We have reared our own chickens for the table for many years, and it makes economical sense if you choose to eat meat & if you have the land. It provides us with ‘happy meat’ that is fed on good quality food, whilst spending its days running round on grass under an (intermittent) Cornish sun.
However, having just culled the last 15 birds from this batch of Ross Cobb table birds, we (Jonny, my brother Stuart & I) are repulsed and sickened to the point of no return.
My Dad has farmed this land since the 70′s, and he opted for the commercial breed of chicken known as the Ross Cobb table bird. Every year we would take delivery of these chunky little birds with thick legs and huge feet, and watch them grow into beachballs with feathers.
The Ross Cobb weighs in at 2 kg at 6 weeks. Think about how big an egg is, and how big a 2 kg chicken is. All that growing in 6 weeks? Crazy. Ours go on for up to 12 weeks, creating a roasting bird more reminiscent of a turkey than a chicken.
I have fed, plucked and drawn enough of these birds to tell you that all too often their body mass grows quicker than their legs ability to hold them up. They ‘go off their legs’ because their skeleton can’t keep up with their obscene growth of muscle.
Several birds per batch drop dead of heart failure, due to the abnormal demands made on their cardiovascular system.
Apparently, this is farming.
Well, no more. The 3 of us have finally quit taking part in growing this kind of meat.
Next spring we will find a nice little trio of Buff Orpingtons or White Leghorns maybe. We’ll grow meat in a slow, old fashioned & sustainable way that makes sense to us, and we’ll eat chickens that we know lived a happy life.
If I can offer any advice to anyone still considering rearing these birds, cull them young and don’t order more than you can handle. If life gets in the way (which has happened here with Dad getting sick) they don’t pause in their relentless growth waiting for you to catch up. They just keep getting bigger & bigger.
Have you ever grown Ross Cobbs, or would you never entertain the idea?
Also, do you have any thoughts as to which old fashioned meat bird we should plump for next year? If so, please leave a comment below!
Janie x
I don’t know if you’re able to get them where you live, but here in the USA there is a breed known as “Freedom Rangers” or “Red Rangers”. They are a meat bird that grow at a slower rate and unlike the commercial meat breeds, it is active and an excellent forager.
http://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/learnmore
Thank you for that info Deborah, I’ve never heard of them but will look into it.
Thanks again, Janie x
cross light sussex hens with cornish game cockerel for a good meat bird.
Thanks Pam, what do you think about running a Cornish Game boy with Laying hens (we have Lohmanns)?
you can keep commercial type birds for months or even years, but you have to treat them a bit differently. I feed mine only twice per day, with enough to keep them pecking for about 15 mins max. If they want any more they have to walk and find it. I did loose 3/25 from this batch, they were all cockerels. The rest did very well. Last years hens are now laying, and you are right, they are huge, Sunday lunch was 12lbs, dressed. Happy chickening.
I get a bit worried when i read about the Cobb chickens here, i was thinking of getting some this spring, but i am not sure now, what if i leave these birds free range with little extra food will they develop stronger bones?
Ib.
Hey there, they are bred to cull very very young.
The last ones we put in the freezer, I have a real hard time eating. I’m not sure whether it is just because of how strongly I felt about them when we dispatched them or not, but the I’m finding the taste & texture unpleasant (I’m actually throwing the meat away from my plate, and I don’t waste food I’ve grown!). That said, my Dad raised them for many years, and I’ve eaten them for many years and had no problem with taste or texture, in fact I’ve always enjoyed it.
My advice, cull them young.
Janie x
Our view is exactly the same-we have hatched our first batch of these birds and after a poor hatch rate, one had a hernia, another went off its legs at only 5 weeks, another appeared to suffocate and now we have 3 left-huge birds that are free range and are beginning to look tired-they cannot perch at night and now spend their days laying down to eat. This has not only put us off ever rearing this breed again, but possibly put us off eating meat altogether.
We do have some lovely light sussex, marans and now some red jungle fowl though!
So sad Rosie, to think that this is the strain that feeds all(?) supermarket shelves. This last batch affected me so strongly, I’m even struggling to eat the birds we have in the freezer. If you find a nicer breed to grow for meat, please let me know.
Janie x