Feed question?? Dual purpose breeds

[vjbakke]

Can chickens that are dual purpose breeds being raised for meat ( not fast growing broiler breeds) eat the same food that layers eat? We want to add some dual purpose breeds to our flock that will be for meat. Will it be ok if they eat layer food when old enough?

We are thinking barred Plymouth rock, white Plymouth rock, Delaware, maybe Columbia wyandotte. Not sure what some other dual breed would be a good choice for meat.

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
Yes they can eat layer feed. I mix my layer with a chicken finisher that is 20% protein since my flock is of mixed ages and they do fine on that. All my DP roosters are huge lol.

 

[vjbakke]

Do you have to have roosters for dual purpose meat birds? I know they are larger, but we live in town and i worry about crowing, or do they not live long enough to crow? Also I don't want them breeding with our other girls, well not right now at least. Would females be ok for DP meat birds? I don't care if they are "huge" or not.

 

[LilyD]

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I have cochin, Delaware and Light Brahmas and all are considered DP breeds and are very big. I breed the hens and one roo together and then hatch out eggs from them and sell the girls and keep the boys for meat. They have a separate area to go into at night because I do so many of them. Since I keep them separated they don't bother the hens at all. They do crow usually only when it is a time they expect something like morning or evening feedings or treat times. If they don't have a lot of females with them they crow less because they don't need to beat their chests lol. Females are okay to keep too my female Light Brahmas are about 8 pounds at 4 months and don't crow. They will also lay eggs while you are waiting to process. That might be a better idea if you are really worried about bothering the neighbors.

The main thing is to get breeder quality birds if you get them from the hatchery they will be too small and not really worth processing.

 

[vjbakke]

Thanks, I guess I didn't think hatchery birds would matter that much. The girls we have now are from a hatchery. I don't know of a source for getting breeder quality birds in my area?

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
Depends on what breed you are looking for and what size you are looking for to eat. Technically you can eat any chicken but hatchery birds are bred more towards egg production and less towards meat so they will leaner than breeder birds. If you are okay with that then that's okay. Sometimes breeder birds grow quicker too so that is an added bonus. If you have a rooster with your hens and can breed them you can do the same thing with your own flock by selecting the largest and fastest growing of the babies that you hatch out. But since you don't really want roosters that would be harder.

Where are you located?

A lot of people on BYC can help you to find birds that are Breeder for DP birds.

For Delaware I would suggest

http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/chickens.html

http://www.whitmorefarm.com/store/212

There is also Stacy Tate [email protected]

You can also contact the delawarepoultryclub.org and they will have other sources

My Light Brahmas are by far right now my favorite DP bird. At 4 months they are about 8 or 9 pounds already and they are so sweet that my nephew can even pick up the rooster and cart him around with no problems. I got them from bigdawg here on BYC and they have been amazing. So far I am very impressed with them. My Delawares are smaller but still sweet and feel very heavy for their size. I know that barred and white rocks are also supposed to be good but I don't have any experience with them.

Hopefully this helps.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

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I have Orpingtons. They are a fantastic dual purpose bird.



To see the difference between hatchery stock and heritage (breeder) stock - here are two from my flock. The Buff is a hatchery bird who is 8 months older than the splash bird on the right. Both of these ladies are Orpingtons, but the splash is taller, wider, heavier.

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
I have Orpingtons. They are a fantastic dual purpose bird.



To see the difference between hatchery stock and heritage (breeder) stock - here are two from my flock. The Buff is a hatchery bird who is 8 months older than the splash bird on the right. Both of these ladies are Orpingtons, but the splash is taller, wider, heavier.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31162_dsc_0305.jpg

Thank you HorseFeatherz I was trying to say that in words but wasn't sure if I was being clear. I don't have any hatchery birds of the same breed for comparison against mine so hard to show the comparison.

I do have neighbors on all 4 sides of me though and haven't had any complaints about my roos yet. I can barely hear them in the house so I don't think they can at all cause their houses are further from my coop.

 

[vjbakke]

Thanks very much! I forgot about Orpingtons! They would be a great option for us! I understand what you mean about hatchery birds now, all 5 of my girls vary a lot in weight. the lightest is my dom, I've never weighed her but I doubt she even weighs 4 lbs!. My heaviest is a RSL, she is well over 5 lbs, they are 9 months old.

 

[Degalisto]

I have started raising Red Dorkings.(8-12 lbs) And when they were chicks I had to bump up their feed with wild game starter/grower feed that had a 30% protein. Mixed it with regular starer/grower feed. If I didn't do that they had continual pasty butt. They did fine after that and I am changing to regular feed today. Along with oyster shell. Not sure what yet..peruse the local feed store first.