Australorps breed Thread

[chickisoup]

Is this a black Australorp? She is 20 wks old now.

WOW!

 

[Turk Raphael]

what is a better dual purpose breed.that is quite, easy to handle ,good foragers,good to free range, heat and cold tolerant and able to brood it's own young ?We want hearty birds who lay tons of eggs and will be meaty enough (not expecting a Cornishx body lol)to justify eating the males,older hens once they aren't productive and maybe others if we need to thin the flock before winter.I am working toward biodynamic living producing our own food and animal feed with as little outside assistance as possible. I'm happy to hear honest opinions on better breeds

I live in Tennessee summers are hot and sometimes winter can be harsh(or we get lucky lol)

I may have gone just a little overboard and I'm sorry about that....Certainly Australorps can be eaten and enjoyed but a lot of new folks get them, expecting so much more meat than they can provide.

Turk

 

[BethanyS]

I may have gone just a little overboard and I'm sorry about that....Certainly Australorps can be eaten and enjoyed but a lot of new folks get them, expecting so much more meat than they can provide.

Turk

what would you consider a better dual purpose though?I've heard Dark Cornish lay well and are suited for freeranging

 

[getaclue]

Turk, no harm, no fowl...(snickering)

 

[SuperClucker]

These are my McMurray Australorp pullets (18 weeks) bum-rushing me when I open their pen. That's KFC in the lead. I can tell them apart, but only if they hold still.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote:
if you have a digital camera that works too..upload to your computer then the site
I admit I use my phone alot for pics ..its is handy coz it is already on me ..

 

[BethanyS]

I have a digital camara and no computer lol. I may be able to use someone else's

 

[Turk Raphael]

what would you consider a better dual purpose though?I've heard Dark Cornish lay well and are suited for freeranging

I have 50 Dark Cornish cockerels that are soon to meet their destiny and my dad and brother are going to teach me how to caponize, with 25 ....6wk old cockerels over this coming weekend.

I plan to hold back about 10 of the older DC cockerls to use in a subsequent cross with my other project...My dad raises NNs.These are excellent meat birds standing alone but I am going to cross then with another great meat bird,the Buckeye, to see what the F-1 generation looks like. They should be better than either of their parent stock.

Most folks don't realize what fine eating birds the the nns/Turkins are and have been over the centuries.

Thanks for asking. As I said, I'm not crazy about eggs but love chicken! We will be giving unwanted eggs to local folks who can use some farm fresh on their menu.

Turk

PS...The Dark Cornish have been real go-getters when it comes to ranging as have the NNs but the Buckeyes have been just a bit slow to the take-up. They are 3 months old and have only been here for a few days so I expect them to do better as soon as they get their bearings.

All three breeds are very friendly creatures...under-foot friendly.

 

[BethanyS]

thanks for the Info.what's an NN?

 

[BethanyS]

Our Australorp are underfoot friendly unfortunately I broke ones toe the other day!