Breeding your own meats

[lazy gardener]

Of course MMc says they won't breed true, and, honestly, IMO, I don't care if they don't breed true. I kept back one of my Pioneer pullets, and am very glad I did. She was the smallest one. But as a DP bird, she is top notch. Nice personality, she was the first of my spring hatchlings to lay. I'm expecting that by letting her play in my chicken gene pool, there will be some nice meaty birds come out of the mix. She's a dependable layer of nice big eggs. She loves the feed bowl, but pays her way with an egg every day. Rudy: did you keep a male and female Pioneer? Please post your results. Seeing that all of the Pioneer roos had barring in their feathers, I'm guessing that the female in the cross was a barred bird. I'm wondering if a nice meaty BO roo x PBR hen would give a reasonable reproduction of the Pioneer.

 

[enola]

Maybe. If you used well bred heritage birds, but not if you use hatchery quality PBR.

 

[rudy6482]

I'll take some pics and post them on this thread if its not out of place. I started with 25. I kept two roos and three hens. I lost on hen early on with leg probs and a roo to idk heart attack? He just turned up dead without a scratch. Also lost a few as chicks and then to predators. They differ in color drastically. One of the roos is half black and white barred and the other is half white and gold barred and really big. I had other roos that were mostly red. One of the hens has a grey rear and gold black penciled feathers everywhere else. They are the calmest and tamest birds I have. Glad to see someone else that has them. I haven't been able to find out much about genetics but they rival Cx as far as growth rate.

 

[enola]

Pictures! We love pictures!

 

[RIR0BCM]

pictures

 

[rudy6482]

Here's one roo with ee hens

Here's the big one next to a full grown white Chinese goose

 

[rudy6482]

 

[rudy6482]

 

[Bill Matthews]

I'll take some pics and post them on this thread if its not out of place. I started with 25. I kept two roos and three hens. I lost on hen early on with leg probs and a roo to idk heart attack? He just turned up dead without a scratch. Also lost a few as chicks and then to predators. They differ in color drastically. One of the roos is half black and white barred and the other is half white and gold barred and really big. I had other roos that were mostly red. One of the hens has a grey rear and gold black penciled feathers everywhere else. They are the calmest and tamest birds I have. Glad to see someone else that has them. I haven't been able to find out much about genetics but they rival Cx as far as growth rate.

S & G Poultry in Clanton, AL, developed these new bloodlines and markets them as Red Rangers and Dixie Rainbows.....McMurray sells them as Red Rangers and Pioneers but acknowledges that others market the Pioneers as Rainbows or Dixie Rainbows....Dixie Rainbows are great dual purpose chickens.....The hens get much bigger than most purebred dual purpose birds and lay really well...You can get more info and background by googeling S & G Poultry....Their prices are competitive and they also have a Red Turken that has been selectively bred for efficient meat production and a red layer strain called Golden Nugget.....The guys who developed these birds did a great job....Also, I didn't see any notation that they had any reproduction problems either in the S&G brochure or the McMurray 2015 catalog...It would be interesting to see what the offspring turned out to be......Mt Healthy Hatchery also sells these....Several hatcheries in PA have similar meat chickens

 

[rudy6482]

Thanks Bill! I haven't been able to find that much info googling.