McMurry Broilers vs. Meat Focused Dual Purpose Breads

[nrs3]

I am deciding to try out raising cockerels for meat this year, but am undecided between choosing a dual purpose breed with a good carcass (Im looking into New Hampshire’s currently) or a broiler offered by the hatchery we purchased our chicks from last year. The medium-growth broiler Im considering is called a Big Red Broiler and it is supposed to be ready in about 10-12 weeks to develop. Anyways, Im just wondering if there are inherently any advantages to going with a dual purpose breed that takes only slightly longer versus the previously mentioned broiler?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

If there's a dual purpose breed that takes "only slightly longer" I've not met it. Most of the Heritage DP birds but on weight late - not to say you can't cull at 8 or 12 weeks, its just a very small bird. As it ages and approaches puberty, the meat gets increasingly flavorful, and increasingly chewy.

Which isn't to say there isn't a breed out there, I just don't know it.

My impression is that its Cx (fastest growing "frankenchickens", the supermarket bird, and most efficient of the meaties), then either the "slow broilers" or the "color broilers", which are a lot like the Cx (but slower - and I've not seen data on which is faster to market weight), but with a cull target around 12 weeks instead of 8 weeks, then the {...] "Rangers" in the 12-20 week range, then "everything else" to varying degrees.

Bresse are all the rage right now in some circles, and intended to be culled in the 20-22 week range, though of course you can take them sooner - but at that point, its already eaten twice as much as a similar weight Cx or even slow broiler, and its spent 50% to 100% more time on the ground at risk of illness, injury, predation.

Those are the cons.

The plusses? You can raise your own with patience, and break the cycle of dependence on hatcheries, the USPS, and/or the local farm store. Oh, and DP tend to produce significantly more eggs.

 

[Geena]

The hatchery dual purpose breeds are often not that much bigger than their egg laying chickens. If they claim their DP chicken will be 8 to 9 lbs, in reality one or two out of ten might reach that weight at two years old. Their descriptions appear to come from the breed standards rather than the actual size of their chickens.

Both types of birds have their advantages and disadvantages, depending on what you intend to do with them and how they will be kept.

The colored broilers/rangers I've raised are around 5 to 7 lbs finished weight @ around 12 weeks.
The hatchery DP birds I've raised have been around 2 to 4 lbs finished weight @ around 16 weeks.

 

[imacowgirl2]

I’ve done a couple batches of New Hampshires from Freedom Ranger hatchery…these birds are 9-10 lbs live weight at 13.5 weeks. I don’t think I would ever try dual purpose, even NH, from other hatcheries for a meat bird, because from what I’ve seen/heard, they won’t get nearly as big, but I’m in love with these birds.

While I’ve never done actual broilers, slow growing or otherwise, I personally probably won’t ever try them, simply because these NH I have are working so well. I’m only feeding them a couple weeks longer than I would slow growing broilers, and as a plus I also have more flexibility on butchering times — if I can’t get to the processing on the day I planned, they aren’t going to start falling over dead a week later.

Bonus for me is that they should be sustainable…my first hens just started laying a few weeks ago so I will be setting and hatching eggs for the first time soon.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Whether or not something is an advantage might depend a lot on your perspective. We have different ideas as to what makes a good meat bird. We feed and manage them differently. Climate and time of year might make a difference, say in how we brood them or how effective foraging might be. The age you butcher them can have a big effect on texture and flavor, especially with the cockerels. Some people may have problems with behaviors as they go through puberty. I don't know how many times I've read on here about people butchering early because of how the boys act as they go through puberty.

My general suggestion for something like this is to get some of each and raise them side by side so you can see how they do under your conditions. Until you experience it you just don't know what is really important to you.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I’ve done a couple batches of New Hampshires from Freedom Ranger hatchery…these birds are 9-10 lbs live weight at 13.5 weeks. I don’t think I would ever try dual purpose, even NH, from other hatcheries for a meat bird, because from what I’ve seen/heard, they won’t get nearly as big, but I’m in love with these birds.

While I’ve never done actual broilers, slow growing or otherwise, I personally probably won’t ever try them, simply because these NH I have are working so well. I’m only feeding them a couple weeks longer than I would slow growing broilers, and as a plus I also have more flexibility on butchering times — if I can’t get to the processing on the day I planned, they aren’t going to start falling over dead a week later.

Bonus for me is that they should be sustainable…my first hens just started laying a few weeks ago so I will be setting and hatching eggs for the first time soon.

those are massive NH.

 

[trdamsdel]

I am deciding to try out raising cockerels for meat this year, but am undecided between choosing a dual purpose breed with a good carcass (Im looking into New Hampshire’s currently) or a broiler offered by the hatchery we purchased our chicks from last year. The medium-growth broiler Im considering is called a Big Red Broiler and it is supposed to be ready in about 10-12 weeks to develop. Anyways, Im just wondering if there are inherently any advantages to going with a dual purpose breed that takes only slightly longer versus the previously mentioned broiler?

I experimented last summer with some DP birds that I got a bargain on. The feed cost per pound of meat was about triple that of a cornish X. Aaaaand the meat wasn't very good. Aaaaaaaand processing them was tougher. Aaaaaaaaand they took way longer to grow to a suitable carcass size for processing.

 

[imacowgirl2]

those are massive NH.

They are! I decided to try them after seeing @Tre3hugger thread about them for his sustainable meat bird flock, and they sounded like exactly what I wanted when he described them; I bought my first batch after that thread and have been very pleased with them since.

 

[nrs3]

Thank you everyone for the advice! There are definitely some things to consider, so ill have to think over my choice thoroughly. Anyways whatever bird we get we plan to caponize to prevent fighting so hopefully that would add a little extra meat onto a dual purpose bird if that’s what we settle on!