Dual Purpose Chickens. I want eggs and meat, when should I butcher?

I appreciat the traditional approach of dual purpose chickens, but in attempting to find something that is good for both meat and eggs you can end up with something that not really good at either job.

It is really incredible how little feed it takes a leghorn or production red hybrid to produce an egg and they are close to year round daily layers. On the other hand some of the dual breeds tend to lay eggs less consistent in shape and size, some only get 3-4 eggs a week, some go off and on lay or get broody.

As for meat birds, a cornish cross grows at nearly 4 times the rate of dual breed, in 6 weeks it is easy to have 5-6lb chickens that would otherwise take 6 months with a heritage dual breed. Also the cornish crosses will convert feed at about 2:1 where heritage breeds will require nearly twice the feed for every pound of meat.

Heritage dual breeds are cool, but not always what they are cracked up to be.

You can also can older chicken. The pressure canning will tenderize the meat.

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Thank you, I was wondering what the effects of canning chicken would do on older birds.

I know we processed Cornish X after 10 weeks and they were tougher than the ones we had done before at 8 weeks. The trick is to rest them in the fridge either before you freeze the meat or after you freeze it and before you eat it. You can also rest it in a salt water brine and the salt will break down the tough muscles so they get more tender. The article on DP birds is great in that it emphasizes cooking the birds slowly and with a lot of moisture. I use a granite ware roaster like the one pictured and I baste my chicken every 15 minutes with a marinade (usually butter mixed with herbs and stock). It keeps the breast from drying out when you cook it for longer and also tenderizes the muscles of the dark meat as well. Another tip that I have been given for older birds is to roast them breast side down with lower heat and longer than you would store bought birds. Since heat rises the bottom of the roaster cooks slower than the top. That is why when a chicken is undercooked it often has cooked breast meat and bloody dark meat. If you flip it the breast meat will cook slower than the dark and since it takes less time to cook breast than dark meat they will get done about the same time.

We are going to about 6 months with our DP birds. Right now with SQ Brahma and Delaware they are about 3lbs live weight at 6 weeks old. By 24 weeks they should be a decent weight.

On another note, not all egg production birds are alike. I know that I had a batch of Gold Comets delivered and my weights for them at 18 weeks ranges from 5 to 10 pounds live weight. Their breasts aren't as round as the Triple DDD breasts from the Cornish X but I would have to say that they have a decent breast for an egg breed bird. I think it depends on the types of birds used to create the egg layer. Comets are crosses usually between White Rocks or Cornish, sometimes Delaware (pretty much white birds) with a red bird (Hampshire, RIR etc) and they can take on any of the traits from their parents. I am almost interested in hatching a batch of eggs from them. I know they won't breed true color wise, but what traits will they breed true on from their parents? I plan on eating my hens and rooster when they get old enough.

Cochins can also be eaten although they are more of a showy bird. My sister has a LF splash cochin rooster that is a monster. We weighed him this summer and he is around 13 pounds live weight at under a year old. I have a batch of mixed breed birds crossing the cochin roo with meat breed birds and they are looking very promising and are already 5+ pounds at 10 weeks. The only problem with Cochins is that they take longer to get filled out than other breeds so you will have to feed them longer than other DP breeds.

I think it's up to you how long you let your meaties go. I can only tell you what has worked so far for us and then you have to give it a try and tweak it as necessary to get the type of bird that you want.

"Old Hens" are the best tasting chicken. I didn't say tenderest, just the best chickeny flavored. Back when I was a boy in the 50's and 60's, we had about 50 Rhode Island Reds or White Plymouth Rocks each year for egg layers. Day old chicks in late March, they were retired from the hen house to Mom's canner in October of the following year (18-19 months old). Mom made the chicken and noodles for the church supper every year and people flocked from all over the county to eat her fabulously tasty dish. She often saved the excess chicken fat from old hens to fry younger chickens in and our pastor said Mom's fried chicken was the best in Linn County. Old hens are good chicken. They just need a pressure cooker to tenderize.

My father weighed in on a conversation my brother and I were having about the meat quality of an older hen. My brother and I have both been farming for 20 plus years. My father grew up with his grandparents farm across the street. My great grandparents had 19 mouths to feed. My dad said when it came time for his grandmother to put a meal on the table she went outside and caught a chicken, butchered it and hung it. For hundreds of years people ate "older " birds and didnt fuss over it. They are edible but we have become used to commercial bred animals that taste a certain way. Can you eat them? Of course you can. Leave your predetermined tastes behind though. BTW, my brother claims a pressure cooker works wonders on old hens.