Best non hybrid meat birds

[dheltzel]

I'm thinking of starting a flock of meat birds, and I was wondering what would be the best breed. I looked at the Freedom Rangers and was thinking about getting them until I saw that they are actually a hybrid. I would like a breed that is a good forager, meat bird, and that is not a hybrid.

Any tips would be appreciated!

Why are you opposed to them as hybrids? If the main purpose is for meat, get a flock of FR's and breed them. There is nothing about them that says the babies will worse for meat production than their parents were. It would be many generations (if ever) before you see any inbreeding problems. For meat, these will be far superior to the breeds you mentioned. I have Welsummers and they are layers, not meat producers, there is just no comparison.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Not to hyjack the thread but if anyone is working on utility breeds or hybrids or projects to sustainable meat birds come on over and post what you have/are working on and your goal in a thread just started:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...d-bred-dual-purpose-bird-thread#post_16492552

Aim of thread will be to collect actual weights at progressive ages of peoples stock. Feeds used, discussion of means to improve stock are in the focus of thread. Emphasis of thread is to find or improve current breed or make a line of self sustaining birds that reach market weight of 4 lbs butchered in 12 weeks. Hybrids also welcome as it will be a slow moving thread so never a bad thing to have more data in one place. The intent is to gain data of actual #'s. No anecdotal means of measure or reference allowed. We can improve stock and can make a line but it takes focus of intent and real data.


Cheers

 

[jermoatc]

I have narrowed my choices for males to Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, or New Hampshires. Any opinions out there as to which would make the best table bird and why??

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Barred Plymouth Rock in current stock are notoriously slow to mature. They never were speedy but over a hundred years from origin and these have gotten worse. White Plymouth would be a better choice. It's the best variety of that breed. White birds will present better table bird. Dark pin feathers can be unsightly to some.

Buff Orpington, it's England's Plymouth Rock. The birds are very similar from conception, Plymouth was the back bone of it's foundation breeds. Orps of today have a lot of poof to feathers. That's different. They may or may not get as large as a White Rock as they are outer edge to over breed standard. All in all, it's apples to apples.

New Hampshire. Now here is a bird that was made by intensive selection of the fastest maturing Rhode Island Reds. That's it's founding breed. No other. It's a 20th Century bird and geared for broiler industry use. I'd don't think I need to say much more on that. Does it perform as it did in the 50's? No but it's the best standard bred performer going I can find. Not hatchery birds though, those are production reds and not New Hampshire no matter what they tell you. If you want a true dual purpose bird and New Hampshire find a breeder and get stock or eggs that way.

Buckeye is promising. Take note on page 7 in this link. Live weights of cockerels in 16 weeks of 6 lbs. 66% would be a good percent to estimate carcass weight. Good link for showing selecting breeders to keep whatever you choose for breed in a meat oriented utility bird.

http://www.livestockconservancy.org/images/uploads/docs/ALBCchicken_assessment-1.pdf

Hatcheries picked up on the piqued interest in Buckeye due to the conservation effort. For ease of getting a good dual purpose bird that will still perform well....they've only had them a few years now so may not have turned them into strictly layers yet. Imagine you can get good stock still from hatcheries. They purchased conservation birds to get in on the attention the breed was/is getting so may still be good stock at bargain price.

 

[MarkButcher]

I'm thinking of starting a flock of meat birds, and I was wondering what would be the best breed. I looked at the Freedom Rangers and was thinking about getting them until I saw that they are actually a hybrid. I would like a breed that is a good forager, meat bird, and that is not a hybrid.

Any tips would be appreciated!

I like the question you pose JohnDeerGirl. I think essentially you're asking "is there a non hybrid meat chicken available that can give me something close to the same fast gain as a hybrid?". Time and cost being the reality, I think you're going to have to make the choice of one or the other. That's where I'm at also, as I evaluate going with a separate flock from my egg layers, or venture into the hybrids, and a longer time and feed investment of a multi purpose bird. I will say that on the multi purpose birds,, I'm kinda thinking I won't lose to awful much in egg production, and time and cost on the meat side can be mitigated to a degree by being willing to accept a smaller/ earlier butcher weight result, by going with the multi purpose bird.