BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[ejcrist]

I've posted this a couple times here but I'm sure you didn't hear it. I'll try a condensed version. Green Fire Farms states; "The Barbezieux is notable for two reasons: it is the tallest native chicken breed in Europe, and it is one of the best- tasting meat chickens in the world. As to the former, the Barbezieux will likely tower over any other chicken breed you have on your property, and as to the latter the Barbezieux is revered by some gastronomes as superior to the revered Bresse when the birds are roasted. (Traditionally, Bresse are poached when they are prepared for the table.) The skin roasts to a golden color with the smell of wheat, and the meat has a distinct flavor reminiscent of wild game.
and recently Barbezieux were ranked third in a competition of 20 meat breeds by the French food guide, Gault Millau."
They and the Bresse are super $$$$
I decided to check out that competition by Gault Millau, why buy the third best, whats #1???., took hours upon hours, days, they have websites in every language in every country....found nothing....finally late one night I found it, French version with google translate, figured it'd be some weird name bird we can't get here....nope...it was the naked neck. ****, we have them here! The #1 was the red variety, redbro con nu or something. I've been looking for that article for awhile now again, can't find it...so wish I wrote down the whole list, don't even remember what was #2 Google sucks butt sometimes, especially if your looking up certain political stuff.

No kiddin'? Gosh, now I gotta have one. That's very interesting about them tasting like they were deep fried due to the skin. If that's true than I'd put them at the top of the list too. Yeah I definitely gotta raise a few and give them a go. If they're that good I'll raise 'em regularly just for the BBQ. One huge benefit of that is their heat tolerance - you'd be able to raise 'em year-round unlike Cornish Crosses that I can only raise from Oct-April. That's an especially important quality for my locale. I am going to order some.

 

[Mini Meat]

Quote: I was considering the S&G naked necks as well. If I am going to brave my daughter's complaints about ugly birds I want to make sure I get meaty NN's and not some mixed up project bird of unknown quality and heritage. Not that I have a problem with projects, I just prefer my own...lol.

Like you, I balked at the 100 bird order. A hundred would not be too bad if you can find someone or two to split the order.

 

[DesertChic]

Just curious but has anyone one here raised and/or ate a Dorking? They're rare from what I gather but everything I ever read about them stated they were the best table bird for eons. Supposedly even one of the Queens of England kept her own personal flock for that very purpose. I'm sure she wasn't the one going out and cleaning the coop every week but I thought that interesting. Murray Mcmurray lists them but they don't have any available anytime in the future per their website. Heck I'd like to raise a couple just to raise as broilers if there were any around to get. As rare as they apparently are I'm guessing you'd want to raise a good many before you started eating the culls.

I have Dorking mixes, but found it insanely difficult to find any pure Dorkings. My mixes haven't done too badly in the heat, but their personalities are highly variable and several of them are downright awful. In fact, for the first time every I'm going to cull hens, and all of them are my Dorking mixes. I've heard nothing but praise for pure Dorkings, but like I said, they're really hard to get your hands on. The Dorking-mix cockerels I culled really didn't taste any different to me that most of the other breeds I culled. Maybe the pure are better?

I'm glad you're at least considering the NNs. I actually just sold some hatching eggs to a young man living down in my area who wants to start raising NNs. I love that the appreciation for the breed is increasing because they really are wonderful birds.

Right now, as I type this, I have eggs FINALLY hatching in my incubator, most of which are DC and DC mixes from @lpatelski . I plan to cross them with my best NNs to further improve their meat production. Right now my biggest NN rooster weighed in at just over 11 lbs today, and my heaviest hen came in just shy of 8 lbs. This is from my elder flock, which are now closing in on being 2 years old. I'm hoping to see that kind of weight on my younger birds from here on out. I'm already really happy with my NN/White Rock crosses, which are showing really impressive growth rates as well as an increase in overall musculature. Hopefully I can keep the trend going in the right direction.

 

[DesertChic]

I didn't plan on keeping the whites for breeding but now that I found out someone local is growing out cornishX hopefully to egg laying age and said I could get a couple if it works out, I'm going to keep them for crossing, see what happens. Keeping a red/black cockerel,my biggest one, and all the pullets.
All other NN cockerels, white giant cockerels and giant/silkie cross cockerels will be undergoing the 'procedure' this weekend, got poco pollo capon tools in the mail last week :-D should be around 15 all together.

I LOVE these!!!!

WANT!!!!

- Ant Farm

X 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I have a question for the naked neck fans........ are your birds the true breed naked necks, or are they crosses with the naked neck gene? I seem to remember reading that the gene confers more breast meat and less fat, and difficulty hatching, but I can't find the reference for the breast meat/fat. Apparently there's a 10% drop in hatchability for pure naked neck chickens ( from my book by van Dort).
I'm wondering if the breed Naked neck has any better eating qualities than cross selected for meat? If I lived in a hot climate, you have certainly convinced me that naked necks are the way to go. I look at the recent photos and I see while most of the feathered chickens panting in the heat, the naked necks are not.

@DesertChic I think you are on to something very good, LInda's chickens crossed with your Naked necks. Ditto @Beer can .

 

[draye]

Ya know you gave me an idea. I'm going to name my next rooster Montelius. But I'm just going to call him Monty or he might attack when I don't expect it. The one rooster I have now is named Hoss because he's a big boy. Believe it or not he knows his name too. I'll have three more before the end of the year is out so I'll have to think of names for them too. Cogburn came to mind pretty quick so I might go with that but I'll have to think about the last one. Let me know if you think of anything good.

I'm not big on naming birds but it's actually helpful when me and my wife are talking about them - it's a lot easier than saying number 67 and then having to think which one that is. We don't name them all because that's way too much for my small brain to remember but we do have names for a couple of them that stand out.

That's just too much. Talking chickens with the wife.

Mine wouldn't know which one I was talking about if I named it after her and posted a picture on the wall for her to see.

 

[Turk Raphael]

I have a question for the naked neck fans........ are your birds the true breed naked necks, or are they crosses with the naked neck gene? I seem to remember reading that the gene confers more breast meat and less fat, and difficulty hatching, but I can't find the reference for the breast meat/fat. Apparently there's a 10% drop in hatchability for pure naked neck chickens ( from my book by van Dort).
I'm wondering if the breed Naked neck has any better eating qualities than cross selected for meat? If I lived in a hot climate, you have certainly convinced me that naked necks are the way to go. I look at the recent photos and I see while most of the feathered chickens panting in the heat, the naked necks are not.

@DesertChic I think you are on to something very good, LInda's chickens crossed with your Naked necks. Ditto @Beer can .

Naked necks should do fine where you live. We're beginning a project where by we breed the NNs to have pea and cushion combs,using chicks from Linda's stock and adding to the already fine breast meat of the NNs.

 

[3riverschick]

NNs are AWESOME, especially out here in AZ. They have fantastic personalities, outstanding meat and egg production, and are a whole lot easier to process. I originally wanted "a few" NNs. Now I turn just about everything into a NN.

I don't get it. If one is going to chop off the head anyway, what does it matter if the chicken has a naked neck? Does it just make it easier to find the right place to chop?
Best,
Karen

 

[Beer can]

I don't get it. If one is going to chop off the head anyway, what does it matter if the chicken has a naked neck? Does it just make it easier to find the right place to chop?
Best,
Karen

It's hard to see but they actually have half the feathers of regular chickens, and smooth where they are naked. I'll post some pics in a few.

This from wikipedia;
"They lay a respectable number of light brown eggs, and are considered desirable for meat production because they need less plucking and they have a meaty body. They are very good foragers and are immune to most diseases. The breed is also reasonably cold hardy despite its lack of feathers. This breed has approximately half the feathers of other chickens, making it resistant to hot weather and easier to pluck. Scientific studies have indicated that the naked-neck gene (Na) improves breast size and reduces heat stress in chickens of non-broiler breeds which are homozygous for the trait. Additionally, in tropical climates if the naked-neck trait (Na) is bred into broiler strains it has been shown to facilitate lower body temperature, increased body weight gain, better feed conversion ratios and carcass traits compared to normally feathered broilers.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I don't get it. If one is going to chop off the head anyway, what does it matter if the chicken has a naked neck? Does it just make it easier to find the right place to chop?
Best,
Karen

All true, but you still have to like the looks of the chicken while it's alive

From a strictly meat production aspect (and I hear they are pretty good layers too) you are absolutely right. I hear those fans going non stop in the commercial chicken barns in the heat of the summer and for the life of me I don't understand why the commercial meaties aren't bred with the naked neck gene. I hear the commercial broilers drop like flies from the heat.