Best heritage meat chicken?

[Arielle2]

breeding for production...eggs and or meat.

search for this one, started by Hellbender, this is the better one IMO unless you are more interested in show quality.

sorry I cant do links at the moment--learning new device.

 

[Rye]

"Heritage" and "Dual Purpose" are not mutually exclusive terms when it comes to poultry in Canada so I'm not sure what's meant by that but I can tell you that I have seen some very impressive Barred Rock lines in my part of Canada that are true to the SOP and great producers of both meaty carcasses and eggs.

It's been my experience that there is a great deal of variety in the growth rates and egg production rates within any particular breed based on the lineage of the birds you're looking at. It pays to check out several lines of the different breeds that are known for being good dual purpose breeds and choose based on what you find to be an acceptable rate of growth. For me personally, cockerels need to be ready for the butcher at approximately 24 weeks, because from that age on the Malines cockerels are starting to find their voices and I can't have two dozen cockerels competing for top-crower. At that age I want them to have a meaty carcass, of which the weight doesn't really matter, as long as it appears meaty rather than a few chicken nuggets stretched out over a huge bony frame.

Decide at what age you want to have your spare cockerels ready to butcher and then start looking at cockerels around that age to see if you can find what you're looking for locally. Don't dismiss smaller, stout-looking cockerels in favour of the tallest or heaviest as I think you'll find a 3 lb. carcass that is 3/4 meat is a much better than a 4 lb. carcass that is only 1/2 meat in terms of both resources and presentation on the table.

I understand fowl and the how's/why's.

You didn't answer my questions. You said Barred Rocks are not Heritage. So I was just asking as why. They are a Heritage breed here in the states. Whether they're standard or not is another matter.

I raise chickens for meat. I want fast and young with lower feed consumption. So I'm trying to learn why waiting for the breeds you mention is better.

 

[speedy2020]

I have been raising more than 25 different breeds for many years. My latest favor is White Bresse. This breed has quality meat flavor and decent egg size. There is no issue with leg problem.

 

[speedy2020]

I've tried a lot of heritage meat chickens over the last 7 or 8 years trying to find something that grows a decent sized breast and will weigh at least 3 pounds dressed at 16 weeks. And the closes thing I have come up with are 3rd generation hatchery stock white rocks. You have to breed the big birds to get big birds. And it took me about 3 years to do that. They now have a really nice size breast compared to everything else I have tried. And are a really great tasting bird.

Others breeds that I like are naked necks and Dorking. The NN's have really good size but don't have the breast that white rocks have. My personal favorite to eat are the Dorking. Best tasting chicken ever! But you need to raise them for 24 - 26 weeks for them to have much meat on them. And that is only about 3 pounds dressed. They also are the most tender heritage breed I have ever ate when they are fully mature. They do get a good size breast but no where near as big as my white rocks.

I got my hands on some LF white Cornish last year but my hatching really sucked last spring and summer and didn't get many chicks. But I like what I see so far. I think I will be able to get a 4 pound dressed bird at 14 weeks old with this breed. With a really big breast. Much bigger than my white rocks breasts. Wasn't able to butcher any last year so can't say for sure. But I did get some live weights and compared them to some other breeds that I did butcher last fall and it looks good.

My previous favor was Dorking as well, but they take forever to growth to decent size. You should check out White Bresse. It has great flavor and lay well. The White Bresse take about 16-18weeks.

 

[Bigshooter]

My previous favor was Dorking as well, but they take forever to growth to decent size. You should check out White Bresse. It has great flavor and lay well. The White Bresse take about 16-18weeks.

What kind of dressed weights do you get with the bresse at 16 - 18 weeks?

 

[speedy2020]

What kind of dressed weights do you get with the bresse at 16 - 18 weeks?

I never weight them, but my guess would be about 4-5lbs. Here is the article about the taste comparison Dorking vs. Bresse (half way on the page). https://antifragilechicken.wordpres...rlds-tastiest-chickens-or-just-the-best-moms/
I've eaten about 7 Silver, 4 Red, 1 Colored Dorking, and 8 White Bresse so far. Unfortunately, not the same time period for the comparison.
The cost of raising White Bresse is the same as other dual purpose breed. Why not raise the best?

 

[Blooms&Brood]

I've only been raising chickens for 6 months, but I've already processed two breeds for meat. First was Dominique, an American heritage breed. Super thrifty on feed as they preferred to range. Meat was good but nothing compared to the taste of the Favorelles I butchered. I hear that French meat birds are the best. Something about how the convert corn into fat easier than other breeds. I'm hoping to track down some Sulmtaler chicks this summer.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Standard bred Cornish is a good way to go if all your wanting is self sustaining meat bird. They won't lay many eggs, most will be spring and those you'll be hatching for more meat birds. Fat Daddy has a thread on his White Cornish that shows weights and ages with photos of carcasses and birds.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...lock-for-meat-and-more.1069243/#post-16258219

For a dual purpose bird there are better choices than White Plymouth Rock. Some stated above like Breese, New Hampshire, Dorking, Sussex (speckled or red), Buckeye to name a few. Of course these should be from breeder flocks not hatchery birds. Exception may be the Buckeye due to the somewhat recent livestock conservancy effort to get the breed back in standard form. Hatcheries picked them up after this effort and may or may not have had time to mess them up again. By that I mean they breed for egg production only

 

[Molpet]

one person did a study w/hatchery stock https://projects.sare.org/project-reports/fnc12-866/ should be better if you find a breeder w/a good line
Cost of production per lb. dressed weight, by breed*:
– Dominique – $4.08
– White Plymouth Rock – $3.71
– Naked Neck – $3.73
– Silver-Laced Wyandotte – $4.21
– Speckled Sussex – $4.01
– New Hampshire Red – $3.82
– Delaware – $4.05
– AVERAGE – $3.90
* These cost figures are to be used for reference only, and are not intended to be authoritative or even typical. Clearly one’s own enterprise costs will vary largely depending on a number of factors. Farmers should input their own relevant costs, using the breed-specific data above, to best determine their own potential outcomes. My own production costs are based on the following:
– cost per chick of between $1.34 and $1.45 (depending on breed);
– feed cost to butcher date at $0.365/lb. for bagged non-GMO feed;
– processing equipment rental cost of $75.00 for one day;
– bags, clips, and labels at $0.371 per bird;
– mileage to pick up chicks from the hatchery, pick up feed, and pick up and return processing equipment;
– and approximate shelter depreciation cost of $1.00 per bird.

 

[Chickenheadmate]

Was the rooster the lighteBrahma or the Cornish?

Years ago I tried doing the White Laced Red Cornish cross with White Rocks but was working too many hours and too inexperienced in incubating.

Long after that I again tried a White Laced Red Cornish crossed with Light Brahma. I really liked their potential, nice big birds with broad breasts. These birds were approximately 2 months old at the time of the photos.

I only got the one that looked like this. This one was about one month old at the time.

She is the only one that I still have. No matter what I bred her to, she added her broad breast and stocky build to her offspring.