Has anyone ever tried heavy dual purpose meat birds?

[Treerooted]

Hey, we are 30 min north of Belleville. I ordered 6 chicks from Performance this year....we pick them up april 12 or 13. They aren't for meat though, just eggs and pets

Good to know about Frey's. Thanks!

Ha awesome, I ordered 30 but have a later pick up date. Getting all new breeds to try. I went with dual purpose as I'd like to have a homesteading type sustainable flock.

 

[speedy2020]

I have a batch of heavy, heritage Barred Rocks that I plan to process around 16 weeks, I'm interested to see how they dress out. If I can get them finished under $2/lb dressed, it would be worth it to me.

It may be best around 18-20 weeks. Most of dual purpose breed has little meat at 16 weeks.

 

[Mosey2003]

I just started culling my Good Shepherd Barred Rock males this week. I'd say they're 18-20 weeks old. Averaging 3.5lbs skinned without the neck. Nice looking carcasses, more breast than previous hatchery birds, good glob of fat in the cavity. Skinned because they have a ton of pin feathers right now. If I wanted to wait for those to finish, they'd probably be ~5lb roasters. I'm pretty happy, just gotta decide if it's worth feeding them twice as long as a broiler, considering I can hatch more for "free."

 

[Redhead Rae]

I'll have some LF Dark Cornish chicks to process in a month or two. I'll have to let you guys know how that turns out.

 

[JiminyChristmas]

Where did you get the Cornish from? Pictures?

 

[Redhead Rae]

Where did you get the Cornish from? Pictures?

I live in WV and I got my trio from a guy who shows his birds in VA. These were his second best grow outs from last year. I've hatched over 20 chicks from them this year. This is a picture from when I got them in October (they were about 7 months at this point). They've filled out a lot since.

 

[JiminyChristmas]

Wow they look head and shoulders way better than my hatchery birds. Is he anywhere near 81 or 77? I travel through there several times a year and am very interested in getting some good breeding stock.

 

[Redhead Rae]

He lives near Colonial Beach.

Here is his FB page. I don't know if he has any trios available now. He might in the fall. He doesn't sell chicks, only his second/third best grow outs that aren't good for showing.
https://www.facebook.com/unionchickensfarm/