Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Arielle]

Quote:

 

[Cedarknob]

@ Cedarknob So you restricted the diet of the Cornish and get the hens to breeding age and breed them with a dual purpose breed roo? Which has evolved into a sustainable dual purpose mix breed with a good amount of meat? It probably sounds like dumb questions, but my Wyandottes and Araucanas I got last year as my first chicken experience as an adult are supposed to be dual purpose.....I cannot imagine there would be much to eat on them. There is not much there. Might get a few bites and that would be it! I thought about getting a meaty heritage roo to go over my Wyandotte hens to bulk up my stock. But maybe I should go Cornish female. ?

Wyandottes would probably serve you well as a dual purpose bird if they were bred up to the SOP.

I suppose all chickens are dual purpose in that they l lay some eggs and have meat on them, but the true breeds once labeled as such were a nice balance between a layer breed and a meat breed. I wanted a blue egg for its novelty. There are no heritage breeds that lay them, and neither of breeds that were developed more recently have the size or meaty body I think a dual purpose breed should have. I am taking a stab at breeding something like a good Chantecler but with muffs and beard and that lays a big blue egg. Cornish Rocks and true Cornish were the only two birds that I think have enough body to help out the Ameraucanas. I don't recommend doing crosses over finding a nice heritage breed........................... and I hate to think about the time and money I have invested in getting this flock of mutts just started. I could have bought a trio of high quality, adult show birds at twice whatever their breeder asked, hatched enough chicks to keep a big flock of breeders, filled my freezer with the culls, and had money left to buy their feed just with the money I've spent on creating this flock of mutts just to this point.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I love my EE just for their pretty eggs. Tiny and not worth eating . . . . yet.

 

[NanaKat]

Quote: I love my EE just for their pretty eggs. Tiny and not worth eating . . . . yet.
I'll take my digital scale out to the pens tomorrow and weigh in my Wyandottes just to compare.

And "been there done that" spending time and money on hatchery stock. That's why I got into the Columbian Wyandottes and Cochins.

 

[Robert Blosl]

After reading the last few messages I thought what has been one of the top Dual Purpose breeds still going strong today? What line of this breed is still pure for the breed and never out crossed for over 100 years. Ans er the Mohawk Rhode Island Reds. They are still going strong after they where first started in 1912 in Decatur Georgia by Mr.s Donald Donaldson.

Next some good Wyandottes as they are the ******* child of the American Class today. Very few have them and they need help.

 

[gg706]

I bought my Wyandottes from a "breeder", they did not come from a hatchery....but in my opinion they may as well be hatchery birds. I believe their comb and legs are the only thing correct. I actually really like Wyandottes. Some people say they are unfriendly...but I enjoy their "attitude". They have never been unfriendly to me just aloof, they have effectively trained my Weims to leave the chickens alone. As pups if they got too close the Wyandotte hens would flog them. Now that the pup is grown she doesn't know any better......
Funny to see a full grown Weimaraner run from a couple of hens!

 

[7961]

Next some good Wyandottes as they are the ******* child of the American Class today. Very few have them and they need help.

Mr. Blosl asked for Wyandottes..a pic of my white cockerel that I am using in the breeding pen. I am bit surprised as to the lack of interest in Wyandottes. I really enjoy mine. Striking birds IMO, the hens lay well, they are taking this northern winter with ease, mellow dispositions. Really an ideal breed of Standard Bred Poultry. I got my start from one of the top breeders in the country in Indiana. He also has helped me out alot.

 

[Robert Blosl]

When it comes to Wyandottes Matt 1616 has a few of the nicest Silver Laced Birds I ever seen. I hope and pray he can get some fertility out of them this year. There are a few good Whites out there a friend Steve from Georgia got two that come from the top strain in the USA. There is a judge I met at our Pensacola Show this Dec who has Partridge and thats about it for that breed. People have just ignored this breed and they are about as rare as hens teeth. Aggressiveness in American Class chickens makes me think of hatchery. Do you know if you ask 1,000 people on this web site what the most meanest or aggressive chicken they ever heard of or seen they will say the Rhode Island Red males. Yet the real Rhode Island Red male is as docile and sweat as can be I have never seen a mean one in 20 years.

The name of the game however, is to pick a breed that can earn there keep as our feed prices have made a poor selection costly.

That is why on this thread its important to go with hatchery birds that grow fast and can be ready to eat as soon as poss able.

Here is a question. Prior to eating a bird do they soften up the meat fibers if you put say two or three birds in a 4x4 pen and keep them from getting exercises or is this a old wives tail. If you pick one up off the ground thats been free ranging are they tough in the legs ect or no difference. When I got started my wife did not like my big red males to eat. She said they were to tough. FREE RANGE birds.

Nice Picture of your male is that a Patterson Breed Bird? Looks nice.

 

[NanaKat]

Part of my Columbian Wyandotte flock with a Minorca hen on a windy day. The pullet closest to the rooster is his daughter out of the hen on the left. These are not hatchery birds. My birds come from a line developed in Oklahoma and carried on by another breeder and now I have the line. I started with five breeder hens and the young rooster.


I also have Black, Blue, Blue Columbian and Birchen Wyandottes....the last two are not yet recognized in the SOP

 

[7961]

Mr Blosl:yes my birds came from Patterson.