Duel purpose

[weidnercharm]

I am looking at creating a flock for both egg and meat production. I like the idea of having fast growers like the Red Rangers, but I really like the idea of having good layers during the winter, Black Australorp. Am I able to cross these two? If I replace the rooster every year..... Red Ranger first year, Australorp second year and so on, can that work?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Not really. Your better off getting a quality dual purpose breed from breeder stock and keeping that. It's possible to create a dual purpose line but it takes years of dedication and not all are success stories. The real deal is peoples expectations are too high. By the time to set a line to be a quality dual purpose it's not nearly the performance of meat that they want. For some, not necesarrily you, they're better off raising a layer flock, low feed consumption and high egg production, and doing a few small batches of meat birds a year for grilling and roasting birds. Plenty of stew birds to be had from the layer flock. If you really think your good with a dual purpose bird there are two I recommend that will be relatively fast growing having cockerels yield dress weights of over 3 lbs in 14 weeks. That's a good age as past that they really are not tender enough to grill if that's your desire. Wont have gained the tough to pluck saddle feathers at that age and will be as feed conservative as a dual purpose bird can be at that age. 12-14 weeks is in my opinion the best time to cull most your cockerels.

New Hampshire from breeder stock, either German or American New Hampshire stock, is a great dual purpose bird. Very good layers and carcass of size. The other early mature dual purpose is Buckeye. This is due to the recent conservancy effort. In that project they recorded live weights of 6 lbs in 16 weeks. That's about a 4 lbs carcass hence my statement of over 3 lbs in 12-14 weeks dress weight. The Buckeye is a good layer but not as prolific as the New Hampshire.

 

[weidnercharm]

Thank you. I have one chick who is a New Hampshire. She is growing faster than the other three. I will give it some thought.
Amy