Rare chicken breeds desired for their meat qualities?

[Shellz]

I have to agree that dry hatching worked best for me. After a series of lousy hatches with my digital genesis unit, the dry hatch worked quite well. I was quite impressed!

As for a rare chicken breed for meat quality, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything better the Belgian Cuckoo Malines. For amount of tender meat they can't be beat!

 

[Our Roost]

I posted this article in efforts to see what breeds chicken enthusiasts either consider or are using as meat birds. Although I have gotten some response, suggestions have been minimal.
My grandparents raised the white cornish cross during the depression era. I'm nearing 67 years of age. You do the math at how old I was and the age of the cornish hen at that time frame. Grandma's recipe cant be equaled because the chicken ingredients just aren't the same as they were way back then. Over time, the mass production and consumer demand of this bird species has deteriorated and its just not the same.
I'm going to list a few breeds that I have stumbled across in magazines and articles you might want to consider.

Basque, Bielefelders, Bruges game hen, Buckeyes, Cuckoo Marans, Dark Cornish, Dorking, Izegem, Mechels/Malines, Sulmtalers, And the latest revue, Sagrittas. I have missed many but these come to mind and you may want to add to it or investigate farther before deciding on a meat bird suited for your own personal needs.

 

[LindaB220]

I posted this article in efforts to see what breeds chicken enthusiasts either consider or are using as meat birds. Although I have gotten some response, suggestions have been minimal.
My grandparents raised the white cornish cross during the depression era. I'm nearing 67 years of age. You do the math at how old I was and the age of the cornish hen at that time frame. Grandma's recipe cant be equaled because the chicken ingredients just aren't the same as they were way back then. Over time, the mass production and consumer demand of this bird species has deteriorated and its just not the same.
I'm going to list a few breeds that I have stumbled across in magazines and articles you might want to consider.

Basque, Bielefelders, Bruges game hen, Buckeyes, Cuckoo Marans, Dark Cornish, Dorking, Izegem, Mechels/Malines, Sulmtalers, And the latest revue, Sagrittas. I have missed many but these come to mind and you may want to add to it or investigate farther before deciding on a meat bird suited for your own personal needs.

There is a thread on the Basque. Check it out. Can't go wrong with White Plymouth Rocks

 

[Maggiesdad]

I posted this article in efforts to see what breeds chicken enthusiasts either consider or are using as meat birds. Although I have gotten some response, suggestions have been minimal.
My grandparents raised the white cornish cross during the depression era. I'm nearing 67 years of age. You do the math at how old I was and the age of the cornish hen at that time frame. Grandma's recipe cant be equaled because the chicken ingredients just aren't the same as they were way back then. Over time, the mass production and consumer demand of this bird species has deteriorated and its just not the same.
I'm going to list a few breeds that I have stumbled across in magazines and articles you might want to consider.

Basque, Bielefelders, Bruges game hen, Buckeyes, Cuckoo Marans, Dark Cornish, Dorking, Izegem, Mechels/Malines, Sulmtalers, And the latest revue, Sagrittas. I have missed many but these come to mind and you may want to add to it or investigate farther before deciding on a meat bird suited for your own personal needs.

What breeds have you been eating, Our Roost?

To me they all taste like chicken, with subtle character differences, but all of them good and oh so much better than the pasty stuff they sell at the grocery store!

Here at our place, we eat Marans, Basques, Barred Rocks, Australorps and even Sebrights and Silkies. Heck nothing is safe...

 

[Our Roost]

Maggiesdad, - its those subtle character differences breeders try to incorporate into a bird to make it good table fare! I've pretty much grown up on the grocery store brand my whole life with a few game birds like pheasant, grouse and the like tossed in. They actually taste a bit like chicken also! I believe you are correct in saying the grocery store chicken has become pasty or lets just say, more undesirable than I remember it.
I think raising chickens for both meat and eggs is not only hard work, but also has many bennefeits. In reality, 1 breed will provide both meat and eggs! When I first started, I thought you needed egg birds for eggs and meat birds for meat. You mean to tell me that 1 bird can provide you with both eggs and meat??? Stupidly I realized 1 breed can provide both with enough to feed the family if managed right. The term "Dual" purpose came into play.
Selecting a breed that will do this is where the question lies on what to use. What chicken breed would I use for its desired meat qualities?

Your Quote:

Here at our place, we eat Marans, Basques, Barred Rocks, Australorps and even Sebrights and Silkies. Heck nothing is safe...

You've made your choices! You eat it all. In my case, I looked for 1 bird that "does" it all. In my efforts to select a meat bird per say, I ventured into these characteristics you talked about and did a lot of research looking for an alternative to the common cornish x grocery store pasty chicken you described. I have found some rare and some not so rare. Sharing what you use and have found is what this thread is all about.
I am raising the Mechel/Malines breed inherant to towns and the homeland of Belgium farmers whom created it. Funny, but a few of the birds you have eaten may have been key to this birds creation. Not positive on that, as there were many that minimal history records suggest. It was also instrumental in creating the Basque that you mention. Characteristics? This breed does not have fatty pockets like other birds and the fat is distributed more evenly throught its body structure. More tender and juicier? You be the judge. It carries good weight, is climate friendly, and was once the #1 poultry used in all of Europe up to the end of world war II. Disease killed off 90 plus percent of this breeds population. Great efforts are being made to bring it back in numbers and breeding standards it once had. Mine are in the bator but not yet the oven!!! Many choices out thereand you may find a winner for yourself!

 

[Maggiesdad]

My focus is on the Basque. The other breeds I keep are eye candy. But they also serve a purpose when I throw them in the incubator and then the brooder - they serve as marker for how I'm really doing with the Basque as far as overall size and growth rate on a daily basis. Basques in North America have a limited gene pool and it's going to take some skillful breeding to maintain them to the Spanish SOP's production specs. I may never get there - but we are having fun along the way!

And the chicken is yummy...

 

[Our Roost]

I have recently read up on the basque, and very heavily discussed it with a Canadian chicken enthusiast of mine. It has some very good qualities and heritage behind its makings. Surprized by the chicken recipes named after this famed bird! Its on the list of other rare birds not common in the States but may eventually increase in numbers thanks to people like you that take special interest. It is our interest and persistence that will help to share with other poultry owner and breeders. Basque have skinny legs!! Ha ha. I heard it tastes really good also but couldnt hold a candle to the Malines! Keep in touch, If my hatch is successful, you may want some future stock?

 

[Bethel3330]

I've had Dorking in mind since I first started researching chicken keeping, because I like the idea of raising slower growing heritage birds for meat and hopefully having a sustainable flock. I've heard many times the Dorking are exceptional.
Right now, though, we have a laying flock and a batch of cornish cx coming in August to quickly get some in the freezer. We have coop #2 planned but haven't gotten started yet. I imagine we'll fill it next spring

 

[Our Roost]

Bethel3330, Wow! This breed dates back before the Roman Empire. Even Julius Ceasar made comments about it. It has good weight on both the cockerel and hen. It is really quite a classical bird in history and a great survivor. Apparently they didnt eat all of them! Pretty good choice in my opinion! Wish you luck on this one.

 

[Padronalisa]

I'd love to hear more answers. I am tempted to get one or two birds of a few different breeds to 'taste test' before I jump into raising birds for meat. The more I research culling and processing birds, the more I am turned off by grocery store meat.