Dual-Purpose Flock Owners UNITE!

[Chicken Tenders]

I have seen Orpingtons raised out for meat too and was worried that they may be like keeping Australorps. We had some and they were exceedingly messy. It created more work than it was worth. Thanks for the heads up on meat.

 

[TheBanditQueen]

Yay! This is the thread I've been wanting to find! My husband and I are in the beginning stages of building a multi-purpose flock. I think of it as a landrace. I think that's the coolest part - how we all have the same goal, to have a flock adapted to our particular needs, but there are so many different results.

Our current flock:
3 Barred Rock pullets and 3 Buff Orpington pullets, from the feed store
7 Barred Rock cockerels (freebies from a neighbor, also hatchery stock). One may be a pullet.
1 rude, snotty Cochin rooster who is currently on probation and possibly death row

Here are the traits on our own list to select for, over time:
Broody hens that are good mamas
Calm roosters that do not try to kill people
Decent rate of egg laying
Large size since we like eating chicken
Hardiness in weather extremes, both hot and cold
Foraging ability
Early maturity (not as crucial as the others)
Pretty birds - yes, I know this has nothing to do with production, that's why I put it last. But someday I want a yard full of colorful confetti chickens.

Here are the breeds that we've considered during research that are said to have traits that we want:

(I have not raised all these breeds; this is just what I've gathered from research, which may not be 100% accurate)

Ameraucana: good layers; we had a little white Ameraucana hen once that I really liked; and I like blue eggs.
Australorp: supposedly they lay well and are on the larger side
Barnevelder: I've heard they are good layers (?)
Barred Rock: my husband's favorite breed; the ones he's raised did well with our climate.
Brahma: large size, good moms (?), but slow to mature
Buckeye: all around good reports, especially for being good foragers (a plus!)
Cochin: supposed to be docile (though my rooster is a SNOT), and good broodies
Delaware: good all around birds (though I've heard reports of rooster aggression)
Dorking: good broodies and meat birds
Salmon Faverolles: supposed to be docile
Fayoumi: mixed reports on egg-laying and broodiness; good for hot weather (!!); early maturing but small
Icelandic: these are on the small side, I know, but they're pretty, and supposed to be a hardy landrace anyway
Java: large; mixed reports on aggression/egg laying; slow maturing
Jersey Giant: very slow maturing, but very big
Langshan: reports of nice roosters
Minorca: on the larger side, said to be good in hot weather, and early to mature (?), though non-setters
Orpington: calm, good layers, broody, big enough to be decent meat birds
White Rock: quite a few good reports on how early they mature for meat birds

Did I miss any? On second thought, I think I just want one of everything!!!! LOL!

 

[CarolinaHen]

We are working on our dual purpose flock with Ameracaunas, RIR, Barred Rocks, Buffs, and Brahmas. So far, the ones I'm most impressed with are the Brahma/Ameracaunas as well as the Buff/BRs. Early maturity, great temperaments, and good size.

 

[TheBanditQueen]

We are working on our dual purpose flock with Ameracaunas, RIR, Barred Rocks, Buffs, and Brahmas. So far, the ones I'm most impressed with are the Brahma/Ameracaunas as well as the Buff/BRs. Early maturity, great temperaments, and good size.

I am curious, when you say early maturity, do you have a ballpark age? Is that for both when they start laying and when they are old enough to harvest (if you eat your birds)? Or different ages for layers vs. meat birds?

About what size are they? If you do butcher, how much difference is there between the live bird weight and weight of meat you get? Do you cull for temperament?

Sorry to bombard you with questions... But you're several steps farther along than I am with my flock, and I am hungry for specifics, as far as individual flocks go.

 

[CarolinaHen]

I am curious, when you say early maturity, do you have a ballpark age? Is that for both when they start laying and when they are old enough to harvest (if you eat your birds)? Or different ages for layers vs. meat birds?

About what size are they? If you do butcher, how much difference is there between the live bird weight and weight of meat you get? Do you cull for temperament?

Sorry to bombard you with questions... But you're several steps farther along than I am with my flock, and I am hungry for specifics, as far as individual flocks go.

Ask away! I love sharing the progress of our flock

We cull for temperament, size, and reliability of laying. I also cull for feather color. We have hawks around here and not one white/light colored bird has lived to laying age, so we sell them first.

We don't eat our birds at this point because there is a HUGE market for chickens right now. We have no problems selling them. These birds are ready for processing at around 12-14 weeks and the pullets start laying around 17-18 weeks.
The Brahma/Ameracauna crosses take a bit longer to lay. They start about 18-20 weeks, but are great winter layers. They are my favorites in terms of temperament, laying, and age/size of cockerels for processing. They look like hatchery brahmas and most people can't tell they are crosses. They have less fluff, more breast, and are able to perch and fly better than the heritage brahmas we have though.

 

[TheBanditQueen]

Ask away! I love sharing the progress of our flock

We cull for temperament, size, and reliability of laying. I also cull for feather color. We have hawks around here and not one white/light colored bird has lived to laying age, so we sell them first.

We don't eat our birds at this point because there is a HUGE market for chickens right now. We have no problems selling them. These birds are ready for processing at around 12-14 weeks and the pullets start laying around 17-18 weeks.
The Brahma/Ameracauna crosses take a bit longer to lay. They start about 18-20 weeks, but are great winter layers. They are my favorites in terms of temperament, laying, and age/size of cockerels for processing. They look like hatchery brahmas and most people can't tell they are crosses. They have less fluff, more breast, and are able to perch and fly better than the heritage brahmas we have though.

Aha...cool! 3 months old and ready for processing doesn't sound bad at all. Can you tell how much they weigh at that point (assuming that is when you sell them)?

Do you free range your flock? (With hawks, I wasn't sure.) What are your methods to tell who lays most reliably?

Did you start with hatchery birds? Or did you get yours from a breeder?

What are your standards for temperament culling? I'm thinking roosters here. Like, do they go in the pot the first time they fluff at you, or do you wait until after they fully mature to see who settles down? (I'm sure that sounds a bit confused, but I'm attempting to figure out how to do all that myself... )

And the big question...what color eggs do they lay?

 

[CarolinaHen]

Aha...cool! 3 months old and ready for processing doesn't sound bad at all. Can you tell how much they weigh at that point (assuming that is when you sell them)?

Do you free range your flock? (With hawks, I wasn't sure.) What are your methods to tell who lays most reliably?

Did you start with hatchery birds? Or did you get yours from a breeder?

What are your standards for temperament culling? I'm thinking roosters here. Like, do they go in the pot the first time they fluff at you, or do you wait until after they fully mature to see who settles down? (I'm sure that sounds a bit confused, but I'm attempting to figure out how to do all that myself... )

And the big question...what color eggs do they lay?

They weigh around 8-10 pounds at selling point I think. The adult heritage Brahmas weigh around 12 for hens and 16 for roosters.

We do free range once they are out of the brooder. I can usually put them with the Silkies and let thm raise them. Silkies are the ultimate broody/chick raiser I've let a couple hens raise a few chicks and they did well, but the Silkies have us spoiled by being so very good. They keep the chicks in the garden where there is cover from the hawks.

Roosters get one "freebie". If they puff, flair, flap wings, etc. I go pick him up and carry him around while I do chores. That's the only warning they get. The second time (or first time they try to spur me) they get sold. We currently have the sweetest rooster! He loves to be held and is a big sweetheart. I don't have any tolerance for bad rooster behavior. His offspring have carried on his temperament and the people with them are very pleased. When deciding which ones to keep, we give them a while after maturity to let the hormones settle before deciding which to keep.

As far as egg color goes, we have a veritable rainbow in our basket daily

ETA: We started with. Couple of hatchery birds, but most are heritage birds from breeders.

 

[TheBanditQueen]

They weigh around 8-10 pounds at selling point I think. The adult heritage Brahmas weigh around 12 for hens and 16 for roosters.

We do free range once they are out of the brooder. I can usually put them with the Silkies and let thm raise them. Silkies are the ultimate broody/chick raiser

I've let a couple hens raise a few chicks and they did well, but the Silkies have us spoiled by being so very good. They keep the chicks in the garden where there is cover from the hawks.

Roosters get one "freebie". If they puff, flair, flap wings, etc. I go pick him up and carry him around while I do chores. That's the only warning they get. The second time (or first time they try to spur me) they get sold. We currently have the sweetest rooster! He loves to be held and is a big sweetheart. I don't have any tolerance for bad rooster behavior. His offspring have carried on his temperament and the people with them are very pleased. When deciding which ones to keep, we give them a while after maturity to let the hormones settle before deciding which to keep.

As far as egg color goes, we have a veritable rainbow in our basket daily

ETA: We started with. Couple of hatchery birds, but most are heritage birds from breeders.

Ye gads, those are some big chickens! I think I need some of those...

How many eggs do they lay?

Is your sweet rooster a cross or one breed? How many generations has it taken to get that temperament coming through consistently?

I wish we could start with breeder stock, but we live far away from anywhere, so it's hard to arrange anything but hatchery for us.

 

[CarolinaHen]

Ye gads, those are some big chickens! I think I need some of those...

How many eggs do they lay?

Is your sweet rooster a cross or one breed? How many generations has it taken to get that temperament coming through consistently?

I wish we could start with breeder stock, but we live far away from anywhere, so it's hard to arrange anything but hatchery for us.

Hatchery Brahmas will lay 3-4 eggs per week. Hatchery Ameracaunas (actually Easter Eggers) will lay 5-6 per week. Cross those and you have large birds that lay 4-5 per week of varying colors

Our sweetest rooster was a Brahma that we had to rehome because he got so huge that he was injuring our hens when he bred them. We kept his chicks, and culled heavily for temperament. We only hatch from our best laying, sweetest hens. Now we have six roosters that all come running to us, are good to the flock, and hang out with the dogs by the swimming pool

 

[TheBanditQueen]

Hatchery Brahmas will lay 3-4 eggs per week. Hatchery Ameracaunas (actually Easter Eggers) will lay 5-6 per week. Cross those and you have large birds that lay 4-5 per week of varying colors

Our sweetest rooster was a Brahma that we had to rehome because he got so huge that he was injuring our hens when he bred them. We kept his chicks, and culled heavily for temperament. We only hatch from our best laying, sweetest hens. Now we have six roosters that all come running to us, are good to the flock, and hang out with the dogs by the swimming pool

Shoot, that's not bad for egg laying at all. And wow! That is the kind of rooster I want someday.

A question about genetics and inheritance...I read something online about how supposedly traits like egg-laying are passed from the hen to her sons, and then to his daughters, or something like that... Are you familiar with that? It makes sense to me to keep the offspring of the best producers, whether the offspring are pullets or cockerels...and it seems odd that a hen could pass traits to her sons but not her daughters. That doesn't make sense to me at all. But I don't know anything about chicken genetics, so I thought I would fish a little.

Apparently keeping chicks from your best rooster(s) *and* best hens sounds like it has worked for you, at any rate.