POLL: Best Meat Bird Fitting this Criteria?

IndianaHomestea · Oct 29, 2012

I know this question has been asked a million times, but many times, each person has different preferences.

I'm working on becoming self sufficient and that includes not being reliant on hatcheries.

With that being said, to me the most important things when it comes to my meat birds are:

1. They are heritage... so I don't have to constantly buy baby chicks or fertilized eggs. When/if the economy collapses, the price at the hatcheries will skyrocket too! And availability will be much lower as well. I want to avoid any issues there!

2. They go broody. I've tried hatching some eggs with my current egg layers (they're all mixed breeds) and none of them would sit on the eggs. I had to throw them all out after a week. I never saw any of the hens sitting on the eggs a single time. I want to avoid this.

3. They taste good. Obviously, the more taste the better.

4. They are moderate to fast growers. I understand that if I don't want to go the Cornish X route I'm going to have to deal with longer growing times. But I understand this can vary greatly between breeds.

* I'm no chicken expert, so some of the birds below my not be heritage.

Wax Myrtle · Oct 29, 2012

I suspect that there isn't likely a breed that meets all of your criteria. Aside from modern strains of white Leghorns and modern hybrids for eggs, and modern meat hybrids (and I include all the "rangers" and color broilers with the CX) there is no single breed of chicken that does either or both excellently. They are Jacks of all trades and masters of none. (Although, I guess you could say that Silkies are masters of brooding... :lol:

)

I really wish it were different. :/ I'd have me a flock of them as quick as I could! But until then, I've got what I sure do hope is a pair of Brahmas. :lol:

IndianaHomestea · Oct 29, 2012

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I fully understand there there isn't any one bird that meets all of that criteria perfectly, but I was hoping to hear of maybe one or two that fit the criteria BETTER than others? If each of the criteria were on a point system, there must be one or two breeds that would have the highest number of points. See what I mean?

Egghead_Jr · Oct 29, 2012

You can't go wrong with Rocks, Wyandote, Orpington or Australorps. All good meat birds and layers. You'll have to raise them to around 18-20 weeks for a fair size table bird though. All will go broody but putting eggs under them doesn't make them sit. You have to wait for one to go broody then put eggs under her.

I voted White Rocks as they are larger than other Rock variety and am partial to Rocks but any turn of 20th century bird like the Wyandote, Rock, Orpington, Austalorp are excellent dual purpose birds. The Orps were developed due to our Rocks and the Brits didn't want to be without a national prize winning dual bird. The Austral-Orp is the Orpington developed into a better utility bird in Australia. The trend of breeding later in 1900's worked toward the cornish X and super layers for commercial use. The pinacle of dual purpose breeding ends in the heritage breeds mentioned above.

milleryardchx · Oct 29, 2012

Dorking was voted best flavor for heritage meat bird, it has been documented as the meat bird since ancient Romans. But finding true dorkings or white dorkings for butcher are rare and usually expensive start up cost. Delaware are used by a few farmers around me for heritage meat flocks they were the standard meat bird till the modern cornish x was invented, I have a 9lb 22 weeks old roo. White rocks are great dual bird. I have 12 white rock pullets and 14 Delaware roos I'm keeping the best 3 roos for breeding the rest will be butchered. And by spring I hope to be saving eggs for my own meat flock or let a few hens brood. I read on here a while back about a guy who crossed delaware and white rock and they grew faster than their purbred counter parts. Plus the mostly white plumage is better for cleaning. thats my two cents at least my first butchering will be the first week of December.

1muttsfan · Oct 29, 2012

I have found Delawares to be the best for both egg laying and meat qualities. The boys get big and meaty in a relatively short time for standard birds, and the girls lay lots of very nice brown eggs. They make good free range meat birds. They also have very nice temperaments, friendly and social, and I have had hens go broody but not so often it interrupted the egg laying process. Sandhill Preservation has very nice production birds.

ImpulsiveFarmer · Oct 30, 2012

1muttsfan said:
I have found Delawares to be the best for both egg laying and meat qualities. The boys get big and meaty in a relatively short time for standard birds, and the girls lay lots of very nice brown eggs. They make good free range meat birds. They also have very nice temperaments, friendly and social, and I have had hens go broody but not so often it interrupted the egg laying process. Sandhill Preservation has very nice production birds.

I was thinking about ordering some australorps from sandhill maybe i will put in an order for some delawares as well.

Zootopia · Oct 31, 2012

Since you are looking for a bird that matures fast, the NH are a good bet, as are the Delaware. You would probably get the best results by crossing the two. Our Delly's go broody more often than the NH, but it really just depends on the individual bird. You should pick up a good book and do some more research before you try the broody thing, since you don't seem familiar with the process. The girls decide when they are going to set. Having nest boxes in darker, quiet places with "dummy" eggs can sometimes encourage them, but the whole thing is really a crap shoot. Our Cochin's are Very Broody, but they are slower to mature and I wouldn't really consider them a good choice for meat. You probably need to keep a couple of different breeds. One for brooding and 2 or 3 for meat.

IndianaHomestea · Dec 4, 2012

Well, I have 13 light brahma's and 12 RIR's both were going to be for meat, but after seeing the responses to this thread I think I'm going to go a different direction. I'm going to go ahead and eat the brahma's and most of the RIR's (keeping the remaining reds for eggs) and I'm going to start over with Delewares I think. That was actually my first choice, but I couldn't find any hatcheries that had any available during the fall/winter months.

Thanks for the great feedback and if you haven't already, please vote in the poll above! It will help others in similar situations as well. Thanks again!

milleryardchx · Dec 5, 2012

farwest hatchery sells extra roos for 95 cent each great way to get heritage meat birds for cheap. I just ordered 25 dorking roos for about 20 bucks plus 14 hens i picked a march hatching but they have earlier ones. the have delawares too. low shipping. shipping 50 birds to me is costing 9.50 (a friend filled the rest of my order to 50 birds)

POLL: Best Meat Bird Fitting this Criteria?

With the above being considered, what is your pick for the best heritage chicken for meat?

RIR

Light Brahma

Orpington

Delaware

Faverolles

Dorking

La Flèche

Freedom Ranger

Houdans

Buckeyes

White Wyandotte

Light Sussex

Color Ranger

Red Ranger

New Hampshire Reds

NONE OF THESE

Plymouth Rock

White Rock

Dark Cornish

Australorp

Dominique

In the Brooder

Chirping

In the Brooder

Free Ranging

Songster

Up Northerner

Songster

Songster

In the Brooder

Songster

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