Best heritage meat chicken?

[JDN]

I'm working with Black Copper Marans, they are large enough for use as a meat bird and they produce large eggs too. This coming year we should be ready to put in the wife's Turken birds which will also do dual purpose for us.

My Marans hen at 18 weeks is the biggest, bigger than the Sussex which is older than her.

 

[Molpet]

My Marans hen at 18 weeks is the biggest, bigger than the Sussex which is older than her.

Did you weigh them? I had 5 cockerels out of a BJG hen... I thought the timid one was the smallest.. he dressed out almost a lb heavier than the dominant one I thought was the biggest. .. I learn to not go by looks.

 

[JDN]

Did you weigh them? I had 5 cockerels out of a BJG hen... I thought the timid one was the smallest.. he dressed out almost a lb heavier than the dominant one I thought was the biggest. .. I learn to not go by looks.

No, and I likely won't weigh her. She isn't well socialized. She's the worst socialized of any of my birds, honestly, borderline feral when it comes to people. But neither here nor there. If I wanted a dual purpose flock with an eye towards eggs, I'd look at Marans.