Dual purpose- but where to buy them?

[Amer]

I think a lot of folks are missing the point. Hatchery birds don't typically have the fast growth and carcass quality that breeder birds do, at least not in my experience, the Standard bred Buckeyes gained weight much faster than the hatchery Delawares that were advertised as meat birds.

 

[Amer]

I'd recommend driving, the national postal system has been dodgy lately in my experience.

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

When we started out, we began with black Australorps. Loved them. Now we only have 2 left as layers. Great layers and heafty birds size wise. Had eggs between 16-18 weeks. So they were decent size quickly. Had some roos that began crowing at 8 weeks. Really enjoyed them except they wanted to go broody more often than not lol
ETA ours were from TSC/Hoovers

We now have more Brahmas, but we are in a colder climate too. We plan on raising Brahma/egger crosses for meat here soon, they do take longer to raise than BA

 

[Dominique King]

I’m in northern CA and I am trying to obtain the goal of having a dual purpose flock for my homestead. I’ve raised egg layers for a long time and Cornish cross for a few years. I’ve had a great experience with the Cornish Cross (not many losses, no nasty injuries, etc) but I want to move away from that. All I’ve heard about dual purpose birds from hatcheries is how they are subpar and private breeders are the way to go. So, I’m reaching out to find a private breeder (hopefully in my neck of the woods) that can provide me with the genetics I need for a successful flock. I’m also open to suggestions from people who have a dual purpose flock that use their birds for both and have bought their birds from a major hatchery. A hatchery I was looking at was Strombergs (woodland, CA- close to 2 hrs from me) but have no idea about their quality for a dual purpose bird.
The breeds I’m interested in are:
•austrlorps
•dominques
•Wyandottes

Thanks everyone!

Dominiques, Wyandottes, and Austrlorps are all perfect dual purpose birds! I would say go for all three!

 

[Sally PB]

I’m pretty set on black australorps.

Australorps (black and blue) have been my best layers. None have gone broody.

 

[Rynoranch]

I think a lot of folks are missing the point. Hatchery birds don't typically have the fast growth and carcass quality that breeder birds do, at least not in my experience, the Standard bred Buckeyes gained weight much faster than the hatchery Delawares that were advertised as meat birds.View attachment 4052781

Thank you for this! I’m pretty close to pine grove.

 

[Rynoranch]

View attachment 4052781

Reached out to Bruce and they do not sell eggs or chicks. Dang it! He was very nice though and said if id like to discuss dual purpose birds further to give him a call.

 

[AGeese]

If you don't want to go USPS and aren't too concerned about bio security you can use a farm transport service like Hawton Home Farm: http://www.hawtonhomefarm.com/ who I had bring out my Liege Fighters from Ohio.

 

[Amer]

Reached out to Bruce and they do not sell eggs or chicks. Dang it! He was very nice though and said if id like to discuss dual purpose birds further to give him a call.

Didn't know that's what you were looking for. Most breeders sell adult birds because they want to keep all the eggs and chicks to pick from. They expect folks to hatch from the pairs themselves.
(Some people do sell hatching eggs though. I cannot because my hatch rates are really horrendous and I don't want to sell a bunch of dud eggs.)

 

[Amer]

If you don't want to go USPS and aren't too concerned about bio security you can use a farm transport service like Hawton Home Farm: http://www.hawtonhomefarm.com/ who I had bring out my Liege Fighters from Ohio.

That's a thing?!
That's cool.
I wonder if that's how I could send out my birds after the USPS induced trauma I experienced.