Best dual purpose breed for sustainability

[Bluechick2u]

My town is about to maybe approve having chickens but they are talking about limiting all flocks to six birds. Next to nothing if the shtf. Anyway, I was considering a small mix of 2 each orpingtons, ameraucana and brown leghorn to provide eggs first, maybe meat later. Will the be sufficient to supply a family of four or should I just move my happy butt to the country?

 

[Bluechick2u]

Nobody has mentioned naked necks (turkens) they are the most reliable layers, best at adapting to severe temperatures and easy to tame, they can be medium large but eat less than the really large birds like orpingtons, and when I lived in a city that didn't allow chickens, 6 of them gave me enough eggs for my husband and I to survive on while being fairly quiet. If I had to pick only 1 breed to survive on, it would be naked necks hands down.

 

[rachelsflock]

Okay, so I put ducks on here earlier. Somehow I wound up with English Orpingtons along the way since then. YES on the dual purpose. Mine lay fairly well in the winter too. The cockerels also stay tender for a very long time so you can leave meat on the hoof. They're also calm, even the males tend to be non-aggressive, and they taste really, really good. The drawback is how long it takes them to mature, but at least mine tend to be fairly hardy and seem to not randomly die. Very broody and good mothers once they figure it out. They also forage pretty darn well for something that big. I'm won over. So for now I'm keeping Muscovy, English Orpingtons, and Khaki Campbells and we're flooded with eggs and meat and pest control.
...and of course we added dairy goats to our mix too, but that's another story.

 

[stuckinthecity]

Out of the breeds you mentioned, I'd go with black Wyandotte and buff orpington.
I love wyandottes, and have had quite a few broody ones.
Gamefowl and wyandottes qould be my pick. I'd put a Wyandotte rooster over a couple game hens (and Wyandotte hens...) and keep a cockerel from which ever game hen set eggs. He will carry the "broody gene" and pass it along to his daughters.

 

[varidgerunner]

Good egg production and ability to brood are antagonistic traits to each other. Get some games and some leghorns, run the leghorns inside the coop and the games outside.

 

[Data]

I know this is an old thread, but I figured it couldn't hurt to chime in for the benefit of newer members. I've had Australorps ("Australian Orpington") for 7 years now. They are hard to beat for a dual purpose breed. Mine produce a lot of large to extra large brown eggs and are still laying about 3 a week at 7 years. An Australorp hen holds the record for the most eggs laid in a year and they hold numerous records. They are very hardy, I'm amazed at the conditions my girls have survived over the past 7 years. They are excellent foragers and but tolerate confinement. There is some debate how reliably broody they can be, but given a large enough flock I expect you'll get a brooder out of the lot. You can add an Orpington as a brooder, but you'll get fewer eggs. They are a calm and quiet breed, and quickly adapt to human contact.

I just replenished my flock with another 10 Australorps and was able the throw the chicks in with the big girls with no problems. The alpha female took them under her wing and is quite protective.

 

[scf]

Hi! I need some opinions. I hope I can get some great ideas here! This subject is VERY important to me. Given the following information, what breed do you think best describes what i am looking for? I'd prefer to hear from people who have HAD or currently own these dual purpose breeds. I want to hear from experienced keepers!

I recently overheard people talking and heard someone say "what if people start starving?" With our economy, I immediatly thought of being able to take care of my children.

Due to this, I have been re-thinking my collection of bantams. If things get worse, I would like to have planned ahead and moved to a dual purpose breed so that I can be more sustainable. My bantams just don't lay often enough to support my family if things were to get worse. I know what I am looking for in a breed, but with all the various sites, I am having trouble finding accurate information. It seems that for each breed I look into, several sites say several different things.

I want a dual purpose breed that will forage.

***Has to lay a good to high amount of eggs. (Coop will have windows for winter time)

*** MUST be known to go broody to replenish itself.

Preferably will have a friendly disposition (I have kids).

Winter hardy (I live in Northwest Ohio)

I'd prefer the color`variety to be black to help it blend into my woods when foraging for camoflage. Partridge would fit this well too though. (part of the woods is a fenced in "pasture" full of bugs and other yummies)

Size is not that important. I dont have to have HUGE birds, but enough meat on their bones is good too.

*************************************

The breeds I have been looking into are:

Black Orpington (however, I can get 40+ buff orpingtons eggs right now for FREE)

Black Wyandotte

Black Austrolorpe (did I spell that right?)

PLEASE NOTE: I would be looking for more "utility" in the egg laying department over show quality. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Show qaulity chickens, but for this flock, my interest is SOLELY in production.

For me, the most important aspects are

GOOD egg production AND ability to brood.

I will keep a small flock of silkies as a brood back-up plan....

I hope that this doesn't sound paranoid. But I dont want to sit there and starve and think "man I wish I would have...."

Please let me know what ***YOU*** feel would be the best breed....

I know this is a super old thread, but many still have similar or worse concerns. My two favorite dual purpose breeds that I keep are Bielefelders and Jersey Giants. Both are good layers, have calm and friendly dispositions, and both are larger and meatier than average.

 

[cubalaya]

Hi! I need some opinions. I hope I can get some great ideas here! This subject is VERY important to me. Given the following information, what breed do you think best describes what i am looking for? I'd prefer to hear from people who have HAD or currently own these dual purpose breeds. I want to hear from experienced keepers!

I recently overheard people talking and heard someone say "what if people start starving?" With our economy, I immediatly thought of being able to take care of my children.

Due to this, I have been re-thinking my collection of bantams. If things get worse, I would like to have planned ahead and moved to a dual purpose breed so that I can be more sustainable. My bantams just don't lay often enough to support my family if things were to get worse. I know what I am looking for in a breed, but with all the various sites, I am having trouble finding accurate information. It seems that for each breed I look into, several sites say several different things.

I want a dual purpose breed that will forage.

***Has to lay a good to high amount of eggs. (Coop will have windows for winter time)

*** MUST be known to go broody to replenish itself.

Preferably will have a friendly disposition (I have kids).

Winter hardy (I live in Northwest Ohio)

I'd prefer the color`variety to be black to help it blend into my woods when foraging for camoflage. Partridge would fit this well too though. (part of the woods is a fenced in "pasture" full of bugs and other yummies)

Size is not that important. I dont have to have HUGE birds, but enough meat on their bones is good too.

*************************************

The breeds I have been looking into are:

Black Orpington (however, I can get 40+ buff orpingtons eggs right now for FREE)

Black Wyandotte

Black Austrolorpe (did I spell that right?)

PLEASE NOTE: I would be looking for more "utility" in the egg laying department over show quality. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Show qaulity chickens, but for this flock, my interest is SOLELY in production.

For me, the most important aspects are

GOOD egg production AND ability to brood.

I will keep a small flock of silkies as a brood back-up plan....

I hope that this doesn't sound paranoid. But I dont want to sit there and starve and think "man I wish I would have...."

Please let me know what ***YOU*** feel would be the best breed....

black australorps check all your boxes with the exception of broodiness.