Best meat bird breed?

[ellir0305 9]

I am just finishing up my first batch of meat birds, ended up with sassos as thats all i could get my hands on locally. They have done really well in a movable 'chicken tractor' type setup on grass from 4 weeks even with some cold nights. I want to do more batches in the future with a similar setup, but during warmer months. What breed does everyone use and what are the pros and cons? Where about do you source your day old birds?

Many thanks

 

[forest of dean redneck 11,183]

Always wanted to do the sassos when I had chooks never got round to it

[Aussie Whip 3,822]

In Oz we have cornish cross that are ready at 6 weeks but all they do is sit around the feeder. Australorps, RIR take too long. I'm getting into jap quail, they are the quickest and best feed to meat ratio birds and have more iron in their meat than beef.

[forest of dean redneck 11,183]

22 minutes ago, Aussie Whip said:

In Oz we have cornish cross that are ready at 6 weeks but all they do is sit around the feeder. Australorps, RIR take too long. I'm getting into jap quail, they are the quickest and best feed to meat ratio birds and have more iron in their meat than beef.

I had jap quail didn’t keep them long they needed lot of room for small bird otherwise they would kill each other an if one showed sign of weakness they would turn on it .

[ellir0305 9]

2 hours ago, forest of dean redneck said:

Always wanted to do the sassos when I had chooks never got round to it

Got to say I am impressed with their resilience, seem hardy little birds and growing well. Conscious that they take 10-12 weeks compared to the cobb / cornish type bird which take 6-8 and consume a lot more feed. Not sure if I'm better cost and quality wise running a bird that grows faster and consumes less so I can give it a better quality feed, or a slower growing bird and cheapest feed. Also like Aussie whip says the commercial types seem to sit around whereas the sasso does seem to forage well, which in the warmer months might give them more off the grass and bugs.

 

[Aussie Whip 3,822]

2 hours ago, ellir0305 said:

. Also like Aussie whip says the commercial types seem to sit around whereas the sasso does seem to forage well, which in the warmer months might give them more off the grass and bugs.

The foraging probably makes the final food bill similar and I think the final product tastes better and maybe better for you.

[Aussie Whip 3,822]

3 hours ago, forest of dean redneck said:

I had jap quail didn’t keep them long they needed lot of room for small bird otherwise they would kill each other an if one showed sign of weakness they would turn on it .

My mate has them in 4 x2 foot cages with four females and a male in each and hatches the eggs and eats some and renews the breeders.

[forest of dean redneck 11,183]

51 minutes ago, Aussie Whip said:

My mate has them in 4 x2 foot cages with four females and a male in each and hatches the eggs and eats some and renews the breeders.

Yeah sounds about right ratio an space

[levigsp 938]

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Edited March 18, 2023 by levigsp

[poxon 5,555]

Fancy having a go at doing my own meat birds but space/land is the deal breaker for me. I could probably do batches of 6-8 birds in a movable chicken tractor over the lawn but wouldn’t work out economical to do that because I’d of eaten the first lot before the second batch is done an ready to harvest plus 6-8 birds takes the same time in daily chores that say 40 or 50 birds would Id have to work harder for longer throughout the better months an in to late autumn just to produce what I think I’d need to feed our family but if i could do the higher number I’d only have to do a couple of batches an I could produce a year’s supply pretty easily. Little bit jealous of you lads with the space to rear your own meat birds