Best dual purpose chicken(s)?

[andorraclaim]

This is my sentiment, minus a few ornamentals (Sebrights, Shamos <Tho I hear they are tasty>, Malays) that have smaller mass, get a breed you love and use them for both.

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[Mrs MIA]

Thing is, when I think "dual purpose", I think meat AND eggs. It doesn't matter if the breed is a little slow to mature... I keep the hens for layers until their second year. Extra roosters go away about 16-18 weeks, or whenever we have a nice weekend and time to send the punks to Camp.

I think we get caught up in the speed at which the Cornish crosses and broilers grow, which is nice, but they're not really dual purpose, since by the time they're ready to lay eggs they can barely stand, let alone walk.

I go by taste and texture of the meat, and number of eggs I get. So far the lt. brahmas are doing pretty well in both catagories. Of course, I haven't raised all sorts of different breeds of birds, but the Brahmas have done ok for me.

 

[dancingbear]

This chart may help. I'd look for early maturing, weight at least 5lb. average, with at least moderate egg production.
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
Good luck with your birds, whatever you choose.

 

[monarc23]

Thanks!

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[greyfields]

Everyone always asks me if you could "keep one breed" what would it be. To which I reply "Colored Range Broilers", geesh. A boy's gotta eat!

I think, looking out across my flock, that the Barred Rocks (or any color Rock) are probably the better utility breed. I've eaten many of the roosters and they are just generally pleasant chickens. They're also productive layers.

The biggest issue we all have is that the chickens we get from retail hatcheries aren't always the greatest and have been selected along laying lines. I've seen White Rocks at shows the size of Brahmas. If I had stock like that to start my flock, then eating dual purpose birds may be more viable.

 

[dancingbear]

Whatever breed I selected, if I were going to go with one dual purpose breed, I'd spend the extra money to obtain good quality birds from a breeder, for the reasons Greyfields mentioned. You might get lucky with hatchery birds, but not often. That's why DP's have such a bad rep, IMHO, is because the hatchery birds are such poor examples of the various breeds. Good quality Barred Rocks, Delawares, Dominiques, and many others are perfectly good meat birds, and good layers as well. They aren't the huge breasted Cornish X's, but they're big enough. We ate them all the time when I was a kid, and they were great. We had fried chicken every week. One chicken fed a family of five. It wasn't tough or stringy. You just have to butcher them young enough, before they get tough. And of course, older birds stew up just fine.

 

[Mrs MIA]

I tell you what... I just had Dorking for lunch, and it was tender and tasty...

I'm a-gonna stick with Dorkings.

 

[dancingbear]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

I tell you what... I just had Dorking for lunch, and it was tender and tasty...

I'm a-gonna stick with Dorkings.

Good to know, Dorkings are a breed I'm very interested in.
I have one Dorking hen, I plan to hatch some more, I have a breeder to get some eggs from.

How old was the one you had for dinner?

I looked at your website, it looks like you have a nice operation.
Were you able to find breeder stock to start your lines from?​

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Good to know, Dorkings are a breed I'm very interested in.
I have one Dorking hen, I plan to hatch some more, I have a breeder to get some eggs from.

How old was the one you had for dinner?

I looked at your website, it looks like you have a nice operation.
Were you able to find breeder stock to start your lines from?

Thanks!

I think the roos were about 20-22 weeks. I spent all summer getting the few birds I have. Some are MMH, one is from Black Diamond Guest Ranch in Montana (Jeanne Fingar). I have an order for red dorking eggs from her in April to expand on my one roo.

I also hope to get a few eggs/chicks from other breeders. I've been happy with the chicks from MMH, though. Very nice markings, nice toe separation, and they're very sweet birds. Can't wait to hatch more! I'm going to phase out all the miscellaneous breeds in my layer coop and replace them with Dorkings, Light Brahmas and BBS orpingtons.

 

[dancingbear]

I have some Light Brahmas, they're nice birds. I like the buff better, but all Brahmas are nice.

I have a mixed bunch right now, I'm gradually phasing them out and replacing with breeder stock, to develop another ("another" as in new to everybody, not another for me. This is a whole new endeavor for me.) alternative meat bird. I know it'll take a long time, but since I'll be keeping chickens anyway, I may as well try something that could prove valuable in the long run.

The one Dorking I have was from a Birchen hen, but which color the Dorking roo was is unknown. The lady had several colors in together. My hen is mostly black, with just a little dark brown edging in places. Body shape is good, but she's on the small side. There's a minor toe deformity on one foot. The 4th and 5th toes are partly fused. So she won't be a breeder, except maybe for some home-use-only birds, while I'm waiting to hatch and raise some more Dorkings. She's a funny little thing. Follows me around, but doesn't want to be touched. She stands on my feet, sometimes.