Dual purpose breeds

[snowydiamonds]

"For us we enjoy raising the birds and all that goes with it. Sure it's no fun feeding them in the rain but that's the farm life we choose.
One thing I will always remember, is last year we had some people come to buy some birds their daughter was maybe 4 or 5 walked right up to a tom turkey taller than she was and gave him a big old hug. The sight of that was worth a lifetime of muss and fuss.

Steve in NC"

BIG LOVE...you said it all, Steve! High Five to you and your ole tom, YEAH!

 

[greyfields]

tons of threads on this topic, try utilizing the search feature

 

[dancingbear]

Here's that chart I mentioned, I just now saw that I forgot to add the link!
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

I too, enjoy having chickens around all the time. Fresh, free-range eggs, for one thing, and I sell my extra eggs, and sell a few of my extra birds now and then. They eat bugs from the garden area before I plant it. They eat the kitchen scraps that the dogs and cats don't care for, like lettuce ends, fruit and vegetable peels and what have you. They provide fertilizer for the garden. And besides, they're fun to watch.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
I prefer Dark Cornish, but I want breeder stock to start with, rather than hatchery run, so I'm willing to take another color to get that. I don't want white, though. I free range all of my birds, and pure white is just a beacon to predators around here. Oddly enough, my light Brahmas have done just fine. I have a theory that the black tail and head breaks up the white profile just enough that maybe some of the preds just don't realize they're seeing a bird. That's just a guess, though.

The dark Cornish are so pretty, I love those black-laced auburn hens! Great moms, too, some of the best I've ever had. And light Brahmas are very good mamas.

 

[Bassleg]

Sandspoultry :That's all we have is dual purpose birds, Buff Orpington, Barred Rock, RIR and Dark Cornish (the DC isn't really considered a dual purpose but they do great for us.

Steve how are your Delawares for size and color?

 

[willheveland]

Quote:
The growth rate of a meat bird is just so much faster than dual purpose.As far as taste I guess it depends on if you like vanilla or chocolate.Tastes depends on the persons pallet.I've eaten both and both tastes like chicken.Just depends if you want to roast 1 cornish or 3 dual purpose to make a meal.

Here is a dual purpose breed (australorpe) roo and a cornish cross roo both 3 days old.

Here is a picture 2 1/2 weeks later.

I do the 8 week batch thing like bossroo.I have laying breeds too that my children enjoy.Meatbirds are for meat and the others are for fun.I don't do the dual purpose thing.At one time long ago it worked out but we have more choices now and to me it just makes sense to go with a meat breed in batches now that we have electric freezers.My great grandfather liked dual purpose breeds but he also used the same mule to plow with to take the family to church. Will

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
The growth rate of a meat bird is just so much faster than dual purpose.As far as taste I guess it depends on if you like vanilla or chocolate.Tastes depends on the persons pallet.I've eaten both and both tastes like chicken.Just depends if you want to roast 1 cornish or 3 dual purpose to make a meal.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj176/willheveland/Chicks030.jpg
Here is a dual purpose breed (australorpe) roo and a cornish cross roo both 3 days old.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj176/willheveland/babychicks015.jpg
Here is a picture 2 1/2 weeks later.

I do the 8 week batch thing like bossroo.I have laying breeds too that my children enjoy.Meatbirds are for meat and the others are for fun.I don't do the dual purpose thing.At one time long ago it worked out but we have more choices now and to me it just makes sense to go with a meat breed in batches now that we have electric freezers.My great grandfather liked dual purpose breeds but he also used the same mule to plow with to take the family to church. Will

There is a night and day difference in the taste for me.

Steve in NC

 

[SandraMort]

i like the idea of a self perpetuating flock, so i got m/f buckeyes. they might be smaller but i only need meat for 1 anyway.

 

[greyfields]

"Dual Purpose" means the birds will be meatier than a Leghorn cull hen. There simply are no 'breeds' of chicken which are in the same league as a hybrid broiler (be it fast growing Cornish Crosses, all the way down to slow growing alternative hybrid broilers). The meat tastes fine, there just is very little of it. The keel protrudes and they look 'skinny'.

The bottom line is you'll get meat from dual purpose (or 'purebred') cockrels at 15+ weeks. When you calculate the money you have invested in their feed, you'll find you are better off buying organic, free range chicken from top end grocery stores (e.g. Whole Foods).

You can do it for the love of poultry, which is as good a reason as any. But, there are plenty of good options for non Cornish Cross broilers out there which will perform far better. It makes little practical sense to have a standing meat flock along side a standing layer flock, since the management and feeding is quite different. It's best to do crops of broilers and send them to the freezer 25-50 at a time. With vacuum sealing available at home, you lose no quality and it makes life so much easier not having split flocks.

 

[skeeter]

I have some mutts that have quite a bit of meat in them