Raising meat in the city

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PandaGirl

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Jan 27, 2021
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Hi!
I am a back yard chicken owner who started her flock about this time last year. I would now like to try meat birds. I plan on building a really simple a-frame chicken tractor. But, I am stuck on what breed to go with. I was thinking about the cronish cross, but really I would like to go with something a little less over breed. I also heard they eat a LOT! We would like to keep our spending about the same as what it would be at the store ( although making a profit would be great too:D:D) This being said, we also do not want to have to raise them for a very long amount of time. Any suggestions would be great. I am still open to the cornish cross if somebody could give me a upside to them! Also, any tips for doing it in the city would also be great. Thanks!:D
 
Cornish x have plenty of upsides...thats why they're so popular to raise for meat!
They are faster to reach butchering weight and have larger breasts than other meat or dual purpose birds.
We butchered our CX at 8 weeks and had to wait 12 weeks before we could process our freedom rangers. That's a significant difference in raising time. We also kept them on a feeding schedule and didn't let them pig out all day long. None of them had mobility issues.
 
Have you checked your local zoning??? You may not be able to process chickens, legally, on your own property. Plenty of neighbors who look the other way over egg layers tend to be somewhat less tolerant when you are hanging a bird from a hook and cutting its throat.

If that's not an issue?

Processing birds for profit is time consuming and expensive. There's a lot of equipment required to make your use of time worthwhile. Processing chickens for your own use means, generally, that you are paying yourself nothing for your labor - and still paying a pretty price, pound per pound, for your bird.

Cx are the most feed efficient meat birds, period. They need less feed, over a much shorter time frame, to reach market weight than any other option. More time means more risk - to illness, injury, predation, and less opportunity to use your facilities for the next crop. That's why Cx are so efficient.

More time also means more flavor, AND less tenderness. Its unavoidable. If you want a mild flavor, very tender bird, raise fat couch potatoes and slaughter early (Cx).

Anything else you do will slow weight gain, add flavor, and reduce tenderness. See my flock in my sig - we eat them - usually ground as sausage, braised, stewed, or crock-potted.

Last pieces of advice, if you want a tender bird, forget weight. TIME is your enemy. Pick a date (8 weeks +/-), cull and process then. Of course, with anything other than a Cx, the bird WILL be smaller, but the EFFORT is the same to catch, kill, pluck, and part. Which means greater labor per pound of meat. Expect the typical bird will yield a carcass around 70% of live weight, and the meat will be roughly 70% of that weight - a little more if you (as we) use the organs). Basically, half the weight of the bird on the foot will ultimately become protein in the fridge.

Three day rest.

Knowing all that, I still choose not to raise Cx. They aren't well suited to my environment, they aren't well suited to my management, and I can change (and have changed) the way I typically eat chicken as result. If I REALLY want a roast bird, I'll put the extra effort in, and slaughter two young males - one fore me, one for my wife. 'Cause I'm looking at maybe a 2# carcass at a time when a Cx is 4.5# fryer in plastic wrap, with my mutts, and my management methods.
 
Thanks! It is legal to do this in my area. We are technically in the county, so not nearly as many regulations. So, if you do a heritage breed, then you will either have a small bird, or a tough bird? I know how to butcher, just not the time per breed. At what point do you butcher your non cronish cross breeds? Again, all your help is very much appreciated!
 
heh, I missed the comment about an A frame. Its the LEAST resource efficient structure you can build for a given volume of space. There's a geographic proof to that effect. Given current materials costs, I'd reconsider that aspect of your build, at minimum.

Chicken tractors need three things. Low Weight, so they can be moved. High base rigidity, so they can be moved without falling apart. Enough space for the birds inside that you needn't move them frequently, or move a lot of them.

Have you looked at using livestock panels to build a hoop coop style tractor? Or even a bent panel design if the head space isn't important to you (and with Cx, its much less important than with any other breed...
 
PandaGirl said:
Thanks! It is legal to do this in my area. We are technically in the county, so not nearly as many regulations. So, if you do a heritage breed, then you will either have a small bird, or a tough bird? I know how to butcher, just not the time per breed. At what point do you butcher your non cronish cross breeds? Again, all your help is very much appreciated!
Click to expand...
You missed "small tough bird", but yes. ;)

I usually butcher my non-breeder males between 16 and 20 weeks. I've done plenty at 6 months. My girls provide eggs, which is my primary business right now, and get processed at much older ages, after peak rate of lay begins to decline - around year two, unless there is something about them I don't like.

Some months I break even. This month, I expect to turn a small profit. Most months come out of my entertainment budget. But there are a LOT of variables involved. What works (or doesn't) for me may (or may not) work for you.

I'm culling my way towards a particular set of characteristics in a "mutt" bird suited to my lands, and my management style, with a plan (eventually) to sell hatching eggs or hatched chicks, which is a bit more lucrative, potentially.
 
Hello, I started with Jersey Giants, thinking that I would get lots of meat, but it didn't turn out that way. I processed the roosters when they were 5 months old and they were about 4 lbs dressed. I found out latter that the roosters take more than a year to reach 10 lbs.

After that, I raised 15 Cornish X and they blew the Jersey Giants away. I processed them at 2 months old and they were 5 to 6 lbs dressed. I kept some to 3 months and their live weight were at least 10 lbs or more.

If you are raising chicken for meat, the Cornish X has the best feed conversion into body weight, so they will be cheaper to raise. In addition, you can also process some at one month old and enjoy a gourmet meal with the young 2 to 3 lbs birds..

If you want eggs and meat, the Big Red Broilers from McMurray is the way to go.......They are good egg layers and are table ready in 3 months. They also blow the Jersey Giants away and you can raise them like normal chickens, they don't develop obesity problems like the Cornish X. Check out the customer comments on this website. https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/big_red_broiler.html

They can ship to any post office in the USA, they even ship live chicks to Hawaii with free shipping on 15 or more chicks. I picked them up at my local post office, and they were all alive and well.
 
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