Raising Broilers for Others

I have had 2 ladies asking if I would be willing to raise chickens for the freezer for them, about 50-75. I already told them I would not raise Cornish Rocks, only heritage chickens. The $8+ for good chickens would be prohibitive, so I am expecting hatchery birds would be a better choice, as their life is short anyways. What breeds would you recommend (I have been looking at the Rochester Hatchery catalogue), and what would you charge? Has anyone done this before who would have some advice? How much outdoor space would they need? I am only entering my second year of raising chickens; excited about the opportunity, but wanting to do it right. And for Alberta, are there any legal concerns? Thanks in advance for all your help!

This is an interesting idea. Your customer would need to be aware of what to expect with a heritage chicken for their table. If they have raised their own in the past and understand the difference, then I am sure they will be pleased with the results. But if they are expecting a broiler-type chicken (as most families do these days) they may be in for a surprise with the slower cooking requirements and higher percentage of dark meat on the bird.

You will also need to be prepared to grow a heritage chicken for a long time before they will reach a decent size. Now I am talking about the true heritage breeds here. If you don't want to grow Cornish Giants, there are other alternatives for fast growing hybrids that are more suited to free range conditions, but these are not heritage breeds.

And they need to be prepared to pay double in feed bills. The commercial bird is done at about 8 weeks, the heritage bird takes untial bout 16 weeks.

I would advise that you have them buy the chicks, and give you money up front for feeding. You would then grow them to a certain AGE, not eight, you will have a hard time dealing with processing dates if it is by weight, and then they pay you the remainder owed for feed, PLUS a growing fee. If they do not pay then the birds become your property and you owe them nothing. MAKE SURE you get it in WRITING>

Who is taking them to be processed?
I reccomend that you set a date for them to get the birds by and leave processing etc up to them.

They may not be too happy when the cost of a chick goes from commercial $2 to Heritage $4 to $8 and when the cost of feed doubles, and the cost/time of boarding doubles also. They may well be looking at owing you $20+ a bird before processing!

I agree with what others are saying.

Unfortunatly the heritage birds you are looking at from rochester are most likely not going to result in much.

My 1st experience with a mixed batch of herritage birds from rochester resulted in 50% roos. We took them to be processed when they were between 4 and 5 months old. They hardly dressed out at 2 lbs.

The cornish giants are not bad if you manage them correctly. They can free range if you encourage it early.

If they are expecting to pay $8 per bird ready for the freezer I think they will be mistaken. At $4 per lb I hardly break even with costs of chicks, feed, processing at birds that are 4 to 6 lbs each.

I would agree either have them pay for everything and pay you a "care and boarding fee" or pay you a per lb once processed. They are a alot of work and you also use lots of other materials such as shavings, stall dry etc.

Good luck!