are brown leghorns good meat birds?

[obe10]

a good friend of mine has some brown leghorns for eggs. he is interested in hatching some for the meat but does not know if they are good for that. does anyone know if they are good meat birds?

 

[Southernbelle]

Not the best - they're slender birds. Still taste like chicken, tho

 

[TXmom]

My guess is no. Leghorns are very small, thin birds. For meat, he needs something larger like Orpingtons, Sussex, Plymouth Rocks, etc. Or, of course, a true meat bird - Cornish X.

 

[obe10]

he also has sussex and RIRs

 

[obe10]

also how old do they need to be to butcher

 

[Buster52]

Assuming they are anything like the 3 white leghorns I butchered this morning, no, they are awful meat birds. Very lean, very light, very slim. Plus they are super active birds and take a lot of feed to even get to the small size these guys were.

So I would advise against them.

Mine were 16 weeks, and probably would have been a little larger if they were older, but I couldn't see the waste in feed for what little I would gain from it.

 

[Judy]

Sussex were bred to be dual purpose (meat or eggs.) Years ago, before Cornish X, RIR and Plymouth Barred Rocks were two of the most common dual purpose breeds. BR are not the easiest to pluck, but RIR still make a good meat bird, in my opinion; I don't care for the Cornish X.

We like them best around 16 weeks. Not full size but still very tender. 20 - 24 weeks is larger but requires slow cooking. He might want to try them at different ages in that range to see what his preference is.

 

[obe10]

ok so i should tell him to go with the sussex?

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Sussex and Rhode Island Reds are dual-purpose. Wait until around 6 months to process, unless he can caponize (remove the testes). Caponization stops the males from acting, crowing or breeding like males that have not been caponized. When these acts are removed, the bird will be a bit better for meat production then they're sexually active brethren.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Sorry, needed to add that:


No, Leghorns are not bred for meat. They are bred for eggs only, but being a chicken, you can most certainly eat them. Just know that you will not get the best carcass size from them.