Raising chickens for meat

If your getting started homesteading, you’ve probably already thought about sourcing or raising your own meat. If that sounds intimidating, meat chickens may be the answer. Raising chickens for meat is actually a great introduction into butchering. They are fairly easy to maintain and you only have to care for them a short time compared to some larger meat animals. One of the most rewarding things we have done so far as new homesteaders is raising and butchering our own chickens. The taste can’t be compared and we know exactly what is in the meat we are eating. So what exactly goes into raising your own chickens for meat?

1. Choose your chicken breed.

Technically, you can raise and butcher any chicken breed. However, there are many breeds out there that have been produced specifically for meat. There are several reasons you probably want to consider these breeds before picking up any old chickens at your co-op or tractor supply.

Meat chicken breeds are specifically raised to grow quickly.

Breeds such as the Cornish Cross and the Delaware Broiler grow faster than laying hens. This is beneficial because you won’t have to feed them nearly as long before they reach butchering weight. They have also been bred to pack on more meat than laying breeds. We chose Murray-Mcmurray’s Ginger Broiler for our meat chickens and they were at the right size for us at around 18 weeks. They actually took a little long than breeds such as the Cornish Cross. This breed tends to have less of the health problems than the more popular meat breeds that grow to weight at around 8-10 weeks.

Dual purpose breeds are a sustainable choice for the homesteader.

There are also dual purpose breeds that you can choose from. We have a flock of Buff Orpingtons for this purpose. The advantage to having a dual purpose breed is sustainability. Although you can technically breed your meat chickens, you won’t get the strong genetics that you have in a heritage breed chicken. We will be able to incubate our Orpington’s eggs and raise those chicks specifically for meat. They will take longer to grow, but we can keep incubating eggs and hatching for as long as we need to. Being able to produce a continuous supply of meat chickens without having to purchase them is one reason many choose dual purpose breeds.

Choosing breeds can be a little overwhelming, but it helps to answer a few questions first.

• How much money do you want to spend on feeding your chickens? Being able to butcher younger means having to buy less feed.
• Do you want large chickens to process or are you okay with smaller breeds? Dual purpose breeds are going to be smaller that meat breeds.
• Are you prepared to deal with the health issues that meat chickens typically have?
• How much time do you have to raise and process the birds?
• Are you worried about sustainability?

2. Cost of raising chickens for meat.

If you’re not worried about producing massive meat birds, there are ways to save on feeding meat chickens. Feed prices are rising which makes raising your own meat chickens more expensive. But, you can find ways to fill out a chickens diet while saving some cash.

1. You can ferment their feed and practically double it.
2. Meat chickens can be raised on pasture if you have the set up.
3. Free range your chickens to supplement some of the feed.
4. Feed chickens your kitchen scraps.
5. Raise your own meal worms for their protein!

Fore more information on saving money on chicken feed, check out my article here.

3. Decide on the setup for your meat chickens.

You can raise meat chickens in a stationary coop. However, you will have a harder time supplementing their diet and therefore spending more on their feed. Choosing to make a mobile coop and raising your chickens on pasture is cost effective and makes for better tasting meat.

Chicken Tractors are a great idea for healthy, pasture raised meat.

There are a couple of ways that you can do this. One is to make a chicken tractor that you can move by hand. You could move it every day or every other day so that your chickens can have fresh grass and a clean environment. Plus, they’ll be fertilizing the ground as they go! There are so many ideas on the internet for chicken tractors that can be made very cheaply. It is probably the most cost effective housing option for meat chickens. The coop can be smaller and you don’t have to build a large run since the birds will be directly on the grass.

Electric netting fence is a great mobile option as well.

Another option would be to use electric netting fence. You can still put a mobile coop inside the fencing which will make it much easier to move the fencing when the chickens are locked inside the coop. Using electric netting will allow your chickens plenty of space to forage and you won’t have to move them as often. The downside is that it is a little more expensive starting out. But once you have the electric netting, you can use it for years.

When we decided to raise our meat chickens, we ended up building a large chicken coop that was technically mobile. The downside was that it had to be pulled by machinery. Our chickens had more room, but it was a pain to move. If we had it to do over again, we would have definitely gone with a much lighter coop. Because it was so hard to move, there were times when our chickens were probably left on the same piece of grass for a little too long. I comforted myself by remembering that they were much happier and healthier than they would have been in a cramped space like most commercial chickens.

Things to remember:

• The breed you choose is important. Everything from your budget to your setup should influence this decision.
• Decide beforehand how you want to feed your chickens. If you want pasture raised meat, you should plan ahead so that you have the easiest setup to achieve that.
• You can keep your cost low while raising meat chickens. But, you may have to put in a little extra work to make it possible.

Overall, raising meat chickens for us was a great introduction into butchering. It also made us more confident in our ability to be sustainable on our homestead. We plan to continue to raise chickens for meat. When making the decision to raise meat chickens for yourself and your family, all it takes is a little planning and you can have some of the freshest and healthiest food possible. Let me know in the comments below if you have raised meat chickens of your own and have any ideas on how to feed them cheaply as well as chicken tractor ideas!