I want a good meat bird that can reproduce and forage...

[chickboss]

Does it even exist? LOL. Any ideas for breeds to try would be helpful. Doing reasearch now for possible summer project. Thanks

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

This comes up regularly and it is what we all want.

I believe colored rangers are not a "breed", they cannot reliably produce offspring like themselves, correct?

All the heritage breeds I have butchered so far have huge thighs and legs with very dark meat, almost cooked-beef dark. We pasture our birds and they pick up a lot of pigment from the plant and bug matter they eat. Breast meat is very slim on the heritage breeds we've tried. I have not yet grown accustomed to the carcass of a heritage cockeral compared to a cornish X, I do miss the ample breast meat.

However, the difference in the pasture is amazing. The Heritage breeds so much cleaner and prettier, and they move about to forage, dust-bathe, explore and play. By comparison the "squatters" remain close to their feeder and leave such a horrible mess, even when their shelter is moved to new pasture twice daily. The stand up, poop, and sit in it. After looking at them in the pen, the DH stated he didn't know if he ever wanted to eat them, they were so disgusting looking. It appears they do not process all they eat.

So yes, let us know when we find the perfect true breeding meat bird!

This year we are trying Buckeyes, to see if we like the breast meat better. I expect them to take a little longer than other heritage breeds to reach butcher size, but the chicks we have now are growing well.

Delawares grew really fast last summer. That was truly impressive. They ate a LOT of grass, often prefering it the the scratch corn I was distributing as a treat. And the eggs are huge and purply-brown. Rather ruthless roosters in our pen, but others have had a different strain with much better temperments and bahaviors. I want to clean out what I have and start over with a different strain.

We have Sussex, a traditional table breed. We are still getting used to the white skin. The appearance, personality and growth rate are very nice. Medium eggs could be larger, are a nice pale tan. The rooster dances and convinces the hens as opposed to forcing them, so everyone in the pen seems in generally better shape. He only attacks me when he doesn't recognize me, like when I wear the pink clogs or something odd. And then looks very embarassed when he realizes he just threatened to flog the feeding lady.

Brahmas and Dorkings are on my future try list.

Others have noted unique flavor to Marans.

 

[Illia]

Heritage breeds - Sure you wait longer, but it's worth it. Try Brahmas. Dorkings, good quality Orpingtons, good quality Rhode Island Reds, etc.

- They're excellent foragers have normal chicken lives, and sure it takes months to get their meat - But I'd rather wait for a healthy bird than cull a bird because it needs it.

 

[bibliophile birds]

Freedom Rangers are a great choice if you don't want to wait for heritage breeds to fill out. they are what is used in France for the Label Rouge chickens. cornish X are processed around 60 days whereas Freedom Rangers suggested processing age is 80-100 days. most heritage breeds are going to be a good size at 120-150 days.

i've not had any yet, but when i get around to doing a large batch of meaties, that's what i'm getting. so far, i just process my extra heritage cockerels. they've been very tasty but they do take a LONG time to fill out and that's a LOT of feed...

eta: someone is doing a grow-out journal for freedom rangers here if you are interested.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I agree about the heritage breeds. you can add Delaware's and Buckeye's to that list. I haven't tried the Freedom Rangers yet either, but those should be good too if you don't want to wait for the heritage to grow out.

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
Not being argumentative here, but what is often forgotten, left off or just plan ignored in this particular equation is that while the heritage breeds take longer to fill out they do not eat as much in any given day as does a cornish cross. If they can have access to ample forage they can get a much larger portion of their diet -- as a percentage -- from the earth not a feed store bag, which is, again if you give them the proper access, actually a feed savings. Forage is "free".

 

[mike67909]

I am all about the freedom rangers now. They are the only meat bird I will raise.

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
oh i completely agree. i won't have cornish x on my farm. those frankenbirds freak me out and they do nothing but eat and poop, A LOT. but the Freedom Rangers supposedly don't have that kind of problem.... again, i've not raised them so i can't say for sure.

 

[Shifty Joe]

Look at the Freedom Ranger, not seeing any information regarding what makes this bird better than a heritage. Any good like regarding the breeding and dress out weights?

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
JM Hatchery, who sells them, claims an average 5-6 lb live weight bird in 9-11 weeks. they reproduce naturally if left to it and they don't HAVE to be slaughtered at 9 weeks because of health problems like the cornish x (so you could feasibly keep some for breeding).