this plot getting into her garden and tearing it up. The last thing I want is for my animals to cause trouble for other people.

 

[FunClucks]

Investigate different keeping methods and figure out what you think might work best for you. Then buy a small number of chickens, try it and see. Raising 25 CX for 8 weeks is a lot different than raising and maintaining a flock of 25 heritage chickens for meat year-round. Temperament is totally different, space requirements are different, amount of poop and feeding methods are different, etc. Browse the threads in the meat bird forum and you'll find folks raising CX a few times a year, heritage meat bird flocks, confined, free range, semi-confined, etc. Also depends on your predators in the area and neighbors, and tolerance for predation as to how confined you keep your birds. Biosecurity is also something to consider.

If you're looking at cost mainly, and are willing to invest some work, raising CX is by far the cheapest way (cheapest $/lb of meat). You will have to buy the chicks. If you want a sustainable option, heritage meat bird flocks take longer to raise (more $ to feed), but you can raise your own chicks. How long it takes them to put on meat depends on your keeping conditions, how you feed them, and other factors. Best way to figure it out for sure for you in your situation is try it and see.