Black Australorps vs Buff Orpingtons

[igrowgrass]

I want a bird that is going to lay eggs number one, but I also like to eat chickens and I was planning on feeding my dogs on a raw diet based on chicken so I want an animal that serves both purposes well.

I know that the australorps are the better layers, but how do they do as a meat bird?

Do the orpingtons compare as a layer to the australorps?

I'm looking for a happy medium.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[cassie]

I want a bird that is going to lay eggs number one, but I also like to eat chickens and I was planning on feeding my dogs on a raw diet based on chicken so I want an animal that serves both purposes well.

I know that the australorps are the better layers, but how do they do as a meat bird?

Do the orpingtons compare as a layer to the australorps?

I'm looking for a happy medium.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

The Orpingtons are slightly larger so they would probably make the better meat breed but I don't think you can go wrong with either. I think your best bet would be to get some of each breed then you could make up your own mind.

 

[igrowgrass]

I have both now, but haven't eaten either one yet, They're both laying for me. I like both birds just about the same. My Orpingtons are friendlier. I have a few that will even hop in my lap if I sit down with them.

I would be equally happy raising either breed.

I have them all in the same house now, so its hard to tell the difference with egg production.

I am leaning towards the buffs just because they seem to be the meatier bird.

Thank you for your opinion.

 

[donrae]

I've not eaten either, so take my reply with a grain of salt.

Aussies are overall much better layers.

Oprs are bigger, but can take longer to mature.

If you're looking as sustainability, Orps are much more likely to go broody.

I'd also say stay with both. No reason to limit yourself to just one breed. If you want to keep pure bred birds, have a rooster of each breed and either have separate flocks or just separate specific birds for breeding.

 

[igrowgrass]

As I do more research I may end up keeping three different breeds. I'm interested in the Cornish Rock crosses for meat, but don't want to constantly order chicks. I would rather produce them on my own. So I may end up keeping White Cornish chickens and White Rocks.

While the Rocks are great layers and very meaty I start getting ideas in my head like, "What if I crossed the white rock with the black australorp and made my own sex linked layers?" LOL.

So it may end up being small flocks of

Black Australorp
White Rock
White Cornish

Then I may end up crossing those to produce more productive animals.

I'm still in the planning stages for these things. That's the nice thing about chickens. If you really screw things up they can all go in the freezer pretty easily and you can start over LOL.

 

[igrowgrass]

I eventually would like to use the chickens to add income to my farm. I do believe that I can produce meat and eggs with no cost other than labor and the original investment for housing/fencing and equipment. I believe that I can feed them for free. If this is the case, they will be a ridiculously advantageous addition for me.

Plus, my dogs eat raw diet. I will be able to feed my dogs for free.

I have at least a dozen people that have asked me if I sell eggs. I know that I could probably sell a gross of eggs every week without even trying. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it would be around $2500 a year that I could add to my income with almost zero effort. That $2500 every year adds up if you stuff it into an IRA.

I'm just trying to find ways that I can increase the productivity of my land. If you can add a meat and egg operation to your farm without buying any more land, its like finding free money.

 

[appps]

Can you really free range with no additional feed? Especially something like the fast growing meat birds would of I'd have thought required extra food.
Ours are out all day scratching about but they still come back for the pellet food as well. Just wondered if its really possible to not buy food or if it means you will have slower growing birds and lower egg production?

 

[igrowgrass]

Can you really free range with no additional feed? Especially something like the fast growing meat birds would of I'd have thought required extra food.
Ours are out all day scratching about but they still come back for the pellet food as well. Just wondered if its really possible to not buy food or if it means you will have slower growing birds and lower egg production?

I didn't say that you didn't give any extra food. Its just that I'm not planning on BUYING food. If you can feed the chickens with things that you can grow etc yourself then you don't have to spend money on it. This may sound disgusting to some of you, but I have started raising dubia roaches. They breed like crazy, and I can produce them in high enough numbers to take care of ALL of my chickens protein requirements.

Take a critter like this dubia roach. You can feed them stuff that would normally just go onto your compost pile and they turn it into protein that the chickens can eat. Its pretty amazing.

I also have been raising red wiggler worms. They too are critters that live and thrive on stuff that you throw away and turn garbage into protein for the chickens to eat.

The chickens also follow the cattle in the grazing rotation, so again this sounds gross, but they pick through the manure and eat fly larvae.

They also get produce scraps and other "waste" from the farm.

Corn is easy enough to grow if you have room for it. I could put up to two acres in corn, and it would be labor intensive, but it would be more free energy for the chickens. This is all in an effort to become a self sufficient full time farmer. I'm not there yet, but I believe that you can get there with proper planning.

 

[appps]

Will be interesting to see what your egg production and growth rates are like. Not that Im saying that it cant be done, I really do mean it will be interesting ;-)

Im sure the pioneers didnt buy in feed so it must be doable it would be interesting to take a look at their protien and vitamin mineral intake estimates compared to bought feed, just to get a really good idea if there is somewhere you need to do something else etc

 

[donrae]

Just cause you mentioned breeding sex links---none of the breeds you talk about can be crossed for sex links. You need either a red/gold rooster over a silver hen (red sex links) or pretty much any non-barred rooster over a barred hen (black sex links). Here's a link to the best info I've found on breeding your own, gives the crosses needed on the first page, you don't have to wade through the entire massive thread.......


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information