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[bronze]

Where does everyone get their hatching eggs for meat birds from? I want something specifically just for meat birds such as hubbards. In the past a neighbour has provided me with lots of free hubbard eggs so I've never had to get hold of them before. I don't really want to use ebay for these

[sjp]

there's smart chicks they post eggs http://www.smart-chicks.co.uk/home.html

Edited February 14, 2011 by Guest

[Lewis]

There are breeders that breed Table Birds and will sell hatching eggs.

 

Sure there will be a few on Practical Poultry if you have a look

[Redwing]

One person that comes up over and over again on threads on this subject on other forums is Simon at Poulet Anglais

 

I've done a Google and found this info but it looks like its a year old, hopefully it will still be correct

 

Poulet Anglais (Old Bolinbroke)

 

'Fast' growing chickens for meat - Mainly Hubbard's slow growing strains, JA757, 787, Coloryield and Mastergris but also some Ross.

 

 

Telephone: 01790 763066 / 07787 533325

 

Email: pouletanglais@ukonline.co.uk

[bronze]

I'm a bit loathe to deal with him as when I first wanted to about 3 years ago he kept not replying to my messages and then I missed the local drop off dates. He may be better organised now of course

[WitchHazel]

Are you looking for fast growers, like Cobb/Hubbards, or something a bit slower?

 

The first birds we raised for the table were Cobb types, we got them as hatched chicks. We really didn't enjoy raising these - they grew so fast and all they were interested in was eating. Despite being given a free range life, they really didn't do much chickeny living. It wasn't at all what I thought it would be.

 

Next we raised Ixworths, from eggs, and they were much better - but really thuggish birds. Finally we had some Sasso eggs, and the 3 birds we raised from there were so lovely we decided to keep them and breed from them. The resulting birds were great

 

We lost one of the Sasso Girls, so we added 2 Welsh Blacks (Australorp x Indian Game), and we're really happy with the results. The chicks are fantastic fun, real characters, and they really enjoy life. It makes the deed harder than with the original Cobbs, especially as we keep some of them up to about 26 weeks, but it's much closer to how I imagined raising chooks for the table - giving them a fulfilled life would be.

 

I hope I don't sound like I'm standing on a soapbox, as I don't mean to - I'm not anti Cobb/Hubbard types at all. Raising Cobb types is perfect if you're looking to cull fairly early (8 weeks?). The meat is fine, and superior to supermarket chickens, and you get the nenefit of knowing what has gone into producing them and you know you have given them a good life.

[TAJ]

One person that comes up over and over again on threads on this subject on other forums is Simon at Poulet Anglais

 

I've done a Google and found this info but it looks like its a year old, hopefully it will still be correct

 

Poulet Anglais (Old Bolinbroke)

 

'Fast' growing chickens for meat - Mainly Hubbard's slow growing strains, JA757, 787, Coloryield and Mastergris but also some Ross.

 

 

Telephone: 01790 763066 / 07787 533325

 

Email: pouletanglais@ukonline.co.uk

 

I used him last year - I just e-mailed, confirmed the order, paid on PayPal and they arrived in the post 24hrs later. Very good service all fertile and 11/12 hatched and grew into fine chickens. I have done 2 meat bird batches from his eggs.

 

Tracy

[Lewis]

I hope I don't sound like I'm standing on a soapbox, as I don't mean to - I'm not anti Cobb/Hubbard types at all. Raising Cobb types is perfect if you're looking to cull fairly early (8 weeks?). The meat is fine, and superior to supermarket chickens, and you get the nenefit of knowing what has gone into producing them and you know you have given them a good life.

No, it was really interesting/helpful!

Thanks Hazel

[bronze]

Are you looking for fast growers, like Cobb/Hubbards, or something a bit slower?

 

The first birds we raised for the table were Cobb types, we got them as hatched chicks. We really didn't enjoy raising these - they grew so fast and all they were interested in was eating. Despite being given a free range life, they really didn't do much chickeny living. It wasn't at all what I thought it would be.

 

 

that's a shame. I did hubbards nearly 3 years ago and two of them managed to evade the freezer. They are still happily freeranging with my other girls. I didn't cull any of them til 16+ either

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26454439@N02/5447

[WitchHazel]

that's a shame. I did hubbards nearly 3 years ago and two of them managed to evade the freezer. They are still happily freeranging with my other girls. I didn't cull any of them til 16+ either

 

That's really interesting. Maybe it's something to do with the strain, perhaps some are faster than others? I don't know which strain we had.

 

Looking at your picture made me think about and remember it a bit more.

 

Our girls looked similar to the lovely girl in your pic, but they weren't interested in doing much grazing or even dustbathing. Mostly they ate. Or sat by the feeder sunbathing, having a rest before they were ready to munch again. Usually, the most exercise we got was when they had to walk over to the waterers, which we put as far away as possible from the feed to make sure they got some exercise each day. They would sometimes rook in the ground or snatch some grass on the way to the waterer and back.

 

I wonder if they would have been different if we'd kept one or two with our Garden flock, as they would have been able to learn and observe other behaviours? On reflection, I don't think we could have kept them. They were just getting bigger and bigger, and I'm sure they would've gone off their legs in the end.

 

The boys were humungus. One breast (as in one of the pair of breasts from one bird) fed DH and I for 2 days, and we still had some left to add to the stock. We were definitely wrong to keep the boys as long as we did, they just weren't designed for it.

 

I'm sure they were relatively "happy".

 

Your Girl looks very happy

[Jools]

I think there are different types to cater for different rearing methods - those in those hellish sheds killed at around 7 wks and the free range birds that take twice as long to mature. I imagine the different rearing methods make a difference too.

 

I had a couple of meat birds from a chicken pal a few years ago - our first meat birds (and the first chicken I'd eaten in well over a decade). Our surplus bantam cockerals have also ended up the freezer at around the 6 month mark, as have our LF boys specifically bred for the purpose.

 

The reason for all this waffling is because of taste! I can only eat the breast meat (good job OH prefers the rest!) and I found the meat birds bland and my surplus boys much tastier. The most delicious of all (and by far the easiest to pluck) are Indian Game and they're all we're planning to "do" in future. The Welsh Blacks mentioned are part IG, so I bet they're a good bet too.

 

Good luck with whichever route you go

[bronze]

I found the birds I culled later (could only pluck and gut a few at a time) were more tasty than the early ones.

I don't know what strain mine were. A neighbour worked for a slightly suspect company thats a hatchery. Apparently theyprovide the chicks for the free range places. Orginally I had asked to take a whole load of male chicks off their hands but they wouldn't