Are buff orpingtons good for meat production

[Poultrypro1]

I am looking to raise some commercial meat chickens and wondering if buff orpingtons are good and profitable

 

[nuthatched]

Heritage type maybe but you won't beat Cornish x for anything of scale.

 

[AinaWGSD]

No. None of the "heritage" breeds are going to be profitable as meat birds compared to the Cornish cross broilers or other commercial meat hybrids. It takes so much longer for traditional breeds to reach butcher size and the resulting carcass is not going to appeal to buyers who are only familiar with the commercially raised Cornish cross. Plus hatchery buff orpingtons are bred more for egg production than for meat bird qualities.

 

[Poultrypro1]

Thank you

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are basically 3 types of chickens we use for meat.

First are the Cornish Cross. These were developed in the 1950's to rapidly grow to butcher size and have lots of breast meat. It's what the commercial chicken meat industry is based on. They have excellent feed to meat conversion rates and are butchered at 6 to 8 weeks of age when raised by industry standards. If you raise them by those standards they can die of heart attacks or they become so massive their skeletons can't support them so the need to be butchered young. The meat is tender and can be cooked in any manner. We cannot efficiently raise them to laying age and produce our own hatching eggs. We have to buy chicks.

Then you have the various Rangers. These were developed to be raised on pasture. They are generally not as massive as the Cornish Cross but still grow fast and get big. They are meant to be butchered around 12 weeks of age. This is still young enough to be cooked by any method. If you manage to keep them long enough for them to breed and lay hatching eggs they are not consistent on how they grow out. They are hybrids so you get some really nice meat birds but some are not as good so you are usually better off buying chicks.

Then you have the dual purpose chickens. These are not great at laying eggs or as meat birds but do a reasonable job of both. Most strains are better at egg laying than for meat but there are a few strains that are bred as meat birds. These are generally not butchered before 16 weeks and some later. These should not be fried or grilled as they are too mature, the meat can be tough. You need to cook them with other methods. They do not reach the weights of the Cornish Cross or Rangers. They can be kept to produce hatching eggs and they are not going to die on you if you don't butcher them at a certain age. It's what a lot of us raise to feed out families but not to sell commercially.

If you are in the United States you can contact your county extension office. They should be able to help you find where to buy chicks; how to house, raise, and feed them; and what the local laws are on how to butcher and store them. Because of public health concerns there are regulations about that. If you are somewhere else you might try your Agricultural Ministry to see if they can help you.

Good luck!

 

[Klutch]

Meat,
What kind of meat your looking for, it could be frog taste taste like chicken, could be rabbit taste like chicken, could be Cornish cross taste like chicken. A buffy even the BSL will give you better flavored chicken. If you want filler go with CX #1.