Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[josh44]

Here's a few pics of my Grey ( Silver Duckwing ) Asil & a Barred Shamo in the background.

 

[LilyD]

I am looking to get into heritage breeds. I want a bird that is good for eggs but also for meat as well. I would love to have the birds hatch the eggs themselves and raise the young and just cull as they get older and I decide which would be good for breeding and which would do better for dinner. What breeds would you suggest?

 

[Lotsapaints]

My New Hampshires are the broodiest "heritage" breed I have and very dependable egg layers but I do not hatch out many males.....where the Delawares haven't been very broody lay well and I hatch mostly males and they are good eating as they mature quickly and when I cross these 2 breeds together it seems to increase the size and quickness of maturity. Both are very friendly birds and lay very well no matter what the weather.

 

[line-rat]

Buckeye Chickens

 

[LilyD]

How fast to Delawares mature?

Another breed that I was told to check into is the Orpingtons is there any information on them?

How much faster do the hampshire deleware crosses mature when bred together. I am still trying to decide what breeds to go with. I have an egg laying coop for just eggs but I would like to have a coop to dedicate just to breeding DP birds in particular.

I have also heard that Brahmas were good but grew slower. How much slower do they grow compared to the Delawares and the buckeyes?

Thanks for all your help

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
It sounds stupid but Google "Top Ten Rhode Island Red Breeders" you'll find what you are looking for with in the first 5 links.

Chris

i checked that out chris. i know some of those names and they dont all have heritage birds.

Should have been the first link. What name were you refering to?

It would have been a site with some very good breeder named like;

William Bennett,
Greg Chamess,
Lloyd Flanigan,
Warren Carlow,
Matt John,
Dyanne Urch,
Don Nelson,
Dick Horstman,
Tim Bowles,
That was just the first page.
I know and seen Williams, Matt John, Urch, Don Nelson, Dick and Tim's stock and will say that they are very good stock.
Dick Horstman, Tim Bowles and I run much the same line but I added some of old Dennis Meyers Single Comb stock to mine. Now Mike Stichler just picked up 5 pullets last year off me to go with some of his Reds.

Chris

 

[Lotsapaints]

Quote:
I can't say about the other breeds you asked about...when I crossed the birds I used a nice Del rooster with hatchery New Hampshires and I hatched them on new Years and butchered them before Easter the largest dressed out @ 5 1/2 lbs the smallest 2lbs pure Dels can be done that soon also though they take 2 weeks longer to be the same size range. I like doing them even younger as they are easier to process and I don't need more than a pound of meat to eat.....so they can be de-boned and used for stir fries when you hatch I seem to get lots of boys and I cull for size right away really those little ones never catch up and if they are slow to feather....saves me on feed mine can't free range.

Both the New Hampshires and Delawares lay very well nice large deep brown speckled eggs and I just took the eggs from the birds I wanted to set and put them under the broody girls. I don't know if any of those girls will want to set in the winter though and I need chicks to hatch early next year.

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
Yep. Can't beat them.

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
I can't say about the other breeds you asked about...when I crossed the birds I used a nice Del rooster with hatchery New Hampshires and I hatched them on new Years and butchered them before Easter the largest dressed out @ 5 1/2 lbs the smallest 2lbs pure Dels can be done that soon also though they take 2 weeks longer to be the same size range. I like doing them even younger as they are easier to process and I don't need more than a pound of meat to eat.....so they can be de-boned and used for stir fries when you hatch I seem to get lots of boys and I cull for size right away really those little ones never catch up and if they are slow to feather....saves me on feed mine can't free range.

Both the New Hampshires and Delawares lay very well nice large deep brown speckled eggs and I just took the eggs from the birds I wanted to set and put them under the broody girls. I don't know if any of those girls will want to set in the winter though and I need chicks to hatch early next year.

I was given 14 Delaware eggs and I am trying to hatch them as we speak. I am thinking that that will probably be the breed that I go with. I was also looking at Brahmas but I hear that they take a lot longer to mature so I am still unsure about them. The only other breed I have heard about are the Orpingtons many people say that they do really well as a DP breed but I don't know enough about them so I am not sure if they will work well or not.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Quote:
My goals are similar to yours. In my experience, the Delawares matured faster than the Buckeyes. I like the Delaware as a meat bird because you can butcher them young enough to be able to use them as fryers and grill them on the BBQ. They taste great and lay nice big brown eggs, too.

The Buckeyes take longer to mature to a size for eating, so are good as a roasting bird. Mine don't lay as well as my other breeds but I have hatchery stock. If you buy Buckeyes, buy from a breeder in the Buckeye Club. Actually, I recommend not to buy from a hatchery for any of my breeds.

I also raise Silver Gray Dorkings, which are another good roasting bird. Mine are good layers, but not as good as the Delawares. The Dorkings mature slowly also but can be butchered young if you don't mind less meat. A full grown Dorking has exceptional white meat when roasted. Buckeyes have superior dark meat IMO when roasted.

Kim