New Hampshires for meat?

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I've butchered extra roosters from straight run hatchery orders. If butchered young enough to still make a good griller they will be quite small, this is hatchery stock I'm referring to. If you found a source from a good breeder who has been working to sustain the old style heritage birds and has breed for meat and faster growth you may get better results but the odds of getting a carcass that is anywhere near any of the meat hybrids is pretty slim, that would go for all the heritage breeds, though at one time the new Hampshire was considered a fast growing meat bird and used in crossed for meat hybrids, sadly the hatcheries mass produced and didn't work to maintain utility
 
I have a few hatchery stock NH's that grew real big, real fast, as was their intent when they were developed. I was surprised actually given that hatchery consolidation has ruined most breeds. They were from a smaller hatchery though that is outside the midwest hatchery belt, so that may be the difference. I didn't process them however, as they are part of a breeding experiment, so I don't have metrics.

That being said, I simply wouldn't use NH's as a meat flock given that there are better options. They'll be somewhat serviceable if you happen to have them, but unless your primary objective is to improve the line over time, I don't see why you would bother going out of your way to use them.

Edit: The roosters can be, at times, a little cantankerous. Just FYI if that's a consideration.
 
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