Dual purpose chickens from hatcheries

[InsanePoultryFarmer]

I'm wanting to get some light sussex chickens and some white Plymouth rock chickens to cross for a home flock. But I'm wanting good quality utility strains of both breeds. I'm looking for chickens that are bred for for their meat qualities as much as their egg production. I'm wondering if I order from a hatchery if they will have good meat qualities or if I should go through a breeder? Does anyone know of some good breeders if light sussex and white Plymouth rock chickens that breed for both meat quality and egg production?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm wanting to get some light sussex chickens and some white Plymouth rock chickens to cross for a home flock. But I'm wanting good quality utility strains of both breeds. I'm looking for chickens that are bred for for their meat qualities as much as their egg production. I'm wondering if I order from a hatchery if they will have good meat qualities or if I should go through a breeder? Does anyone know of some good breeders if light sussex and white Plymouth rock chickens that breed for both meat quality and egg production?

I don't know of any good breeders, but if you are looking to the larger hatcheries, those birds favor egg production, not size/meatiness, as a general rule. Wish it were otherwise, but commercial production for farm store sale has taken most of the focus away from the meat side of dual purpose. The Cx has really rendered the middle ground obsolute/inefficient for a big chunk of the marketplace, making a true, breedable, dual purpose something of specialty item.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'm wondering if I order from a hatchery if they will have good meat qualities or if I should go through a breeder?

I would order a fair number from hatchery to raise out.. and select and keep only the best and eat (or sell off) the rest..

Easy, affordable, and putting food on the table!

Wish I could tell you how many "breeder" birds I've culled for faults.. there's no guarantees even though you spend the bank. As a passionate breeder of whichever I am working with.. only about 10% of what hatches is true breeding quality.. even though parent stock have been selected to meet the standard of perfection. In smaller operations.. like many backyard breeders they may not have gone through enough numbers to tell you anything like that.. and many have you guessed it.. started with hatchery stock themselves.. some not culling for anything.. so buyer beware and ask LOTS of questions. If they can't answer enthusiastically, run . That being said, those of us who have gone through the pain staking task of growing out and selecting carefully each year know how much it cost as well as what goes into it. And we KNOW details about our birds.. like dress weight at what age and how many eggs, average fertility, hatch-ability, broodiness level of said line, and so on.

You may find decent stock searching those breeds breeding club websites.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm working on my own Dual Purpose birds - and won't sell them yet, because they don't meet my standards. Most breeders, I suspect, can't afford to wait five or more years for a marketable bird and much longer for the potential of an exceptional line of birds.