Dual-Purpose White-Egg Layer

[Bullitt]

I see that Ideal Poultry sells Barred Holland chicks. This breed was bred in the early 1900s to be a dual-purpose white-egg layer, but today it is a rare breed.

https://secuservices.com/ideal/newideal/selectproduct.aspx?qty=1&ID=BRHS&Product=714

Does anyone have experience with this breed?

It looks a lot like a Barred Rock. But the Barred Holland lays white eggs.

 

[smoothmule]

I heard that a lot of them from Ideal do not lay white eggs, they're tan, so they're probably not pure? There may not be any pure ones out there though. The other breeders with them get tan and white eggs too

 

[Illia]

I hear so many stories, much of them true from pictoral evidence, that Ideal out-crosses a lot of their rare breeds to get more production, so, I wouldn't be surprised.

But honestly if you want a white laying dual purpose breed, though all of them are rare and it's very hard to find truly dual purpose worthy stock from hatcheries, there's -

Houdans very large, square framed crested bird often with eye-candy mottled coloration
Hollands
Catalanas old Spanish type buff colored bird originally meant as an all-around type bird
La Fleche old French dual purpose breed, like Houdans, highly esteemed for their meat
Crevecoeurs another old French breed with a nice crest, beautiful black color, and meaty body

Sadly though due to their serious rarity all of the above breeds are increasingly difficult to find truly "dual purpose" type stock of anymore.

Oh and, Hollands naturally should ONLY resemble Barred Rocks by their color

Otherwise they're two very different breeds when you're not looking at hatchery stock.

 

[gallorojo]

I'll add that many of these breeds that are supposed to lay white eggs will end up laying lightly tinted/cream eggs, not all, but quite a few will. Most Holland around now will lay light cream eggs, I've even seen some of the rarer Leghorns lay tinted eggs before. If you can live with the lack of pure white eggs, I think Dorkings would be a fantastic choice, a much better dual purpose than the Holland, and at this point, no real difference in egg color. Of the breeds Illia listed, I'd go with Catalanas. I saw some recently at a local show, and although they needed some work for SOP, they were LARGE birds, I was impressed with their heaviness- It looked like they would make nice eating!!

Just my two cents!!

 

[tadkerson]

I have had both catalana and hollands in the past. Both were ok. The concept of dual purpose is really a pie in the sky as far as I am concerned. I have raised and have had experience with many different breeds and have found none that was a good egg layer that had much meat on them. Larger birds use the resources to grow and maintain the large size which effects egg production; if the resources are used to make eggs the body size suffers. It is my opinion that the two things just do not go together; something has to give concerning size verses egg production.

I have not raised dorkings- they may be an exception to the case.

Tim

 

[hippiehen]

I have some of Ideal's catalana hens... and while they do lay lots of white eggs I would definitely not consider them duel purpose by any means. Mine are about the size of a leghorn hen but maybe a teeny bit wider across the back. Of course two of them are insanely broody which is decidedly not a trait of that breed, so who knows what they have been crossed with at some time!

 

[gallorojo]

Tadkerson makes a good point which has been brought up lots before, here and elsewhere, about a true dual purpose really being a myth. I know lots will disagree with that, but, if you actually factor in feed efficiency, etc, what you really have is either basically meat birds, or basically egg birds. The dual purpose excel at neither, they do have a place on the homestead however, if you just want one breed to keep it simple, that is their ideal niche in my opinion. I think most people raise them now because they want the calm temperament, and because they look like a chicken ought to look..lol..

Hippiehen-the Catalanas I saw were WAY bigger than even the good show leghorns they were actually larger than the good show type RIR's, they were definetly standard weights. I doubt they came from Ideal, I know Sandhill has them as well. The breed was created by crossing in Cochins long ago. My guess is that is where the broodiness comes from. Honestly, lots of non broody breeds do and can go broody, it's more likely if they come from breeder stock, or, if they are rare and not bred for heavy production. My buff leghorns parents go broody often....

 

[hippiehen]

I only chimed in because the OP mentioned Ideal, I assumed they were considering ordering from there....

 

[gallorojo]

All good, your info was usefull, there is a difference between one hatchery and another , and between breeders, etc...Good to know your experiences with them, almost no one even has them!!! You should start a thread for them!!

 

[Bullitt]

I think there are some breeds that are very good dual-purpose chickens. For example, the Rhode Island Red is one of the best brown-egg layers and is also used as a meat bird. The Plymouth Rock is also a very good brown-egg layer and is also used for meat. Most dual-purpose breeds lay brown eggs. I was not familiar with the Holland breed that lays white eggs and is also used for meat.

I suppose you are right that a dual-purpose breed would not be as efficient because they are not specialized for laying eggs or for body growth. Leghorns are specialized for laying eggs and Cornish or Cornish crosses are specialized for meat birds. It may be best to have both types of birds, but if these chickens are kept together they will breed. And if you plan to hatch eggs, a person might end up with a bunch of mixed-up chickens.

Many breeds of chickens can do a good job of free ranging during the day to get a good portion of their food for themselves, especially if they live in warmer climates, such as here in Texas. So being good at converting food to eggs or body mass is not a big concern.

It is interesting that the Hollands from hatcheries may lay cream or beige eggs. I wonder if Hollands originally laid these colors of eggs, or is it because hatcheries have mixed in other breeds with the Holland because of its rarity.

From what I found on the Internet, the Barred Holland was created from White Leghorns, Barred Plymouth Rocks, Austrolorps, and Brown Leghorns. That includes two white-egg layers and two brown-egg layers. I know that Hollands were selectively bred to create a bird that laid white eggs. But with that family tree, I would not be surprised if the Holland's eggs were not pure white.