What Time of Year Is Best For Raising Meat Chickens?

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Meat chickens – also called broilers – are a whole different ballgame compared to raising laying hens. While many backyard chicken keepers keep layers around for a handful of years, meat chicken breeds only live for a couple of months before they’re ready to process. And since you’ll only have them for a little while, it’s important to consider the best time of year for raising meat chickens. If you choose wisely, you can significantly mitigate potential problems (including death) and increase the amount of meat you get for your investment dollars.

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What Time of Year Is Best For Raising Meat Chickens?

There are a few factors that go into choosing the best time of year for getting your broiler chicks. But in our experience as Michigan homesteaders, spring and fall are generally the best times. It’s not too hot and not too cold, and it’s usually not too hard to secure available baby chicks.

Broilers tend to be not as hardy as laying breeds. And Cornish Cross birds – the most popular meat breed – are especially delicate (which is a funny word for such big birds!). These super fast growing birds are heavy, can’t move very quickly, and tend to have health problems when they’re not raised carefully and under the right conditions. The middle of summer can be much too hot for them, and winter time is really too cold for any broiler breed to be raised economically.

Besides thinking about climate, which is probably the top consideration, you also need to take other factors into account, such as availability, processing, breed, and your schedule.

Cornish Crosses are ready in about 8 weeks, with slightly slower growing breeds, like Freedom Rangers, taking around 9-11 weeks. So regardless of what breed you choose, you can actually raise multiple batches in the course of a year and still pick optimal seasons.

Knowing that spring and fall are generally the best times, let’s dive a little deeper into the individual factors that you should think about before choosing an order date for your chicks.

Factors to Consider

1. Temperature/Climate

Spring considerations

Starting your chicks TOO early in the spring can cause not only slow their weight gain – because they’re using so much energy to keep warm – but it can actually kill them if it ends up getting too cold. According to Myers Poultry, one of the top poultry sellers, the temperature at chick height should be 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit during the first week of their lives, and can be decreased by 5 degrees per week.

In most climates, this means that you’ll need a heat source for the first couple of weeks or so. We actually only do this until they’re feathered out, which is usually around week 3. And mostly just at night. But it depends on how the weather’s feeling, too.

A heat lamp hung from a 2×4 is an easy way to keep them warm. Just keep in mind that you’ll probably have to raise it a few times as the chicks get taller. You don’t want them jumping up and hitting it. You can also clamp your heat lamp to a chain hung from a nail and then easily move the chain up a couple of links as needed.

We keep our chicks in a water trough inside of our chicken tractor for the first couple of weeks. The small space allows them to create body heat, and the sides give a good wind break from any cold air.

In Michigan, mid to late April is usually a good time to start, when the daytime temps are around 55°F or so and nighttime temps are above freezing.

Summer considerations

Avoiding both raising and processing in the heat of summer can help prevent heat problems with your birds. Heavy meat birds are prone to heart attacks, leg problems, and other health issues, and the hot summers don’t help. In addition, we’ve found that processing during the hottest days of summer can make things a lot more uncomfortable and also tends to attract a lot more flies and bugs.

Fall considerations

We like to start our fall batch of birds sometime in August, so they’re ready to process around late September before it starts getting too cold out. Getting into October in Michigan, it can start to get pretty chilly during some of the October days (although you never know!). Sticking your hands in a cold chicken and plopping the birds in ice water is not so fun when you end up with frigid fall winds or rain. (You need those fingers to work well if you’re going to be dealing with processing knives!).

The cold can also be difficult for the birds before processing day, too. If it’s too chilly, they’ll end up over-expending their energy on regulating their body temperature rather than bulking on the last couple of pounds.

Earlier in the fall, you there’s still plenty of fresh grass for them to forage on, but you get to avoid the majority of the cold weather.

2. Availability

Availability is obviously a major factor when choosing the best time of year to get your birds. A lot of people order in the spring, which means certain breeds can go really fast. Our experience has been that Cornish Crosses are pretty readily available all spring and summer. However, heritage breeds and even other hybrid breeds like Red Rangers can sell quickly, and you may need to order them well before spring hits.

Some of the top companies to order from include Myers Poultry, Hoover Hatchery, and Freedom Ranger Hatchery. We’ve also had good success ordering online through Tractor Supply Co. and have found the pricing to be quite low comparatively. When ordering online, the company will generally send day-old chicks and you’ll need to go pick them up from the post office a day or two later.

You can also buy chicks from your local feed store, although it’s hard to know for certain what will be available and when.

In terms of availability, the best thing to do is to plan out your ideal dates as early as January or February, then order ahead to make sure you’ll be able to secure the amount of chicks you need at the right time.

3. Processing

Whether you decide to process your birds yourself or take them to a processor, it’s really important to think about this step as far in advance as you can.

Many poultry processors are booked out months in advance, so you may need to call them to book your spot at the beginning of the season or even sooner. And of course, you’ll need to make sure processing is timed correctly based on when you get your birds. Cornish Cross meat chicks reach butcher weight in about 6-8 weeks, while other breeds like Red Rangers and Kosher Kings take closer to 12 weeks to reach an adequate butchering size. For Cornish Crosses especially, you don’t want to go over, or they can die of heart attacks, leg problems, etc.

If you’re planning to sell your whole chickens, you may have to take them to an FDA-approved processing facility in order to comply with legal restrictions (but check your state’s regulations to be sure).

Processing at home

If you’re raising birds for your own consumption, you might find processing them yourself to be a good option. It can be a good way to save money. Our local poultry processor charges $7 per chicken, which can add up to a lot when we do 60 birds per year. This is the main reason we choose to process them ourselves, but we also enjoy the process.

As I mentioned above, we prefer to process before it gets too hot in the summer. This way the meat isn’t sitting out under the super hot sun, and we don’t have to deal with as many flies. Then we process another batch in the fall when it’s cooled back down but not too frigid.

If you’re processing on a larger scale, you might also consider renting processing equipment if that’s an option near you. Since we get together with family to do about 75 birds in a day, we like to rent a plucker at the very least (this makes the process go so much faster!). However, if you’re going to rent, you should also check into this ahead of time to make sure the equipment is available on the date you plan to process.

4. Breed

There are a number of meat bird breeds, and different meat breeds take longer or shorter amounts of time before they’re ready to process. Here are some of the top options for broilers:

Cornish Crosses. We like these hybrid meat chickens for their fast growth, which keeps feed costs to a minimum and gives us a lot of meat in just a couple of months. It is important to research proper care instructions for these fast-growing birds so they don’t run into health problems. They’re ready in 6-8 weeks.
Freedom Rangers. Freedom Rangers and Red Rangers are a very similar breed of bird that are bred and raised for meat production. They take longer than Cornish Crosses (about 9-12 weeks), but they tend to have less health problems along the way. They’re hardier, faster moving, and produce tender meat. These breeds are some of the best options for easy-to-raise and delicious meat birds. However, in the end, they usually weigh a couple pounds less than Cornish Crosses.
Kosher Kings. This flavorful meat breed is active and loves to forage. They have a lot of similarities to Freedom Rangers. They’re gentle animals that grow quickly and are ready to process around 9-11 weeks. They usually reach 5-6 pounds.
New Hampshires. These heritage breed, dual-purpose birds combine the best of both worlds. They have a fast growth rate and can be ready to process in about 16 weeks, but they’re also reliable layers that produce large, brown eggs.
White Plymouth Rock. These dual-purpose chickens are a heritage breed that was actually a part of the selective breeding process from which we get Cornish Crosses. They’re great for eggs or meat and can be processed at almost any age.
Rhode Island Reds. This dual-purpose breed is better known for eggs than for meat, but they’re still ready to process at around 16-20 weeks. This type of chicken is a heritage breed that’s not very broody and is great at foraging.

Alternative options include other Cornish breeds (such as Cornish Roasters, Dark Cornish and Cornish Game Hens), Bresses, Delawares, and Jersey Giants.

5. Your schedule

It doesn’t hurt to take your schedule into consideration, too. Some breeds require more care than others. For example, Cornish Crosses need to be fed 12 hours on/12 hours off for the majority of their life. This means morning and evening chores need to be done every day. And if you have a chicken tractor, like us, your birds will also need to be moved every day or so.

If you have any big summer plans of vacations, it doesn’t hurt to try and time them around chickens to avoid having to secure someone to look after them (although for most homesteaders, of course, chickens are just one of many responsibilities to take into account!).

(Another plug for Cornish Crosses – the shorter commitment makes them easier in a number of ways!)

How Long Does It Take Meat Chickens to Grow?

It depends on the breed you choose. Some are ready at 6 weeks of age, and others need 12 weeks to reach butchering weight.

Tips for Planning Your Meat Chicken Schedule

Make sure you have a reliable source for buying chicks. Some breeds are easy to get at the feed store for the whole summer, while others are much less common and tricker to secure. Of course, if you plan to raise 5 birds, it will also be much easier to find them than if you want 100. For most online hatcheries, the price goes down when you order more. So if you can order with a friend, you may get a better rate. If possible, it’s best to order months in advance so you can secure the date you want.
Make a processing plan in advance. Most processors are booked months out, so don’t wait to sign up for a spot. If you’re going to process on your own and don’t need to rent any equipment, this part isn’t a big deal. We learned in our first year of raising meat chickens that renting certain equipment, like a plucker, is SO helpful if you can get your hands on it!
Don’t wait too long to process, especially for Cornish Crosses. Cornish Crosses can die if they get too heavy. They’re prone to heart attacks, leg problems, and more. So if you have to pick a processing date in advance, it’s a good idea to err on the shorter side. We’ve found that 8 weeks is getting right to the edge.

What Does It Cost to Raise Your Own Meat Chickens?

There are a lot of factors that play into the cost of raising your own meat birds. Our last few batches of broiler chickens have ranged from approximately $9-$13 per bird. However, this total cost just included feed, processing, and the chicks themselves.

Other costs that play into the price of raising your own chickens include:

Chicken coop. We use a chicken tractor to allow our chicks to get lots of fresh air and green grass. You can buy one or build one yourself for anywhere from about $250-$1000. Broilers don’t need much room – about 2 square feet per bird is sufficient.
Feeder. Again, lots of options here. We made a DIY gravity feeder that cost around $25 total and only needs to be filled every few days.
Waterer. Typical waterers usually cost anywhere from $10-$30. Or, you can make a DIY gravity feeder if you want to streamline your chore time even more and make sure your birds always have clean water available.
Heat lamp, brooder box, and shavings for young chicks.

After the one-time costs, we’ve found raising chickens to be less costly than buying a similar quality from the grocery store. And of course, when you raise them yourself, you know exactly what goes into them and what their lives were like!

Other factors like whether you use organic feed (we don’t), processing fees, etc. can of course play into this equation. We wrote an entire blog post breaking down the cost of raising meat chickens and how we keep our costs low if you want to find out more.