Just got HOOOGE meat breed?? Here are the clues...

[BluegrassSeramas]

I got 2 birds at a swap on Saturday that I think that he said were something called Red-bows? Thats what it sounded like anyways, and I didnt have a pen to write it down. By the time I got a pen, I was too tired to think from carrying around these ginormous ((<----that didnt get spell checked..actually a word..hmmmm)) baby birds.

Here's what I know:
They are HUGE. They are 6 weeks old and almost the size of my black stars with feet like Velociraptors.

They are a cross, I suppose, because they are supposedly infertile.

They can live longer than most meat breeds, and the hens lay HUGE turkey size eggs that are almost always double yolkers.

They called it the "European meat bird"..

They told me it was derived from a French breed...or something crossed with a french breed?

The ones that I saw were in the buff range of color.

What do I have here?
Thanks!!

<------- Totally clueless about these, just figured, WHY NOT, my kids could ride it around or something....

 

[Appaloosa Hill Farm]

I have nothing helpful to offer except that the word 'ginormous' is going to be added to the Webster Dictionary this year!

Yep, it's actually a word!

 

[Judy]

I don't know! I tried Googling "European Meat Bird" and came up empty.

But, look at this website: http://www.jmhatchery.com/

The ideas of French and meat bird made me think of these. As far as I know, this is the only source for "freedom broilers" or "colored range broilers," which I understand to be the same thing.

I wonder if the seller had the info a little garbled, but had these birds, or offspring of these birds. I also wonder if colored range broilers were crossed with Cornish X to produce your birds.

I highly doubt they are infertile. I suspect that idea came from the fact that they are a hybrid and will not breed true. I don't think they could be assuredly infertile unless they are a cross between two species.

Should be really interesting. Let us know!

And by the way, I am far from a chicken genetics expert.