Breeding a meet Breed

[ChickenKeep01]

I am planning to (i might not) get 8 different breeds of chickens and breed them to make one of the best tasting birds in the world and i'm wondering two things does anyone have any recommendations of breeds to use and would anyone be interested in buying them (if you have any recommendations bresse are not a option they are to hard to get here)

 

[MorganC]

Wow, you have quite a challenge ahead of you.
First, you have to determine what kind of meat you want.
Second, you have to determine what market you might be selling to.
Third, you have to find out what breeds you can get in your area.
Fourth, you have to figure out if said breeds will thrive in your area.

Starting with your research is good. Word of the wise, you will not be able to breed a hybrid on your own as that is very complicated breeding and many of the breeding techniques are private, so.....go with a 'natural' or 'heritage' meet breed to start. But first figure out who might want your meat, cuz that will determine what breed you can raise. Always have business before you have a product, so you don't waste.

 

[Dave C]

Good enthusiasm, you'll need that

What might also be a good starting point is What size birds are you looking to sell and how quickly do you want to get them to that weight ?

Time is money with table birds so when you know what you're trying to achieve you can then look into suitable breeds.

 

[ChickenKeep01]

The size Dosent really matter I want them to walk around in padocks and not just sit by the feeder. I also want them to be slow growing

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Are there even eight breeds that would suit your needs? Not all birds deemed dual purpose are equal. Asiatic breeds have course textured meat. That may prove counter in producing a great tasting bird. What ages you intend to cull may also narrow the choice of breeds. Though all standard bred birds are slow to grow there are a few that are "fast" maturing relative to this class of bird. If your market wants birds suitable to grilling then you'll want a bird that gets to a fair size and well fleshed out by 14 weeks of age. If your market wants roasting table birds maybe a pure Cornish is all you need. They are slow to grow but will be of good size and sporting the double thick breasts making for a fine table bird. Dorking are relatively small in size but well proportioned and fine textured meat. New Hampshire or Buckeye will mature faster providing fair size and fleshed bird at grilling age. If your wanting to create a hybrid for meat purpose keeping Cornish and New Hampshire to cross for each batch of meat birds is good plan. You'd probably not want to continue crossing as the overall size will diminish compared to that first generation. Maintaining Cornish and New Hampshire to mate together for sole purpose of F1 hybrids. In terms of meat birds they would be slow growing but in terms of dual purpose these F1 would prove very fast to mature and would be of larger size than either parent stock. Finding what your market can bear before committing to a plan would be advantageous. The market may say they want heritage roasting birds but th cost to produce (feed to 6-8 months) may be far more than they are prepared to pay.

 

[hensanpitbulls]

Can i breed my rooster to my cornish cross hen an also what will they look like

 

[kempfarm1982]

He should be able to get the job done. As to what the offspring will look like I have no clue.

 

[hensanpitbulls]

I'm trying to get these 2 to breed any suggestions,should I separate them from the others

 

[kempfarm1982]

If you have other roosters I would keep them separately from the rest.

 

[kempfarm1982]

Also how determined is your rooster. If he's not that active then you definitely need to keep them two penned up together.