Family wanting to learn

[thekings5]

Hey there all we are the king family from dayton ohio. My wife and 2 oldest kids have severe food allergies and we are looking to get into chickens so we can for sure have some safe eggs and food. Anyone that could help me to know what kind of birds to eat and what kind for eggs I need to know everything I can. Look forward to interacting with everyone and learning from you guys. -Josh king-

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC!!

Glad you joined us!!

 

[thekings5]

Thank you. I guess first question is what chickens are for what purpose?

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings form Kansas, thekings5, and

! Great to have you with us!! I'll take a shot at your question. Chickens come in different breeds for different uses. Meat birds - the kind with which you are familiar from the supermarket or KFC....the undisputed heavyweight champion for this is the Cornish Cross - it was engineered and bred to be super fast growing - like 7-8 weeks to butcher. There are other meat birds...Freedom Rangers for instance. Still a fast grower but will never get as large as Cornish X and grows slower.

There are so called dual purpose varieties. With these the males are raised for butchering while the hens are reserved for egg laying. The males grow slower still than even the Freedom rangers and again will never attain the size of the Cornish X. One thing to keep in mind - some people do not like the taste of birds that are not Cornish X - it is just not something they are used to. Personally, I like the taste.

That leads us to hens...as I said, the dual-purpose breed hens (Delawares, Rocks, Marans, Buff Orpingtons, Australorps, Wyandottes, etc., etc.) are average to above average layers. So are the sex-link types (those that can be sexed at hatching) - these can be great layers and adequate meat birds. A heavy layer (but poor meat bird) is the Leghorn...very economical as it eats little but lays great. The males of this breed never develop enough meat on the carcass to be worthwhile to raise for this purpose.

So, I guess it depends on what you are looking for. For what it's worth here is what I do. I have a mixed flock of layers - 11 or 12 different breeds that lay well and lay different colored eggs - just for fun. In the spring I order 25 Cornish X and process them quickly (8 weeks old and they are ready for processing...I go longer, though, as I like them for roasting instead of frying). That way I don't have them around long but still have all my hens to keep me company
.
Take a look at the link below - it links to hatcheries and breeders. Go to a hatchery like Murray McMurray or Meyer and read how they describe meat birds and laying hens. Most of all, have fun in your search - that's part of the fun!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/16/chicken-breeders-hatcheries

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us!

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

Google the Henderson Chicken chart for a good resource on breed qualities