Correct "Dual Purpose" Chickens

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I would have to agree with breeder birds over hatchery, size, egg laying, etc. And Tim is correct on the size of the store bought birds and getting spoiled. There are a bunch of Perdue chicken houses around our area and i'm here to tell you those birds are HUGE with a capital HUGE. There is still much room for improvement in any poultry, it takes time and set goal in mind. If you want meat then you are looking at putting a number on each chick, weighing each of them as they grow out and only keeping the fastest weight gain and heaviest birds as breeders. And even then you are only going to get so much out of them, you'll never make a heritage bird that can compete with a cross. But you can increase the size over time.

Steve

 

[kjmatson]

Thank you for all the excellent information everyone; I am truly appreciative. My long term goals are to have an abundant supply of eggs and meat every year; a sustainable supply. I looked at and brought home tonight a truly gorgeous Rhode Island Red rooster from a gentleman in a nearby town. The rooster is just a year old and is easily twice the size of my 2 year old hens, and has a very good disposition. When he was eating, one of the hens came up to see what he had and he dropped it and stepped back to let her eat. When I go in the coop or go to the hens outdoors he stays close but gives me my space and has no problem with me handling the hens. I am pretty excited to see how his offspring are going to turn out. The owner said he has great chicks with good size and they mature at a good pace, and are good layers. Sounds like the perfect addition to my long term goals. I am still going to check out Brouillettes Chicken Farm in Madison; he has been breeding for size and show for many years; I want to get a few Plymouth Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and a few Buff's. He doesn't have any Dominiques for sale this year, but will have a few next year.

 

[Red&Yellow]

kjmatson, I wish you the best of luck on your journey. Please keep us updated!

For the discussion of hatchery birds vs. breeders, I believe that each hatchery should be treated differently, as our Ideal white and partridge Rocks are VERY true to type, and are making wonderful crosses for laying and fast maturing for food. (One of the partidge actually went broody, too!) Also, one could take fair (in terms of size, fast growth, and egg production) birds from a hatchery and breed them (not neccessarily within the same breed) back to dual-purpose-ness, as I am doing.

 

[dancingbear]

Red&Yellow :

For the discussion of hatchery birds vs. breeders, I believe that each hatchery should be treated differently, as our Ideal white and partridge Rocks are VERY true to type, and are making wonderful crosses for laying and fast maturing for food. (One of the partidge actually went broody, too!) Also, one could take fair (in terms of size, fast growth, and egg production) birds from a hatchery and breed them (not neccessarily within the same breed) back to dual-purpose-ness, as I am doing.

That's probably true, I shouldn't lump all hatcheries together. And thank you for posting about your Rocks, it's good to know there's a source of some decent stock. Maybe I'll get some from them. I have heard from other people that Ideal has some nice birds.

I considered getting hatchery birds of some of the harder-to-find breeds that I want, and breeding to improve them back to what they should be. But I'm already looking at probably years before I get where I want, if I start off with good stock. The idea of adding a few more years by having to start off trying to breed back to type just doesn't appeal to me. I may end up doing that anyway, but it's sure not the way I wanted to go.

I'll be keeping chickens anyway, so I guess the time factor doesn't really matter all that much.​

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Sounds like a nice roo, can you post a pic or 2? I might at some point look for some good RIR or New Hampshires. Not anytime soon, I already have my hands full. Maybe in a year or two.

I want to breed my various hens to a dark Cornish roo, that seems to be a good terminal sire when breeding for meaty DP's. Some folks are having good results with buckeyes, and your RIR may turn out to be a good choice, as well. I wish great luck, and please do keep us posted.

Oh yeah, good Dom's are supposed to be a good choice, too!

 

[Bucky182]

One option is to buy from a hatchery your choice of DP like a New Hampshire and then get a good rooster from a breeder and breed your flock up by culling (Eating) the ones you don't think measure up as a true DP breed and keeping the ones you do. Each year you should see a marked improvement in your flock.

 

[kjmatson]

Here are a few pics of Mr (no name). He doesn't have a name yet because he still has to prove he can be a good guy to have around; if not he will look great with dumplings. I think he will be just fine. I will try to add some more pics when they aren't busy dusting themselves LOL.

 

[kjmatson]

Quote:
That sounds like a good idea to me Bucky; save a few $ in the process. I am still unsure if I just want to mix them up and have "barnyard chickens" which finish on a good rate, or if I want to be true to the breed and work with only great stock. I am kind of a perfectionist, so I can already feel the urge to pursue some good quality RIR's.

 

[Beekissed]

My White Rocks are very heavy, meaty dual purpose layers that have laid consistently for me for 2 years now...and I cull each year for laying ability, so they have passed the test. They seem to be very hardy, reasonably broody at the correct time of year, and thrifty feeders.

I am crossing a Partridge Rock roo over my dual purpose flock to maintain that meaty build. My whole flock consists of heavy dual purpose layers and so far, the White Rocks are the biggest, with the New Hampshire Reds and Black Aussies coming in a close second.

I am adding Partridge Rock, Barred Rock and Speckled Sussex to the flock to carry on this desired trait.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
That sounds like a good idea to me Bucky; save a few $ in the process. I am still unsure if I just want to mix them up and have "barnyard chickens" which finish on a good rate, or if I want to be true to the breed and work with only great stock. I am kind of a perfectionist, so I can already feel the urge to pursue some good quality RIR's.

I don't think you'll save any money at all by starting with lesser quality birds and breeding up. I paid $40 for a pair of good quality Buff Brahmas from a breeder. So then I immediately had good breeders. I could have ordered lesser quality birds from a hatchery, raised them to adulthood, (that would already be a lot more than $40) then spent 2 or 3 or more years breeding, culling, and raising them before I ended up with higher quality Brahmas for breeding. Feed for all that would cost quite a bit, in addition to the initial order, shipping, ad raising them to maturity.

The initial purchase per bird is cheaper, but it's a false economy. That's why I don't want to do that, unless I can't find a breeder with the breeds I want. I should say local breeder, I want to get them close enough to home that I can go pick them up, I've had awful luck with shipped eggs.

Beautiful roo, what I could see of him. It's hard to get them to pose for a good pic. I have some that I always seem to only get pictures of their backsides.