When it comes to raising chickens for meat, I have always preferred hatching my own. Sometimes though, life just gets in the way and you just don't have time.
Earlier in the year I'd gotten some rooster chicks for very very cheap from a local man. They butcher out nice, but were much slower than even my heavy traditional breeds. Also, for some reason we had a much higher than average mortality on them, and I ended up with less chicken for the winter than I like.
So last week I came across a deal on Ideal Hatcheries website - black or red broilers for $1 per chick. You've probably seen me say it before - I despise broilers because of the unnaturalness of them. They grown freakishly fast and cannot reproduce naturally. At least, the traditional Cornish cross broiler don't. I did a little research, and the red and black broilers grown more slowly than the Cornish, but more quickly than the traditional breeds. They also will breed if allowed to grow to maturity, although the hens aren't really good layers.
This late in the season, my only option to add to the freezer is broilers, so I'm taking a chance on the reds. I'll try to post occasional updates to how they perform.
