Good dual purpose breeds for meat?

[LilyD]

Quote:
This has been my plan all along once I convert over to a DP flock. They taste the same, but I don't want to be incubating any meat type x layer type breeding. I only want to hatch meat type x meat type. I figure they do it for sex link chicks why not identify which eggs go to the bator and which ones go to the fridge. Id rather feed a brown leghorn hen or even an EE than have to feed another meat type hen to get more eggs.

Mind you this set up with feed the family in mind. With the total number of birds I plan on keeping I can run them all together to help keep the hens from getting overbred by a roo, and keep from having to build a 2nd coop/run.

Unfortunately I think both of the types that I have will lay brown eggs so it will be hard to tell them apart. My son picked out our first layers and we brought them home and so now I have a coop that has gold comets, cochin crosses, and Light Brahmas (my addition). My second coop will have Dellys in it exclusively. I am planning on running them all together during the summer and fall months when the weather gets warm and I won't be incubating eggs. But keeping them separate during the spring months while I am collecting eggs to add to the incubator. When I am just eating the eggs I don't really care who is with who but when I am incubating for that years meat birds I will want to keep them separate so that they only breed with the roos I select. The rest of the year they will have 2 acres to free range on which they seem to love. When the Comets and Cochins stop laying I will be phasing them out and then the second coop will have Light Brahmas in it. That way it won't matter what coop the eggs come from they will all be meat birds. I would keep them all in the same coop but I have so much space (we have a large barn used mainly for hay storage.) why not use some of it for chickens as well.

I am toying with the idea of bringing DP breeds to our area for others as well. There are not many other than RIR and Cochins here and they really aren't what I would call a meat bird. The Cochins are large but I think a lot of that is bone rather than meat. The RIR I have seen here are very slim like my Comets. We could eat them if we needed to but they wouldn't be as good as a larger breasted, dual purpose meat bird. Since I really only want to eat the roosters that I hatch out I can sell the pullets that I don't keep to others in the area. So it would be helping the breeds which are both endangered and helping those who live here since they are great for eggs and meat.

 

[harleyjo]

I did get some Dels started last summer. They are about 5 months old now. I will show you a picture of the rooster.

He is a pretty good sized boy.

 

[Ibicella]

Goodness. Well, it really depends. What kind of meat do you like? Do you want a bird that can give you lots of white meat, or dark meat? How fast of a growth rate do you need? What kind of temperament are you looking for? What color skin? What color eggs? How many eggs? Does feather color matter to you?

Your possibilities are really pretty wide open.

 

[LilyD]

I did get some Dels started last summer. They are about 5 months old now. I will show you a picture of the rooster.

He is a pretty good sized boy.

He looks amazing. I ended up with a trio from what I hatched last summer and they are amazing. The girls are so sweet and Little Nicki (while he gets himself in trouble often) is really sweet and very comical. Body wise they look bigger than my egg layers but smaller than my Brahmas. The funny thing though is that while they seem smaller if you pick them up boy are they solid. I processed 4 extra Delly roos this last weekend and they are pretty breasty but also have quite a good amount of dark meat. Can't wait until February I will be doing a batch of Dellys and a batch of Brahmas to go in my bachelor coop to grow out for the summer. Just hoping I get a really good hatching can't wait to see how well they turn out. I will try and get a few pictures once the cold snap breaks. I am trying not to open the coop too much right now since it's below 0 wish I had a garage I could throw everyone in to keep them heated poor things.

 

[harleyjo]

Well right now this Del boy and the 5 hens are my breeding stock for this year. So I won't be butchering them yet. I plan to hatch some of the eggs when they start laying and then butcher those later this year. We do eat more white meat than dark meat and I do like the big breast on this roo.

 

[LilyD]

Well right now this Del boy and the 5 hens are my breeding stock for this year. So I won't be butchering them yet. I plan to hatch some of the eggs when they start laying and then butcher those later this year. We do eat more white meat than dark meat and I do like the big breast on this roo.

That was my intent as well but I hatched out 7, 5 of which were roos and only 2 were hens. I kept the two hens who turned out beautiful and kept one of the roosters so that will be my start for this year. They are laying now so I am just waiting for the eggs to get big enough to start hatching. They all seem to have quite a bit of breast can't wait to see what their babies look like.

 

[Mahonri]

Last Easter I hatched out some Barred Rocks, a New Hampshire and a SLW.

These are "Heritage Breeds" that look gorgeous and they are HUGE.

Today I was looking at my GIGANTIC SLW pullet/hen and I was thinking, "Wow, when she quits laying she'll be a big meal..."

.... but she is so sweet and wonderful, I could NEVER eat her.

But those three heritage breeds would be great for dual purpose.

 

[LilyD]

Last Easter I hatched out some Barred Rocks, a New Hampshire and a SLW.

These are "Heritage Breeds" that look gorgeous and they are HUGE.

Today I was looking at my GIGANTIC SLW pullet/hen and I was thinking, "Wow, when she quits laying she'll be a big meal..."

.... but she is so sweet and wonderful, I could NEVER eat her.

But those three heritage breeds would be great for dual purpose.

Definitely...I don't know about SLW because I have never had those but have done Barred Rocks and Hampshires that we have gotten from farmers in there area. Not sure what they feed them but boy they were big. We got Comets last year to add new layers and I am still kicking myself for it. At the time we were raising Cornish X for meat but now I would really love to have only DP birds. Trouble is that I am not sure I could eat any of my girls either. I suppose I will have to learn since it's a working farm and everyone has to do a job. Once they stop laying I will have to make room for layers to take over for them which means either I will eat them or someone else will. At least right now they are producing well. Even with the fact that it is single digits for temp they are still laying an egg a piece. Such good girls.

 

[harleyjo]

I have some Gold Comets too and to me they appear to be a little flighty. Very skittish things. Mine are young too but laying. I had one come screeching out of a nest box the other day because I was checking the box for eggs. None of my other breeds have ever done that before. I had been happy with my black sex links but really don't care for these that well. I am almost to the point of saying that I like my Black Australorps, good size and great layer. I love the Delawares for size alone at this point, haven't started laying yet. I love my Barred Rocks. Good size and good layers. Verdict is still out on the RIR's I have. I have had to butcher one of the roos because he was mean.

 

[LilyD]

I have some Gold Comets too and to me they appear to be a little flighty. Very skittish things. Mine are young too but laying. I had one come screeching out of a nest box the other day because I was checking the box for eggs. None of my other breeds have ever done that before. I had been happy with my black sex links but really don't care for these that well. I am almost to the point of saying that I like my Black Australorps, good size and great layer. I love the Delawares for size alone at this point, haven't started laying yet. I love my Barred Rocks. Good size and good layers. Verdict is still out on the RIR's I have. I have had to butcher one of the roos because he was mean.

My Comets are far from flighty and I have to give credit for that to my son. The moment that we go outside every chicken in the whole place dual purpose or not comes out of the woodwork running at you and demanding attention. I feel bad for the person that doesn't realize there are chickens hiding under every nook and cranny in the place when they come in the yard and the chickens see them lol. They will get totally run over by loving chickens wanting to get picked up and belly scratched.

How did the RIR butcher out was it fairly meaty or a little slim? My sister has some and I have had some in the past but they seem more like the Comets than a DP bird.