White Plymouth Rocks?

[Arosie]

We are thinking of buying White PR to raise for meat. Any experience here? We’ve butchered a few unwanted males at around 14-16 weeks, of dual purpose breeds. But these PR would be purchased for the specific purpose of butchering around 15-16 weeks.

We usually raise a batch of Cornish cross in the fall to butcher later Oct. so, we are familiar with both Cornish cross and dual purpose carcass. We have heard that White Plymouth Rocks are a good breed for meat.

Just looking for input from those with experience with White PR males fit nest.

I was wondering the same thing. I've butchered Cornish X before but never did a batch of heritage breeds so I was thinking about WPRs too. Thanks for sharing your supplier!

 

[rbc-bow-chicka]

Thanks!!

I placed an order for 20 males ($0.80 each) and 4 females ($2.50 each) of their White Plymouth Rocks.

The website indicates that “many generations of selection have evolved these large bodied hens into an excellent dual-purpose strain”. I called and asked about the males for meat and was told that they are a good choice for meat.

So, we will see how they do come August!

How did it go for you with your meat chickens? We are pondering doing as you are as we would like to grow a meaty type bird that can reproduce on its own rather than buying chicks twice a year. Looking at white rocks and dark cornish.

 

[Acre4Me]

How did it go for you with your meat chickens? We are pondering doing as you are as we would like to grow a meaty type bird that can reproduce on its own rather than buying chicks twice a year. Looking at white rocks and dark cornish.

Decent. We kept one male and 3 females, which now live together in a pen.

We raised the batch to a certain point and separated the females so they would not get terribly harassed. Since they were raised in a pen, and despite not being with or seeing any females, there was some fighting. Also, we had one feed location, meaning to add a second, but we never did. When we butchered them, it was clear that a couple had been kept from food by the more dominant males. Also, they crowed a lot (not to the extent of male leghorns or male Marans, which have been out loudest and most annoying males ever), but loud and noisy - more than we enjoyed, they got annoying.

Once butchered, the well fed males had a nice carcass. Nothing like a Cornish x, but good amount of meat. We butchered at 16 weeks. Overall, we will stick with Cornish cross bc they are so efficient, and we butcher at 7.5 weeks. Last week we butchered the cornish cross we raised and they were split in half, bc a half gives my family about 2 full meals and some leftovers. Also, we don’t have the space to free range or to pen in a larger setup. So the Cornish work better for us.