Dual-Purpose Flock Owners UNITE!

[Searsmom]

I've heard that silkies make really good meat birds as far as taste.

 

[hcammack]

My Salmon Faverolles Butcher out at a decent size. Only done a few. Will know more after this spring season. They also lay a decent number of eggs, forage well, grow quickly, and occasionally go broody.

 

[Staci8412]

How will I choose?? I am starting my flock next week of BO's so I'm not quite there yet but my husband and I hope to have a sustainable flock. We are starting with 9 hens and 1 roo. (we didn't want to overwhelm ourselves starting out.)

We plan to butcher 6 hens at maturity and keep 3 and our roo to bread. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks so much!

Staci

 

[Searsmom]

How will I choose?? I am starting my flock next week of BO's so I'm not quite there yet but my husband and I hope to have a sustainable flock. We are starting with 9 hens and 1 roo. (we didn't want to overwhelm ourselves starting out.)

We plan to butcher 6 hens at maturity and keep 3 and our roo to bread. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks so much!

Staci

If you're wanting to choose which ones to butcher, you'll have to decide what you want them for. If it's eggs, you'll have to wait and see which ones lay better. If it's size, these guys mature later than others, so you may want to wait a little longer than normal to see which ones get bigger, then butcher the smaller ones and breed from there. You will be dependent on the genes in your roo though. Whether his mother was a good layer or a large hen, etc. - it may be a good thing, depending on what you want.

 

[Staci8412]

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for! I'm looking for both eggs and meat so I'm assuming wait and pick the best for each world?

 

[Searsmom]

Yep! You might want to think about a trap nest so you know which hen lays which eggs. I bet you can do a search on BYC and find all sorts of plans for them.

 

[SacredSax]

Was surprised to find this thread and a good one at that addressing an important aspects or traits of birds. Meat, Eggs, and Broody Instinct still intact. So, in that everyone has a bit of a different opinion, with the hope of keeping these three traits alive and well, I have Plymouth Partridge Rocks. I am experimenting with some crosses I just hatched with some of these pure lines fathered by a Light Brahma, 8 chicks just hatched 3 days ago . Any others out there trying to tweak things a bit? I am eager to see what others have to contribute to this thread and Godspeed.

 

[Loghousemom]

I am pretty new to chickens in general. I have only been keeping them for 3 1/2 years. I have been studying and trying to learn more about genetics and whatnot, because I really would like to have my flock able to perpetuate itself.

When I bought our first chickens, I started for eggs for the family. The second year we hatched some of our own and butchered off the extra roosters, but like Bee, I don't keep great records on weights. I just eyeballed the birds and picked the biggest at the time. I also use temperament in the males as a factor when choosing who to cull. I have 3 little girls and will not tolerate a grumpy rooster running about.

I do sell our extra eggs, and I sell them off at a premium price because of how I market them. I look at egg color as part of this process for my layers, but I am also starting to look at their temperaments as well, since I am finding a few of my largest hens that were supposed to be great mothers are actually terrible and pretty mean to those below them in the order. Sometimes all the research doesn't come to fruition in real life I guess.

I like working this way since it allows me to be diverse in the breeds and I do not have to be worried about colors or "type". So far I have found my Welsummers make great birds for my situation. I like my EE's as well, but they are smaller. We just processed out our first NN last week and he was terrible! At this point they are only in the flock for looks. He had no meat, was incredibly tough and didn't taste good either. I will likely keep the hens I have for laying and cull the remaining from this years hatches in a month or so.

I tend to agree with the post that said each person and location will be different. My needs for my flock would be different then others, and so I would expect my flock to look different then someone who lives in another location.

 

[Chicken Tenders]

Yah whooo- I found you! Okay, so I am totally in agreement with a sustainable flock and raising my own food. I am semi new and am trying so many things in the garden, house, etc, etc. It is time for us to tweek my daughters project birds and add some good, old fashioned dual purpose birds. I have had experience raising out Light Sussex and they impressed me with lots of eggs, easy hatches, and fast maturity (14 weeks). However, I did not have a chance to butcher and taste these lovelys as they were not mine. We were looking into Light Sussex, Legbars, Orpingtons, and Wyandotts for semi new breeds in our area that are supposedly fairly successful dual purpose birds. However, I am hearing conflicting info.

Does anyone have experience with any of these breeds from nest to table? I am particularly interested in the effort it takes to hatch and raise out to meat. A decent egg quantity too?



Thanks!

 

[Loghousemom]

I only have experience with the Leg bars and Orpingtons. The Legbar I had was pretty skinny. We didn't get to put him on the table because a very naughty puppy got him before we could, but I didn't see much meat on him within 4 months. I have had some lovely Buff orpingtons that I picked up from a local farmer and they were decent in size at 12 weeks. I didn't weigh them, but they looked and tasted pretty darn good.