Best Hybrid for homestead

[DeusVult]

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to figure out the best chickens to buy to produce both meat and eggs. I can look up the best chickens online, but I was really hoping to get some advice from someone who has some experience with this.

So far, I’m leaning towards Australorps, due to the cold northern winters we have here, and I can just keep breeding every few generations with a new rooster, from what. I gather.

Thanks for any and all advice, guys and gals!

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC!

If you put your general location into your profile we can give better-targeted advice. Climate matters.

As a general rule, there is no chicken that excels for both meat and eggs.

NOTHING outclasses a commercial strain Leghorn for maximum eggs on minimum feed -- though that performance comes at a cost because they're bred to lay like crazy for a year or so and then be culled at their first molt. So people who keep them longer find that they're prone to reproductive problems. Likewise for the commercial strain sexlink layers.

On the meat side, NOTHING BUT NOTHING beats the feed conversion of a Cornish X meatbird. They're the world champion producer of protein. But that too comes at a cost because because they are a "terminal cross" bred to be slaughtered at a specific age and can rarely be kept into adulthood even with careful management.

The classic "dual purpose" barnyard breeds are, in theory, a compromise, but unless you get a heritage strain from someone who has been focusing on meat production, they've been pushed toward the layer side. Most any of these classic breeds will give you hens that lay 4-6 eggs per week and cockerels that make a tasty, but comparatively skinny meal around 12-16 weeks (but have eaten a lot more food than the Cornish X ate to gain twice the weight in half the time).

Only you can decide what balance you want to strike -- the compromise of the dual purpose flock or two flocks of specialists.

My personal recommendation?

Go Ahead, Pick the Prettiest Chickens!

(I have Blue Australorps and I love them!)

 

[Party_Chicken]

I would go with Jersey giants or black sex links. I have had one of each they were my biggest birds and the BSL was a roo but I heard the breed is a great layer. As for the JG not the best layer but they get the job done with huge eggs. Another breed I would recommend is Brahma I have never had them but I think they check all your boxes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum from Louisiana. Glad you joined.

This is one of the most common questions asked on here. We can write books on it and often do. You might look through this meat bird forum and read a few.

The most cost effective meat birds to raise are the Cormish X. The Rangers aren't too bad either. but you pretty much have to buy the chicks, they are hard to hatch. The most cost effective laying birds are the commercial hybrids, but they don't breed true either and they don't live for many years. Not what I imagine a homesteader wants.

We all have our own preferences as far as dual purpose breeds. Since you mentioned cold northern weather you might look at Buckeyes (developed by a woman in Ohio for her climate) or maybe Chanteclers (developed by a monk in Canada for his climate). Both dual purpose breeds. There are several other dual purpose breeds that might suit you. I was happy with my Black Australorps as egg layers and for meat but mine went broody a fair amount. Some people like that, some don't.

What I often suggest to someone like you is to get several different breeds and raise them together. See which ones you like the best when grown in your conditions. You are going to feed and manage them differently than I do. What matters is how they do for you.

 

[3KillerBs]

I would go with Jersey giants or black sex links. I have had one of each they were my biggest birds and the BSL was a roo but I heard the breed is a great layer. As for the JG not the best layer but they get the job done with huge eggs. Another breed I would recommend is Brahma I have never had them but I think they check all your boxes.

Jersey Giants and Brahmas grow huge, but they're very slow growers and the cockerels grow a bony frame long before they put on meat.

IIRC, JG's were favored for capons and grown out for many months without getting tough or strong-flavored the way they would under the influence of male hormones.

I was happy with my Black Australorps as egg layers and for meat but mine went broody a fair amount.

I can second this. About 1/3 of my Australorps go broody.

 

[imacowgirl2]

Depends on how many eggs you want/need vs how much meat. I’m raising Freedom Ranger Hatchery New Hampshires, and these things are very close to what I would consider a truly dual purpose breed.

I butcher between 12-14 weeks, and I get live birds that weigh from 7-10+ pounds at this age; with an average of 60% live weight being dressed weight (I don’t save any of the organs for human consumption so my percentages are lower than some others) I get dressed weights from 4-8 lbs, with most being 5+ pounds.

From the hens I’ve had laying so far, I’m getting an average of 4-6 eggs/week most weeks from each hen…but there are weeks where I may only get 2-3 eggs from one or another of the hens. My first two hens didn’t start laying until just over 6 months (average for this breed), but I had one pullet in this last batch that started at 4 months; if her eggs increase in size fairly quickly, I will be using her to see if I can decrease point of lay age in my flock. Supposedly these hens go broody fairly frequently, but so far I’ve not had any broodies (but my oldest ones are only 10 months old)…I’m hoping for broodies, so I hope that one will go broody at least once this year so I don’t have to raise all of the chicks in the brooder.

I’m feeding a family of 7 wanna-be carnivores, and have a separate egg laying flock, so for me Im ok with the lower number of eggs; for the average family I think a flock of these would do well to provide both meat and eggs. They do eat more feed than layers…but they do also free range well (though some of them are definitely more predator-aware than others lol).

 

[SourRoses]

Great advice here.

The only thing I thought of is that it's helpful to think about what you want those eggs or meat to be like. Dark vs. light meat, breast vs. thighs and so on.

When we first got into chickens, we chose cute pet breeds and found ourselves disappointed with the small eggs. Ha, it sounds like a silly oversight, but it's pretty common to not know what you want at first. We figured we'd just crack twice as many. But it wasn't very satisfying, and a pain to store.
We moved on to medium-large layers with good productivity. The influx of way too many unremarkable eggs was boring (sorry to anyone who prefers this, everyone is different).
Liquidated the flock once again and got some that lay jumbo and some that lay blue. At last I am pleased with the eggs! It's like finding treasure, lol.

So what do you want to do with the eggs? Will you be just feeding your family? In which case they don't have to be as productive as most people think.
Or do you want to sell eggs? For this you'd do best to imagine what customers might want. They definitely have to be XL unless you want to field complaints. We have a neighbor who won't buy eggs from us if they're not white
Some customers just love colorful eggs and it's a big part of the reason they come to you.
So, if you imagine yourself with these dual-purpose chickens, what's the most important factor to you?