HERE is where we are going to talk about a sustainable meat bird flock

[usschicago1]

Sorry If im a little late on this! But ive done alot pf research lately and Freedom Rangers Are supposedly really good for a sustainable meet flock! A cool experiment for someone would probably be to cross some Rocks X Freedom Rangers

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I like the pic here of the 2 Buckeyes in the roasting pan, they had nice legs but the breast seemed kind of narrow. Maybe crossing them with a standard Cornish will get larger, taller chickens with strong legs and a wider breast

Ahh..... see now that's what they are lacking. That's the reason for adding the cornish x's into the bloodline. I have a pure breed flock of Buckeyes and a flock of rock x hens and a buckeye rooster. However I believe that most DP breeds lack the breast meat...

Jen-

Overall goal would be the meat bird your describing. They may not fit what I'm looking for... but so many people like yourself are looking for the DP bird you described. That's my goal.... So I may not incorporate a x rooster if this cross is what I'm looking for.

It will take a few generations but to say the least it is fun.​

 

[BirdBrain]

What a wonderful thread!! I'm all ears.

 

[BirchHatchery]

i butcher all my leghorns at 20 weeks old anything before thaT an they really are small any longer than that ive found them to get bigger but be tougher jus matters how u goin to cook them but 20 weeks for frien and bbq on the grill

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:

all I read was barbecue chicken on the grill....

Seriously, I think that would be fine for most families. We had store bought chicken the other night and had to eat around all the gristle and junk to get any "meat" off of it, it was nasty and I want better!!!! If I can grow out a couple home raised birds for around the same price as 1 store bought junk bird...I'm all for it. Leghorns might actually fit that. I'd rather have 2 small GOOD birds as one mutant hunk of tissue any day. I mean weight wise that store bought just means I'm paying for gristle right? How is that economical? Just sayin....THANKS FOR THAT INFO, I may have to get me some of them white birdies and try it for myself

Where do you get them chicks so cheap anyway?

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Ahh..... see now that's what they are lacking. That's the reason for adding the cornish x's into the bloodline. I have a pure breed flock of Buckeyes and a flock of rock x hens and a buckeye rooster. However I believe that most DP breeds lack the breast meat...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1855_dscf2480.jpg


Jen-

Overall goal would be the meat bird your describing. They may not fit what I'm looking for... but so many people like yourself are looking for the DP bird you described. That's my goal.... So I may not incorporate a x rooster if this cross is what I'm looking for.

It will take a few generations but to say the least it is fun.

Yes it will be fun! And if I sounded critical, that's not what I intended. I just wasn't quite clear on what you were doing. I think the Buckeye roo will work out well. I don't know if you could get a good CX roo to try out for breeding. The hens do ok, though.

DP's do lack the big breasts, but some are better than others. That sure is a pretty Buckeye roo you have there!

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
I'm not a supporter of the big commercial bird industry, but I've never had that particular experience. I've never had a store bought bird with more than a normal amount of gristle. Maybe you just got a really poor quality, badly developed bird. The extra weight on those birds is normally meat, fat, and the water/broth/chemical soup they inject. Which is why I want home raised birds. But no, the extra weight is not gristle. The amount of breast meat on those is huge, more than you'd get with either heritage/DP, certainly more meat than you'd get on a leghorn. There's nothing wrong with using whatever breed you want for meat, whether they're big, small, scrawny or fat, they're all edible, they all taste like chicken (some better than others) and so on. But I hate to see somebody start off with an inaccurate idea of what's what.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
I'm not a supporter of the big commercial bird industry, but I've never had that particular experience. I've never had a store bought bird with more than a normal amount of gristle. Maybe you just got a really poor quality, badly developed bird. The extra weight on those birds is normally meat, fat, and the water/broth/chemical soup they inject. Which is why I want home raised birds. But no, the extra weight is not gristle. The amount of breast meat on those is huge, more than you'd get with either heritage/DP, certainly more meat than you'd get on a leghorn. There's nothing wrong with using whatever breed you want for meat, whether they're big, small, scrawny or fat, they're all edible, they all taste like chicken (some better than others) and so on. But I hate to see somebody start off with an inaccurate idea of what's what.

Actually I was just being rather facetious about it, but if you could have seen the hunk of gristle that came off that chicken leg...well, you just had to be there. It was really nasty...the dogs didn't mind though.

We wasted more than we ate...it was THAT bad. I can't wait to have my own in the freezer.....

 

[BirchHatchery]

i get my leghorn roos day olds for 10 cents each at a local hy-line hatchery i would check localy for leghorn roos as their probly the cheapiest bird to get. I would shop around and see what u can get locally before u mail order ther some hatcherys as purely poultry mc murray hatchery that have good deals on leghorn roos for Friers maybe some other hatcheirs do also i just dont order from them because i can obtain them so much cheapier. Any other questions u got on raising them for meat let me no. Yes the birds are smaller than a cornish x so may take 2 birds to equal one for supper but i like the lean of the meat no fat leghorns are like birds on crack mine constanty fly scratch forage very excellent foragers and at 18 weeks become sexually charged lol but all the moving around makes for leaner meat and more flavor. They also feather out rapidly so means less time under a lamp i move mine out of the lamp at 4-5 weeks old depending how severe temps are

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
I agree. It is quite refreshing to read all the diverse approaches to providing meat for the table. Not at all the same old same old.

I see the Muscovy is about to be outlawed due to its invasive nature. That's too bad, as I understand they are excellent meat birds and was looking forward to raising some for the table.

So, I guess second best would be Pekin?

I don't think I ever saw an answer to the best goose for meat. Anybody have an idea?