Ross 308 - Broiler?

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Sarahscotland

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Hi Everyone,

A few days ago I hatched my first chickens eggs. I got 17 out of 18 so was really pleased with the results. I am a teacher and was doing this as part of a class project. Over the next few weeks I am going to be rehoming my chickens. I already have lots of potential homes lined up.

Today I found out that my chickens are Ross 308's. Can anyone tell me anymore about this type of chicken? I read online today that they are broilers. Does this mean they are bred for meat? I also read that they are fast growers so should not be given access to food all the time.

Any advice or further info would be appreciated
 
As you have discovered, they are a fast maturing meat breed which need to be killed at 3-4 months old or they are likely to go off their legs. They will not grow as fast outside broiler houses and some may even make adulthood but they are not a good long term prospect. You must have got the eggs from a specialist producer. You will probably find that there are not many homes available for meat breeds.
If you need help to decide what to hatch next or where to get eggs, I'd ask on here. You don't need to take the advice !
Congratulations on the hatch.
 
Oh dear this is what I was worried about. So even if they are not being fed the same food they would have been given they still won't live very long?
The people that have enquired about taking them in did not plan on eating them. I'm obviously going to have to pass this information onto them before they agree to have them. Most people wanted to keep them for laying eggs, is that really not practical?
 
Even if you ofer them better life they really chose to not to move around to much.Unfortunetly they been breed this way.If may longer take them to put on waight but they all eventually do.Few friends of mine had raised them to age of lying the eggs and cockrells to reproducing age but tend to dye very quickly anyway ,heart problems,not being able to move around from sheer waight of they bodies on the legs.Broilers in comercial production reach sloughter age at 6 weeks-imagine how big apetite they must have-poor things they must feel hungry all the time.
 
Oh this makes me so sad. My poor wee chicks :(
I got the eggs from a friend of a friend who did say they came from a specialist. At this point I had no idea what broilers were. She mention the variety was something Red so I was assuming Rhode Island Reds. Only when they hatched did I start to do more research.

So clearly I am not going to be able to rehome them to the places I was expecting to. This is really sad as I was looking forward to hearing progress reports about how they are doing.

There is a chicken farm near my school whick gets deliveries of day old chicks all the time ( I looked into this in case my eggs didnt hatch). I'm guessing they must be broilers too? Do you think they would take my chicks? Or will there be concerns about cross contamination etc
 
If they won't you can find smallholding of some kind and offer them for free.They are smalholding websites you can look at them and find somone close to you.I know how you feel they doomed since day 1.You still can offer them to the people orginally wanting them but let them know not to expect long life.As I said befor they can reach adulthood and start to lieing eggs but for how long no one really knows for sure.
 
What are broilers fed? Are they fed a special diet to make them mature and fatten up quickly? If this was the case, if they were fed ordinary layers pellets wouldn't this help them live longer lives and not get too fat too quickly? I don't know anything about them, but just wondered whether things could be a bit more positive if they weren't treated as broilers. Would they lay eggs at all?
 
I've got some Hubbards which I think are similar to the Ross and I hatched mine for the table at the same time as some Faverolles. The Hubbards are hardy (and it's probably why you had such a good hatch rate) friendly, but they are incredibly lazy and spend their time preferring to eat and laze in the sun, so are very different to other breeds. Mine are on growers pellets at the moment so eat the same as the Favs and I take the food away at night so they don't eat continually. It's a shame that you weren't told before you got them what type of bird they were as they are obviously different to layers. They are, however very tasty and I'm sure you can find suitable homes for them but you may have to ask people who are familiar with raising table birds rather than those who want layers. Good luck.
 
Sue they will lay the eggs if reach right age-they have to come from somwere right?My friend has few of them for the table and if she can't eat them all some become layers :)
 
I have 'rescued' ex breeding Broiler females before, Big heavy hens that do lay, althoough as a table breed they are not as productive in this respect as laying breeds/hybrids, However for backyard layers they should be fine! The males, sadly, will be hard to re-home, they are bred to be eaten, and as already mentioned, they do tend to go off their feet as they reach a good weight, so it maybe as well to find an experienced poultry keeper to 'deal' with these cockerels as they mature.
I have known Broiler males reach healthy maturity and a good age, but they are Monstrous birds!! I once, on the request of it's desperate owner, had to dispatch a four year old rescue broiler cockerel, found as a four week old baby after a Lorry shed it's live chicken cargo on a main road. ' Mr. Chicken' had grown into a twelve pound behemoth that had succeeded in killing several hens in his attempts to mate with them, had terrorised it's owners cats to the point where they refused to leave the house, and caused her Pet Great Dane to develop a chicken phobia. This bird was NOT a pleasant character!!
I duly dispatched the old battler , and prepared it for cooking. I quartered the carcass, boiled it, then roasted it.Even then It was as tough as old boot leather, and even my dogs turned their noses up at it!
 
Interesting Lordcluck that the cockerel in your post was 4 years old. This means that the females out of the batch that Sarahscotland has hatches may be fine as backyard hens and live a reasonable life, as long as the people who take them on know what they are. This is what I was trying to say, but probably not very well! They would probably be fine as pets/backyard hens. Can't be any worse than people taking on ex bats that they know won't live particularly long lives or lay loads of eggs!
 
This is sounding a little more positive now. Thanks everyone. I think I will speak to the people who had offered to take some and explain the situtation to them. Hopefully some will still be interested. I also have a gamekeeper friend who I think who raise them as table birds if I have any left.

Am I right in saying I cant tell which ones are roosters at this stage? So I will have to give them away unsexed.
 
Sue said:
Interesting Lordcluck that the cockerel in your post was 4 years old. This means that the females out of the batch that Sarahscotland has hatches may be fine as backyard hens and live a reasonable life, as long as the people who take them on know what they are. This is what I was trying to say, but probably not very well! They would probably be fine as pets/backyard hens. Can't be any worse than people taking on ex bats that they know won't live particularly long lives or lay loads of eggs!
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I think the longevity of ' Mr. Chicken ' was an Exception to the rule Sue! Broiler Cockerels are bred to put on a huge amount of flesh very quickly, even those reared in a more free range environment often go off their feet after a certain age and weight. Should they make maturity, their weight could become an issue for any light or bantam breed hens they may be kept with. You can try it and see, but I would be prepared to have to cull them if they lose the ability to walk or pose a danger to any females they may be kept with.
The Hens I kept were good natured birds, prone to broodiness but far too heavy to sit eggs. They made a good age and enjoyed a free range life. I would be careful what they are fed, especially in a restricted environment, they fatten very quickly and easily, so a carefully controlled diet and as much excercise as they can get will prevent leg weaknesses or heart problems.
 
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