Definition of Dual Purpose Chickens

[cx367]

Can anybody explain what is dual purpose chickens? Especially dual purpose roosters. I know this is a dumb question, but does this mean dual purpose roosters can also lay eggs?

 

[AlienChick]

No dumb questions here!

Dual-purpose chickens are usually meat/eggs chickens.
In other words a chicken breed that grows large and lays well (Black Australorp, RIR, etc.)
I suppose a dual purpose rooster would be a rooster of an egg laying breed that grows large.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I agree as well.

 

[redsoxs]

X3! That is how I understand it as well.

 

[LukensFarms]

Dual purpose are breeds that lay well and are large in weight. Roosters never lay eggs. I personally favor dual purpose breeds because we use our chickens for meat and eggs.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

No dumb questions here!

Dual-purpose chickens are usually meat/eggs chickens.
In other words a chicken breed that grows large and lays well (Black Australorp, RIR, etc.)
I suppose a dual purpose rooster would be a rooster of an egg laying breed that grows large.

Well said.

In general, meat breeds grow big very fast and arent going to be alive and able to stand long even to be layers. Laying breeds, like leghorns, have small narrow bodies that aren't much of a meal. Dual purpose birds are right in the middle. They still lay pretty well and while they do not grow as fast as a meat bird they have fuller, round bodies worth eating.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

You can eat any chicken but there's not a lot of meat on the light breeds, by size they're called fryers. Dual purpose chickens were the home steaders delight. A medium to heavy bird that laid above average in eggs and were large enough to be broilers. Any clutch left to hatch resulted in a new generation of layers and cockerels for the table. Celebrated dual purpose American breeds are Wyandotte, Plymouth Rock, Delaware, Buckeye and Rhode Island Reds to name most of them. The Dominique was the original American dual breed resulting from settlers flocks but more modern breeds (developed 1900ish) were better layers.

 

[NeilV]

My dual purpose chickens: (1) lay eggs and (2) feed coyotes and foxes.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

My dual purpose chickens: (1) lay eggs and (2) feed coyotes and foxes.

Oh dear. Funny but not.

 

[redsoxs]

My dual purpose chickens: (1) lay eggs and (2) feed coyotes and foxes.