Heaviest Dual Purpose

[Leah and peeps]

Hello everyone,

I am looking into getting some meaties, but I am trying to stay away from the CX. From your experience, what is the heaviset Dual Purpose you have raised, in the shortest amount of time?

Thanks

 

[JohnBob]

You could check out buff orpingtons. They run about 5-6 lbs for pullets and 7-8 lbs for cockerels at around 9 months old. They're white skinned and fairly easy to dress out and a good brown egg layers.

 

[Rebecky54]

If you use the breed selection tool, White Rocks come up as a meat bird. Since they are part of the Cornish/Rock cross, I'd go with White Rocks.

Becky

 

[ChickenWisperer]

No question about it, Jersey Giants are the BIGGEST dual purpose birds you are gonna find if they are bred right - 10+ pounds average. Not economical eater, but BIG birds.

I'm not sure on the amount of meat on the bird, but Brahmas come in second averaging 9 pounds. They have been bred more for eggs than meat, but are still larger than the normal bird.

Orpintongs are less likely to be impressive as they are highly overbred for egg production and NOT meat. Good strains - which will be more costly - will come up to 8 +/- pounds.
Rocks are a close second to orpingtons, but the same problem is that they are HIGHLY overbred for egg production and NOT meat. Good strains, more costly, will be 7-7.5 pounds. Cheapest option.
Faverolles were bred for MEAT and eggs, but sadly most do not have quality enough breeding to be back up to the 7.5 pound mark for weight. Better strains are more expensive.

 

[WallTenters]

I would think a Dorking would be what you're looking for.

Otherwise, the Dominique is much faster maturing than many other DP breeds. It's a smaller bird, but goes through a lot less food each day and also takes less time to get to a good size for eating. I couldn't stand waiting for 9mo+ for the Orps or even the rocks to mature.

Why not just go with pure Cornish?

 

[orientphoenix]

go for the pure cornish not the hybrid crosses

 

[flowerhippie]

I was told that the Black Australorps where a good choice they have many benefits such as there fluffy plumage dresses out easily and there large size for the large breast. They also lay a 365 day a year cycle. These birds prefer to stay by the hen house and do not forage a great distance away. One would not want a tough bird because of the muscle being ran too much. They are a quiet bird not like the cross or a bird that is flighty. The females mature early and this is a bonus.

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
All of these weights would likely take at least year to achieve, not to mention they are female weights. I would also add Javas, and Langshans, both the size of Rocks.

I feel that Faverolles should not be included for the heaviest dual purpose, standard weights are 8lbs. for Cocks and 6.5lbs. for hens - a good sized bird yes, but should not be on the list for heaviest dual purpose.

orientpheonix, Cornish are not a dual purpose fowl but a meat breed. They sure are large though.

Walltenters, a good male Rock should get around 5-6 pounds @ 16 weeks, a Dominique should not get much more than that when a Cock bird. Not sure why you think it would take 9 months for a Rock to muture either.

All the birds I speak of are standardbred birds, not the ones you get at a commercial hatchery, very, very few make it to these sizes

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
If you are wanting pure bred you could use Indian Game (Cornish), Light Sussex, Dorking, or any of the American Breeds but if you are not worried if they are pure stock stock and you are willing to do some breeding here is a list of crosses that you could do for a good to great table fowl but keep in mind the birds from a breeder will work a lot better than birds from a hatchery. (hatchery birds are a lot smaller than they should be)

For the list below the first breed is the rooster and the second is the Hen.
Example -- White Wyandotte X Light Sussex would be a White Wyandotte Rooster over a Light Sussex Hen.

• Light Sussex x White Wyandotte
An excellent table chicken but care must be taken in selecting the breeders so the breast bone of the offspring is not too high. Care should also be taken in selecting the White Wyandotte hens, they must not have any black in the legs in order to get good white fleshed table bird. These are fast growing birds that are short legged, carrying lots of meat. Feathers are white with the odd black fleck. Almost all of these birds will be white fleshed.

• White Wyandotte X Light Sussex
Take care in selecting the White Wyandotte Cocks, they must not have any black in the legs in order to get good white fleshed table bird. Some chicks will have a yellow skin but other than this, the resulting birds are much the same as the Light Sussex X White Wyandotte cross mentioned above.

• Indian Game (Cornish) X Rhode Island Red
This produces a yellow skinned bird which can be greatly enhanced in color by feeding corn and allowing access to fresh green grass. The Rhode Island Red is a fast growing breed which dominates the slower growing Indian Game. Indian Game cocks should be at least a year old so that fertility is high. Since Rhode Island Reds are prolific layers, there is never any shortage of hatching eggs.

• Indian Game (Cornish) X Light Sussex on Light Sussex
This is a second cross that was once very popular to produce a very meaty white fleshed table bird. The first cross results in slow growth but the second results in very fast growth.

In the Indian Game (Cornish) X Light Sussex on Light Sussex above, you will bred a Indian Game (Cornish) Rooster to a Light Sussex Hen then the (Hen) offspring of this cross would be crossed back to a Light Sussex Rooster

Edited to add --
I would stay away from Jersey Giants and Langshan they will take way too long to mature and fill out fully.

Chris

 

[rebel yell]

The Delawears were used as this type of bird, & still are.