Can egg layer birds produce meat birds???

[jjparke]

Best chicken I ever ate was a 18 week old buff orpington cockerel. It was nice and tender and very rich. Not very practical to raise though.

 

[slc]

Quote:
Research the "poulet rouge" chicken from the European "Label Rouge" program. Claimed to be the best tasting chicken in the world. The label rouge program is a "beyond organic" type program for humane husbandry including special breeds that are taste tested to ensure high culinary qualities. Among the breeds is the Redbro. The Redbro is a meat chicken with the same foraging instinct and health of a heritage breed, they can even be bred to replenish your family meat stock. Many have raised them only one or two weeks longer than a cornish cross. I've been doing the same research looking for a more sustainable bird to raise that would provide the best quality meat that is possible. From what I've found about the program and these breeds is that everyone claims they are the best tasting. These types of birds are just starting to be known in the U.S. mainly with organic pasture raising producers. It's noted that the cornish cross is considered so inferior in taste, texture, and health that it is banned from this program. Even the organic programs here in the U.S. are still using the cornish cross for economic reasons. Makes me curious to know what I'm missing.

I have an order of Redbro from JM Hatchery on the way and I can't wait to make my own comparison.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/labelrouge.html
http://www.jmhatchery.com/free-range-broiler/freedom-ranger-chicks/prod_5.html
http://www.royalpalmshotel.com/pdfsPoulet-Rouge-Release.pdf

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
I didn't mean add roos, I meant replace roos! Too many roos is not a good thing. If you stick with the ones you have for breeding, you can eat the offspring, they just won't be very big or meaty. But they will be tasty.

As far as which is best, that's highly subjective. Best flavor, best growth, best nutritional value, all these things will vary with breeds, butchering age, and what they eat. A regular broiler type will grow fast, and be tender, but lack the full flavor of a heritage/dual purpose bird. Birds that are active foragers with access to pasture have better nutritive value, better balance of essential fatty acids, etc. So which birds are best for you, may not be the same as what I consider best for me.

Males get bigger, and if they are heritage types, are very lean. My DP roos get pretty big and meaty, but there's very little fat. Broiler types are little fatties, generally. My DP hens do accumulate some fat, and they don't get as tough as roos, as fast as roos, and usually make very nice roasters, if you roast them long and slow. They won't get as big as the roos. So again, it's a subjective thing, you just have to decide what qualities are the most important to you, and go from there. It may help in your thinking to be specific, and avoid thinking about it in loose general terms, such as "I want the best ones". Instead, decide what traits you really want, such as, "I want a lean, muscular bird", or "I want birds with a little extra fat for the flavor and moistness", or "I want a heavy dressed weight", "I want fuller flavor", "lighter, faster cooking bird", or whatever you feel strongly about.

The rangers, such as red bro, or even something like the red broilers (Ideal has them) may be what you want. They grow slower than the Cornish X, but still fairly quickly, and are active , healthy birds. They can breed naturally, though the offspring will not all be like the parents, since they're hybrids. But close enough for home use, anyway.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I have dual purpose, not meat breeds, but I would have to agree to consider replacing one or more of your roos with a meat breed rooster.
I recently killed 4 RIR and one araucana roosters that were a bit over 3 months old and I would have loved them to be just a bit larger. In your case, mine may be large by comparison depending on the rooster that did the deed and which hen we would be talking about. But, really you can take care of yourself with what you have. You just might not have very large amounts of meat. Its still going to taste good though.
I have to talk myself out of starting a meat project, because it is so tempting. I am just going to pacify myself with the knowledge that I am going to allow my hens to set and incubate to sell chicks and pullets and eat the unwanted roosters at little or no cost to me......thats assuming I sell all the pullets.

 

[Farm Chic]

thanks! I can't and won't do my roos in! They are almost 2 years old now! My roos stay b/c I love them, well maybe not so much the polish one.....he's too much of a wuss and should really be ashamed to be called a roo!! lol

As for the type of meat I would want, I would prefer a leaner meat but with full flavor and moistness. If I can't have all that, I would go for the fattier type meat with the full flavor and moistness. I assume that no matter the bird that I raise, it will still be leaner than what is at the store, correct? I definitely do not want a bird that is too fatty. Now the rangers I have heard very little about, and what I have read is some good and some bad. Would this bird be a good choice for me to try my first time? I want this experience to be fun and enjoyable, not the opposite!

 

[la dee da]

Quote:
Yes, any duel purpose chicken will be leaner than the cornish-x.
You may find this a really good read, it's about how to cook duel purpose:
http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
No prob, if you are attached to them, then by all means, keep them. I didn't realize they were pets. You can eat any chicken, so if you end up with extras that you can butcher, I'd certainly do that, no matter what the mix is.

The FR's might indeed be a good choice for you, for meat. Or The Red Broilers. I don't recall who recently posted about them with some good pics, too, but they might be more what you want. You can read up and see if they sound good. They seem to be leaner than FR's, but not scrawny, a little fat, a good, meaty breast, not as big as the CX's, but respectable nonetheless. I think the are usually processed at 12 weeks, but I could be wrong on that. 12 weeks is young enough to be tender, but old enough to have better flavor than a CX, they're healthy, vigorous birds, and forage well. This is all from what I'm read about Red Broilers, I have not yet raised them myself. Maybe next spring I'll try a few, just to see.

When your pet roos meet their ends, as all things eventually do, you might then consider getting something meatier for your breeding roo, like a dark Cornish, a big RIR, Brahma, something like that.

 

[slc]

If you want to go from vegetarian to meat eater you'll want the best example of taste and texture and minimize negative experiences during the growout.

If you don't want to wait to raise breeders get a roo from craigslist like a road island red, rock, or delaware roo. Breeding the rir roos to your BARRED hens will get sex links. The males will be noticable at hatch. Raise the males for stew meat keep the hens for eggs.

If your serious about setting up a sustainable meat source, get some range type meat chicks like Redbro (freedom rangers). Raise the broilers and keep the best roo and a few hens to be your breeders. This way you'll have high quality meat in about 8-10 weeks plus you'll have breeders in about 20-25 weeks to start the next batch.

Don't believe the propaganda that you can't breed hybrids like the Redbro. A meat chicken x meat chicken will get a meat chicken. The broiler industry doesn't get your money if you breed your own so they discourage anyone from breeding the oftspring. It realy doesn't matter for the home producer.

Pasture or not to pasture it's your preference. One thing about nature is that it knows what it needs if left to do so. A chicken has the ability and instinct to "crave" what it needs. Denying them the freedom on pasture places their needs in human hands. Wild turkeys thrive without human intervension, so can a chicken.

The human diet contains a lot of feeedom of choice, some good some bad, but we can't say we're better off living on slimfast shakes and gatoraid. Feed is routinely contaminated by byproducts and fungi, contain GMO grain, and pesticide residue. I wouldn't be afraid of what they might eat in nature any more than what they are eating in the man made feed.

 

[NoSleep4mommy]

I agree that pastured is the way to go. Joel Salatin has written many books and successfully farms meat chickens in tractors. I think the way to go would also be to look at your good meaty chickens. To use the boney old ones, check out Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and you will get a chicken stock that will knock your socks off and heal the gut and soul....and brain. All of the minerals from the bones and muscles get into the stock and are sooooo nourishing. I am still putting my plans together as well for soy free organic meat chickens....not sure yet if I can get away with having that many on my lot yet without getting into it with a neighbor. Chat Soon, Anne

 

[johnscalido]

Okay. I think we taking the fun out of raising chickens. That is why there is a meat section to BYC. I think for your situation the best bird to use will be the Buff Orpington. It is a large, beautiful and very importantly a docile bird and it mix if not be "picked on" by the other birds. It grows very large and the meat is excellent and they lay and egg about every 2 days. They eat quite a bit though almost as much as broilers.