Do broilers taste as good as good as dual purpose birds?

[jcoker]

Do broilers taste as good as good as dual purpose birds? i have white rocks & barred rocks and do broilers have alot of health problems? what is the best tasting meat bird

 

[Bossroo]

Depends on who does the cooking ... my mother's cooked chicken tasted like cardboard, while my wife's cooking can make cardboard taste like the finest chicken fare.

 

[LilyD]

I agree with what has been said on previous posts. If you breed your own stock and you are picking birds that are bulky and meaty then of course after a few generations you are going to start getting birds that have more meat on their bones. If you are buying them from a hatchery every year then they probably will be skinnier and less meaty.

 

[gg706]

I got my chicks from a breeder not a hatchery. But they are not show quality. I haven't really decided if I am going to breed any chicks. I was not planning on keeping ANY roos before I got my chicks....now I have 2 roos that I REALLY like! One is an Araucana....he is GORGEOUS all the rest of the Araucanas are hens as far as I am aware. And one Wyandotte roo which is the smallest chick that I have, is REALLY NEAT not looks wise but he has a great personality! When I go to the coop he comes running and jumps or flys up to my arm and settles in for a visit. I have gotten pretty attached to him, even though I was not trying too. My roo that is the biggest bird that I have is also very unfriendly and kind of picks on the others. If anyone gets excited and runs around or anything he runs over there and pecks the offender! JERK! So I guess getting chicks for meat from a hatchery would be the best route for me. I was thinking Freedom Rangers instead of cornish X. Any thoughts on FR vs CX?

 

[LilyD]

I had problems with the CRX. Not because I can't do them but because as far as I was concerned they were obnoxious. We tried to free range them and they would actually break into the other coops to eat all the layer pellets. No matter what we had for fencing they could get out of it even when we covered the top to make a roof. We lost a few birds to the fact that they ate themselves to death when we were gone so we couldn't catch them and put them back when they got out. Even with tons of space they didn't really go anywhere. We fed in the morning and at night rather than free feeding and they would not forage after fed but would instead lust lay around and not move. They didn't even want to leave the coop.

This is just my experience but it helped me decide to go dual purpose and breed for meaty type birds rather than buying from a hatchery. Freedom rangers are better than CRX in my opinion but they do grow slower. I guess it's what you are looking for. If you want them to be ready in 6 or 7 weeks then go with the CRX if you can wait a bit more then try the rangers, or try both and compare them.

 

[Bossroo]

If one takes the time to educate oneself to the proper protocol to raise a particular animal instead of trying to put one in as a round peg into a square hole, one will find that the Cornish X is without a doubt the FINEST meat bird in all of chickendom. Time wise, meat yield wise, taste wise , and $$$$ wise .

 

[DanIndiana]

I'd give you all of that Bossroo, except taste. They may be more tender, but they can't touch the rich dark meat flavor of a good sized DP bird in my opinion.

 

[OHSpartan]

I can understand where cornish X would be a better value if you purchase the birds at retail price and buy most of their feed until maturity. Does this equation change if you buy them on a hatchery surplus special ($0.25-0.35/bird) and let them free range to supplement their feed costs?

 

[Bossroo]

Since those so called hatchery specials are of mostly males of the egg laying types that they can't sell, they try to sell them cheap to cover their hatching costs to the unaware. They will take forever to grow to any semblence of a chicken dinner. Also, their feed to meat conversion rate will be of the worst order. I will have harvested and BBQ 'd 3-4 crops of Cornish X in the same time that I would for one crop of these specials. Then if one also considers factoring in costs for housing, feed, water, predation, one's labor and time in addition to the above ... So ... NOPE ! ... not even close.

 

[gg706]

So if you are looking for taste...DP. If you are looking for speed of raising and quick cooking (such as grilling vs crockpot) CX. Maybe raising a bit of both is the answer. I might give it a try. I am concerned the CX with all the eating will cost me more money than buying organic chicken at the grocery. I may have to attempt to force them to range to cut down the cost.