Interesting information Jason. I knew that some birds were raised specifically for meat but I didn't realize there was so much difference between them and the egg layers. Thanks
Thank you for the clarification. I just got my first chickens. The store only had cornish cross left so I got 10. I am loving them. Very docile and quiet in the house for now. I will build a chick shaw when they feather out to till my very small garden bed out back before I harvest them. Next week I will get my egg layers from another local supplier, I cannot wait!!
Good video. I know it takes time and a lot of work to make a video. You are a god send to those of us that are confined to our homes due to the virus so THANK YOU.
We had both. We had egg layers that we kept as long as they were producing. When the egg layers reduced production to the point that they were costing too much to feed, we butchered them. Two or three years about the longest we kept layers. My wife loved to boil them to produce the best chicken broth which she used in the soups she made for us all winter. The meat chickens we raised were the Cornish cross. We preferred the Barred Rock or Rhode Island Red for egg layers. We had plenty of eggs for our family of seven and the baked goods my wife and daughter made and sold. We also had plenty to sell or give away to friends and family. We usually raised at least 25 meat birds each year. It was wonderful to have those birds in the freezer whenever we wanted them. We also bought half a beef from a local farmers each year. Plus we had a herd of dairy goats. We also raised rabbits for a few years but gave it up because we preferred the chickens. Like your videos. You did a good job explaining the differences between the types of chickens.
I love your channel 🥰 I feel like you are one of the best homesteaders on RUclips 😍 best content and I love how clean and organized you keep everything 🤗. Thanks for all you and your family do for your animals 🐣
I was talking to someone today and I explained that before they decided on what kind of bird to buy, they needed to know if they wanted egg layers or meat birds. I gained my knowledge listening to your talk about it yesterday! LOL. I live in an apartment and have no experience with chickens, but I remembered what you said! You are right, it is something that I never thought about before you explained the difference. Thank you!
I love the way you explain things. It’s so easy to follow. Taking all kinds of notes and saving your videos to watch them again once we find out land. Kind of hard to find agricultural land in Maryland 😩
Guess what? We had a Black Breasted hen show up at our farm, just at the edge of our woods. We have adopted her. Her name is Liza Jane! She is so sweet. We are going to try and catch her and make her our pet. Wish us luck in catching her.
Someone gave me a CC almost a year ago now. I just love her and she's very sweet, but yes, ALWAYS hungry. She's laid a few eggs but definitely not enough to compensate for the feed. And I've had to stop free feeding my other chickens bc of her.
Did you ever vlog when you lived in CA? I have finally watched all of your videos from the beginning, but didn't see anything from the past. Thanks for sharing. Have a Wonderful & Blessed Day!
My dual purpose heritage chickens have plenty of meat to make it worth butchering. You are right, they take longer to get big enough to butcher. I don't butcher more than 6 at a time. I don't have all the equipment and it's not in my budget and I can't fit 30 chicken in my freezer. So whatever works for each individual. I prefer raising sheep because they only need to eat grass, so it's a lot cheaper to raise. You do need an acre per 5 sheep though.
Hi!!!! I just wanted to know how you protect your sweet egg layers in the winter months..? Our family just added 6 hens and want to keep them safe and warm during the winter.. thanks in advance! Blessings on the journey!!
I wonder what kind of success you'd have with a setup where you bred your own meat chickens. Eventually, the meat chickens would start laying eggs, so if you had just a flock of meat chickens, once they get done growing, could they lay eggs for you. You could eat the eggs, hatch the next generation, and maybe the chickens won't have such a voracious appetite once they are full grown.
amadaria you would need the original breeding stock which is a Cornish and a Plymouth Rock. If you try to breed Cornish x it will breed back to one of the parents because it’s a hybrid and not a stable one at that.
I have butchered the egg layers at 3 years. They are different than meat birds. The older birds have wonderful broth that is worth canning. The meat can be chopped in small pieces and used in wonderful soups. The broth is deep yellow and flavorful. The fat is dark yellow and can be used in several different ways. Makes a great roux for thickening. Bring makes the meat more tender.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that the Black Australorp is a great dual-purpose chicken. They are the most prolific egg-layers (on-par with Leghorns or better) and will be at butchering weight between 16 and 20 weeks. Yes it takes 2-3x longer to grow them out compared to the "robotic" chicken that "doesn't act like a chicken,", but they are a self-sustainable chicken breed! You can't, realistically, raise up Cornish Cross to maturity to breed them together because they can't physically breed, if they did somehow (awfully) survive to maturity. Yes they are bred to be a quick and dirty meat solution for a family but they will eat about the same amount as what the Australorps will when by the time they are butchered. So, feed conversion shouldn't be a big difference. Time - yes, it takes MORE time to grow out Australorps. So, I am choosing to raise Australorps for eggs AND for meat. I will have the meat birds separated into a different pen and coop to ensure my breeders/egg producers are contained. I'm tired of eating what you call a chicken that "acts robotic, and doesn't act like a chicken". That's gross to me. I want to eat real food, not frankenfood.
If you kill the meat chickens before they lay eggs how do you get new chickens? Do you buy the eggs from someone else? Would it be cheaper to have one egg-layer meat chicken you don’t kill?
Great info ! I didn’t even know the difference until now ... I prob would of ended up with meat chickens and wondering why the hell they aren’t laying eggs 😂
My stepmother use too raise cc I remember she would chop the heads off and the smell of the wet feathers and we hand plucked them but that's how she was taught too do them now my wife grandpa would just ring there necks and so did my grandpa
Back in the day most homesteads would raise dual purpose chickens for meat and eggs. And would kill 10 to 20 at a time. The meat was better then than now. The meat chickens now days don't even taste like chicken.
Hey! Love your videos. So quick question... Where do you get that movable white fence that you had around the chickens? Hope to hear something soon and blessed be.
@@SowtheLand thank you. I asked because my rescue hens were 6 years old and still laying but stopped during winter months and moults .somebody told me that was my possible? Was I just very lucky ?
Nice video. Actually though, austrolorps were developed to be dual purpose/ utility birds. If you want a true egg layer, get a couple Leghorns or Minorcas. The size difference will amaze you. ☺
We have raised Cornish Cross hens and even kept a few to full adulthood. I have a video on my channel about one of those "meat birds" that actually went on to go broody and raised some (given to her) chicks. It can be done. They will eventually lay eggs, however a chicken bred to be a "meat bird" will never have a long life. The maximum I have ever had one live was a little over two years. Like a person with morbid obesity their hearts always have a struggle. They are naturally far less active and much more susceptible to health issues and easily overheat in hot weather. Also while a "meat chicken" will lay eggs... while they are large in size they are few and far between. They consume at least three times the feed for each egg produced as well. Meat birds are a hybrid cross of two other chicken breedlines. As such, their body shape makes natural fertilization of their eggs difficult or impossible. Even with a good rooster of another breed they will almost always lay non-fertile eggs. When my Cornish Rock went broody we did not have a rooster so ALL of our eggs were infertile. I also do not think that she would have survived the warm conditions that a broody needs to hatch a clutch of eggs. Because of that I gave her some purchased chicks... at night ... about a week into her broody cycle. It was an interesting experiment to be sure. When I buy dual purpose chickens ... like your original Barred Rocks and purchase them "straight run" (straight as eggs hatch - both males and female chicks) we do raise the roosters as meat birds. I raise them with the pullets for the beginnings, then as they mature more I separate the sexes. I will eventually put the males into a chicken tractor and just put their energy to use. They can eat bugs, make garden spaces, fertilize the lawn and continue their slow growth for a time. I keep my expectations realistic. I do not wait for the roos to become a tasty main course. Nope. They will be stews, casseroles and soups. When I butcher them I pluck and cut them up as I will use them... cooked in the crockpot or stewed up for parts or canned meat. By taking advantage of the dual purpose roosters skills, I add a bit of value to the less valuable meat. I remember that since they are not a main course, they can be butchered at most any size. I only spend what I can justify for feed. Typically I start my replacement pullets in my brooder first. When they are old enough to move out of the brooder, my second round in the brooder are the meat chickens. If I do that, then I just keep the dual purpose roosters until the meat chickens are ready to harvest. Then I harvest them all at the same time ... each to their purpose.
Who loves sow the land. 👇 I do love sow the land I hope you do
That's a very good lesson. I like the way your daughter is helping take care of the chickens. She seems to be having fun.
Yes, thanks
Interesting information Jason. I knew that some birds were raised specifically for meat but I didn't realize there was so much difference between them and the egg layers. Thanks
Nice video. You don’t name the meat birds, but your subscribers know the Bernices, Sally Henny Penny and Whole Foods.
My child is a bard rock rooster. Bard rocks are amazing chickens when they are tamed and great egg layers. LOTS of personality ❤❤
I liked your comment, " never ending quest" .
Thank you for the clarification. I just got my first chickens. The store only had cornish cross left so I got 10. I am loving them. Very docile and quiet in the house for now. I will build a chick shaw when they feather out to till my very small garden bed out back before I harvest them. Next week I will get my egg layers from another local supplier, I cannot wait!!
Wonderful!
Hey man getting creative with the edits I appreciate all the time and effort it takes
I like Barred Rocks for laying hens. They have a good disposition.
Good video. I know it takes time and a lot of work to make a video. You are a god send to those of us that are confined to our homes due to the virus so THANK YOU.
I appreciate that
We had both. We had egg layers that we kept as long as they were producing. When the egg layers reduced production to the point that they were costing too much to feed, we butchered them. Two or three years about the longest we kept layers. My wife loved to boil them to produce the best chicken broth which she used in the soups she made for us all winter. The meat chickens we raised were the Cornish cross. We preferred the Barred Rock or Rhode Island Red for egg layers. We had plenty of eggs for our family of seven and the baked goods my wife and daughter made and sold. We also had plenty to sell or give away to friends and family. We usually raised at least 25 meat birds each year. It was wonderful to have those birds in the freezer whenever we wanted them. We also bought half a beef from a local farmers each year. Plus we had a herd of dairy goats. We also raised rabbits for a few years but gave it up because we preferred the chickens. Like your videos. You did a good job explaining the differences between the types of chickens.
I love your channel 🥰 I feel like you are one of the best homesteaders on RUclips 😍 best content and I love how clean and organized you keep everything 🤗. Thanks for all you and your family do for your animals 🐣
Thanks Jason. Great information. This will help me when I'm ready for my new homestead next year.
Glad it was helpful!
Penelope I like how kind you are with the chickens & they love you 🐥🐔🐓🐓
Hi, I come from Quebec and I very much appreciate all your explanations, they are clear and simple to understand.
Thank you.
All chickens have personalities. It all depends on if you're smart enough or care enough to observe it.
you make a good teacher..never knew this info....that chicken is almost 7 lbs. .. that's a lot of meat..go you.
I was talking to someone today and I explained that before they decided on what kind of bird to buy, they needed to know if they wanted egg layers or meat birds. I gained my knowledge listening to your talk about it yesterday! LOL. I live in an apartment and have no experience with chickens, but I remembered what you said! You are right, it is something that I never thought about before you explained the difference. Thank you!
Penelope was hands up funny at 6 lbs 15 oz!!! Thanks for the chicken lesson and wishing you all the best!
Hi....... Jason and Lorraine, thank you for sharing your video homestead chicken farmer garden 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 👕🐔🐓🐥🐖🌱🎥👍👍👍
Thanks for the great information. Enjoyed the video. God Bless
Good explanation
Great video Jason. Penelope is so like Lorraine. The sun hat and sun glasses is her mummy through and through. Take care all xx
Wow, I never knew this. Thank you for .
I love the way you explain things. It’s so easy to follow. Taking all kinds of notes and saving your videos to watch them again once we find out land. Kind of hard to find agricultural land in Maryland 😩
Guess what? We had a Black Breasted hen show up at our farm, just at the edge of our woods. We have adopted her. Her name is Liza Jane! She is so sweet. We are going to try and catch her and make her our pet. Wish us luck in catching her.
Great video and good lesson for anyone new to raising chickens!
Good info on the different chickens. They are all beautiful. 💖🐔
I like the old yard hens/egg hens for gumbo and soups because you have to cook them longer so you get a better flavor out of them.
You have up your chickens since the last video This was good information very well explained Thanks
Thanks. Was just curious one day and you explained it very well. Thanks.
You explained what I have always thought of as obvious very well.
Great knowledge thanks for sharing!
Glad it was helpful!
Bernice was my mum's name, put a smile on my face when I heard you guys calling your chook that. 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Thank you for getting to know and understand your food, it's inspiring and sets a great example for the dreamers with no farm of their own...yet :)
Always a pleasure and good information. Be safe brother Jason
Thank you for the information. You are always pleasant and your videos are uplifting regardless of the subject.
Someone gave me a CC almost a year ago now. I just love her and she's very sweet, but yes, ALWAYS hungry. She's laid a few eggs but definitely not enough to compensate for the feed. And I've had to stop free feeding my other chickens bc of her.
Thanks for the explanation Jason.
I still say chickens are descended from Velociraptor.
Now that is the best explanation on chickens I ever heard. Great info Jason !! Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Liked and appreciated comparison.
Did you ever vlog when you lived in CA? I have finally watched all of your videos from the beginning, but didn't see anything from the past. Thanks for sharing. Have a Wonderful & Blessed Day!
no, started after we moved to NC.
Keep the good stuff coming thanks
I learned a lot. Thanks Jason.
Luv ya Bernice say Hello to the Brothers
Interesting video. Thanks for sharing. Hugs from the UK.
I needed this Information! Thank you.
Thank you it was very educational
Thank you for the info.
First video . Won’t be my last ! Awesome explanation
Thanks for the info. ❤😘
You guys should try the bresse chicken!
old egg layers= bone broth YUM
Good info. Thank you.
My dual purpose heritage chickens have plenty of meat to make it worth butchering. You are right, they take longer to get big enough to butcher. I don't butcher more than 6 at a time. I don't have all the equipment and it's not in my budget and I can't fit 30 chicken in my freezer. So whatever works for each individual. I prefer raising sheep because they only need to eat grass, so it's a lot cheaper to raise. You do need an acre per 5 sheep though.
Don't sheep have a lot of problems with worms? That has always been a concern of mine.
Hey man where did you learn how to make those chicken tractors ? I like there style
great educational video! thanks!
Thanks for the basic overview! Do you have any experience with a guard goose? Do they need special attention/training? Any special diets?
I don't . have not had a goose before.
I have a guard goose. Have not lost a chicken with her in with them. I let mine free range and Lucy goosy stays with them three years!
Goldshaw farms have ducks and geese. They have a few chickens, but mostly ducks and geese.
Thank you!
Hi!!!! I just wanted to know how you protect your sweet egg layers in the winter months..? Our family just added 6 hens and want to keep them safe and warm during the winter.. thanks in advance! Blessings on the journey!!
chickens are pretty hardy. we usual put a deep bedding of hay in the coop and let them have access to our greenhouse in the winter. thanks!
I wonder what kind of success you'd have with a setup where you bred your own meat chickens. Eventually, the meat chickens would start laying eggs, so if you had just a flock of meat chickens, once they get done growing, could they lay eggs for you. You could eat the eggs, hatch the next generation, and maybe the chickens won't have such a voracious appetite once they are full grown.
amadaria I was thinking of doing that next year.
amadaria you would need the original breeding stock which is a Cornish and a Plymouth Rock. If you try to breed Cornish x it will breed back to one of the parents because it’s a hybrid and not a stable one at that.
Love and Hugs from Sapulpa, Oklahoma
I have butchered the egg layers at 3 years. They are different than meat birds. The older birds have wonderful broth that is worth canning. The meat can be chopped in small pieces and used in wonderful soups. The broth is deep yellow and flavorful. The fat is dark yellow and can be used in several different ways. Makes a great roux for thickening. Bring makes the meat more tender.
hi awesome thank you. does gender matter with chickens for the broilers? obviously the layers are all females, but are the broilers the same?
Good information.
Check out the Dominique bred. I had 12. Unfortunately a hawk got them.
i LITTERALY have a hene who is also called sally henny penny. 😱
Where is a good place to buy meat chicks and what is a good price to look for
Great vid guys, my dad is jason pope and we want to come see yall
*PARABENS PELA CRIAÇÕES DE FRANGOS E GALINHAS*
Why do you keep both Cornish Cross and Red Rangers as meat birds? Is their a taste difference?
A meat chicken gave me her first egg on valentines day'
how romantic ❤️
Can thy live if you give them less food?
Tu canal esta super bro! Bendiciones!!
Have yall ever hunted as well? My husband and I are getting into hunting to help feed the family
Do you have a video on processing meat chickens.
chickens only lay eggs for so long ... what do you do with laying chickens after they stop ?
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that the Black Australorp is a great dual-purpose chicken. They are the most prolific egg-layers (on-par with Leghorns or better) and will be at butchering weight between 16 and 20 weeks. Yes it takes 2-3x longer to grow them out compared to the "robotic" chicken that "doesn't act like a chicken,", but they are a self-sustainable chicken breed! You can't, realistically, raise up Cornish Cross to maturity to breed them together because they can't physically breed, if they did somehow (awfully) survive to maturity. Yes they are bred to be a quick and dirty meat solution for a family but they will eat about the same amount as what the Australorps will when by the time they are butchered. So, feed conversion shouldn't be a big difference. Time - yes, it takes MORE time to grow out Australorps. So, I am choosing to raise Australorps for eggs AND for meat. I will have the meat birds separated into a different pen and coop to ensure my breeders/egg producers are contained. I'm tired of eating what you call a chicken that "acts robotic, and doesn't act like a chicken". That's gross to me. I want to eat real food, not frankenfood.
If you kill the meat chickens before they lay eggs how do you get new chickens? Do you buy the eggs from someone else? Would it be cheaper to have one egg-layer meat chicken you don’t kill?
Great info ! I didn’t even know the difference until now ... I prob would of ended up with meat chickens and wondering why the hell they aren’t laying eggs 😂
they do lay eggs. we just don't keep them around that long for them to give us eggs.
My stepmother use too raise cc I remember she would chop the heads off and the smell of the wet feathers and we hand plucked them but that's how she was taught too do them now my wife grandpa would just ring there necks and so did my grandpa
I notice you don't have any guard animals, can you explain this?
Back in the day most homesteads would raise dual purpose chickens for meat and eggs. And would kill 10 to 20 at a time. The meat was better then than now. The meat chickens now days don't even taste like chicken.
Do you make the spoons anymore? I went to your shop and didn't see any. I wanted to check out the price of spoons and a large cutting board.
yes, I sell out of spoons quite fast. that is why you never see it on my site.
Hey! Love your videos. So quick question... Where do you get that movable white fence that you had around the chickens? Hope to hear something soon and blessed be.
check Premiere one portable fencing
I named one of my chickens Bernice!
But meat chickens will lay eggs if they get old enough right? How else would you get meat chickens?
So what happeneds to them when they die the egg layers ?
How old can they be still usefully producing ? And what do you do with them when they get old ?
about two years. they don't completely stop. just fewer eggs. ours are 4 yrs. old. pets!
@@SowtheLand thank you. I asked because my rescue hens were 6 years old and still laying but stopped during winter months and moults .somebody told me that was my possible? Was I just very lucky ?
Nice video. Actually though, austrolorps were developed to be dual purpose/ utility birds.
If you want a true egg layer, get a couple Leghorns or Minorcas. The size difference will amaze you.
☺
Is it possible to get a red ranger to lay eggs?
You can butcher chickens as you need when alive they will lay eggs and won't spoil don't need to can or freeze them
What do you feed meat chickens?
How many electric chicken nets do you use around your coop?
one
So, what do you do with the egg layers when they pass naturally?
compost
What does a chicken have that fowl don't ?
We have raised Cornish Cross hens and even kept a few to full adulthood. I have a video on my channel about one of those "meat birds" that actually went on to go broody and raised some (given to her) chicks. It can be done. They will eventually lay eggs, however a chicken bred to be a "meat bird" will never have a long life. The maximum I have ever had one live was a little over two years. Like a person with morbid obesity their hearts always have a struggle. They are naturally far less active and much more susceptible to health issues and easily overheat in hot weather. Also while a "meat chicken" will lay eggs... while they are large in size they are few and far between. They consume at least three times the feed for each egg produced as well. Meat birds are a hybrid cross of two other chicken breedlines. As such, their body shape makes natural fertilization of their eggs difficult or impossible. Even with a good rooster of another breed they will almost always lay non-fertile eggs. When my Cornish Rock went broody we did not have a rooster so ALL of our eggs were infertile. I also do not think that she would have survived the warm conditions that a broody needs to hatch a clutch of eggs. Because of that I gave her some purchased chicks... at night ... about a week into her broody cycle. It was an interesting experiment to be sure.
When I buy dual purpose chickens ... like your original Barred Rocks and purchase them "straight run" (straight as eggs hatch - both males and female chicks) we do raise the roosters as meat birds. I raise them with the pullets for the beginnings, then as they mature more I separate the sexes. I will eventually put the males into a chicken tractor and just put their energy to use. They can eat bugs, make garden spaces, fertilize the lawn and continue their slow growth for a time. I keep my expectations realistic. I do not wait for the roos to become a tasty main course. Nope. They will be stews, casseroles and soups. When I butcher them I pluck and cut them up as I will use them... cooked in the crockpot or stewed up for parts or canned meat. By taking advantage of the dual purpose roosters skills, I add a bit of value to the less valuable meat. I remember that since they are not a main course, they can be butchered at most any size. I only spend what I can justify for feed. Typically I start my replacement pullets in my brooder first. When they are old enough to move out of the brooder, my second round in the brooder are the meat chickens. If I do that, then I just keep the dual purpose roosters until the meat chickens are ready to harvest. Then I harvest them all at the same time ... each to their purpose.
One thing that no one mention is that older chicken has a better taste...
first time I heard that.
Meat chickens can lay eggs I’ve kept some and there known for double yolks
nice! I never kept one that long. thanks
Sow the Land yea it’s pretty cool , try keeping one if you would and they usually give double yolks lol 😂
I'm going to start my own breeding program. Hybrid vigor and genetics has got to produce something good.