Cold Hearty Dual Purpose

[rkellett]

I am starting a new flock this spring in Vermont, and I need a cold hearty, dual purpose chicken. I also want to breed, so I need a broody, but friendly breed, as I also have three children. I have read reviews on many breeds, and these two breeds seem to fit the bill. I have heard that buffs are better layers, and dark cornish are better tasting. I think it really comes down to personality and temperament. I am leaning towards black australorps. What are your thoughts on these two breeds?

 

[LRH97]

I think I would go with the Australorp. They have many of the Orpington's traits, which happen to be one of my favorites. These include good meat quality, prone to broodiness, and they are quite cold hardy. Not to mention my BO's were the sweetest girls I've ever had. I have never butchered and ate any of my Australorps, however. The birds I have made it fine through the -2 degree cold spell we had this winter. They're also quite sweet. Oh, and my oldest hen has gone broody twice I believe (she's two years old).

 

[lazy gardener]

Have you looked at Henderson's chicken breed chart? My cold weather preference (zone 4) is for a rose or pea combed bird as they are less prone to frost bite. Cornish have a rep as being aggressive. They also are not prolific layers, but I believe they make good Mamas. Orps are reported to be good broodys. Not sure about lorpes. Could you get some of each? Again, check the chart. For rose comb DP you might look at Dominiques and Wyandottes. Both of these breeds will be joining my flock this spring, in addition to rose comb Brown Leghorns (white egg layers, and a few Pioneers (DP meat birds). Once you've viewed the chart, go to the threads to see what people who have the breeds you are looking at have to say about them. You can also go to hatchery web sites to review breed information.

 

[rkellett]

Thanks for the advice. I did check out Hendersons chart. I've had brown leghorns in the past but they were flighty and preferred to roost in trees and they were picked off by predators. I decided on Australorps. I'm going to keep them in a run. I read they handle confinement well.