Best All Around Breed

[cwhit590]

If I had to recommend a breed I guess it would be Buff Orpingtons.

My BR's seem to lay more eggs, but the BO's have much better temperaments, and they seem more inclined to brood. Then again...these are only hatchery stock...

Like others have said...it's a hard question to answer! Lots of great breeds out there.

 

[Alaskan]

I think that you are really wanting more than one kind of chicken.

broody = not many eggs

So if you get a breed that is often broody, then you get few eggs.

Also, those skinny egg type chickens simply make SO MUCH more egg from the feed they get. They eat less and lay more (also, smaller chicken = smaller poop).

And when you are ready to eat your layers, they are going to be older and tough, so chicken soup, so who cares how they dress out.

If you are truly looking for the most economical flock, I would buy some true egg only chickens (not broody, and not meaty).

Then decide if you want to order Cornish cross chickens every year just to eat, or if you want to raise your own meat chickens. If you want to raise your own meat chickens you can choose a duel purpose breed that leans more towards the meat than the eggs, and is very broody. Keep a rooster from the duel/meat breed, and there you go.

I must say though that I like my duck meat lots more than my chicken meat. I find that my ducks taste COMPLETELY different than store duck. And little ducklings grow up to eating size so very fast it is amazing! (but then I have never raised those Cornish crosses) My chicken...well, tastes like chicken.

 

[Alaskan]

if you are really looking at cost though......

just this week I bought this absolutely delicious smoked whole chicken for only $13!!!

There is no way that I could raise a chicken for that little!

Luckily, I don't raise chickens for profit!

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
I don't know much about them, but the Barred Rocks at the auctions I've attended haven't been nearly as big as the White Rocks. Not sure why, or if it is just a coincidence.

I'm very impressed with the possibility of the WPR as a meat bird, and not so much with the BPR.

 

[ClayChicken]

I have a pair of game birds - a cock and hen. The hen is a Grey Hatch and she lays every single day like clockwork. She is small and wiry, but she is an egg machine!

 

[Buster52]

We are raising standard Cornish for the purposes you describe. This is our first year with them, so I'm not sure how they will do as brooders. Our goal is for enough eggs for the family (which doesn't take much, really) and a decent meat bird.

Our goal is self sufficiency, as well, so that pretty much precludes the possibility of importing new birds every year, our main objection to the hybrid broilers.

 

[speckledhen]

One more comment: it really goes beyond the breed to the quality of the breed you get. A hatchery BR or Delaware can be too narrow bodied and not what you'd want in a dual purpose bird. They are both supposed to be deep bodied birds. I have had smaller BRs but some of the hens and roosters have been very meaty, which is what I want from them anyway, just because they are more to the standard for the breed. My Delaware rooster is a very large boy, as is my current BR rooster, but I've had ones with smaller body types, too.

 

[AmeraucanaLuver]

Ameraucanas they are calm good layers ,go fairly well as meat birds and are soooo cute id get ameraucanas

 

[Pathfinders]

I've said it before, I'll say it again. My favorite large fowl breed is the Buckeye, (and they also come in bantam.)

They are a nice dual purpose bird. They lay a good amount of medium sized brown eggs. They forage very well (even hunt mice!), get along with each other and humans (not flighty, almost too friendly, underfoot a lot!), and the extra males, with their wide breasts, dress out nicely.

They are the only breed of American chicken created by a woman (yay!), and the only American breed with a pea comb, which means no frostbite in winter (unless you live in Saskatoon or someplace like that.) They tolerate heat and cold well, some will go broody (if you prefer them to raise their own babies) but are not excessively so, and are just an all around perfect farm chicken, IMO.

I have some pics of Buckeyes on my website:

http://www.pathfindersfarm.com/services

I like Buckeyes so much that I created a Yahoo Group for those who wish to learn more about them, or just talk about them. See it here:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/AmericanBuckeyePoultryClub/

I also recently started a fully fledged breed club for them, the American Buckeye Poultry Club:

http://www.americanbuckeyepoultryclub.com

And you can see a great website devoted to the breed by a member of the ABPC here:

http://www.buckeyechickens.com

Let me know if I can answer any more questions about them.

 

[OSUman]

Is that buckeyedave?