Looking for the best meat birds

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Kaybear1950

Songster
Mar 8, 2018
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Hello,

My husband and I are looking to restart our flock. We have Aracaunas(mixed not full breed) that lay pink and blue eggs. This is nice but not important to us. We are looking to start a flock of birds that grow meat fast and can breed to make chicks we can incubate to later cull and fill the freezer. We have someone taking our old flock when I get this new one started. I want a pure breed. I was thinking the Cornish Cross was a great option. They get big fast and have big breast. Can anyone tell me their experience? I've never had this breed but I've obviously heard stories good and bad. I also need a breed that is easily personable. My chickens hate everyone and everything. Which is good cause my rooster has literally fought off dogs but not so good when I have a young foster child the rooster is trying to pick off.

Edit to say, we live in a developing area so not many predators. Winters get right below freezing and summers up to triple digits here. The Aracaunas have handled all of this well. I need a breed that can be heat and somewhat cold resistant. I don't mind putting a heat lamp out when temps drop a few nights in the winter.
 
Cornish cross is out of the question. First off, as the name implies the Cornish cross is a cross breed, not a purebred animal. Second, Cornish cross will not live more than a year and will rarely produce eggs and when they do they are usually not fertile. I have had a great experience with the Cornish Roasters from McMurray, only 4 out of 53 have died so far and they do grow very fast and produce a lot of meat but if you wanted these you would need to purchase new birds every season. Red Rangers are almost as popular as the Cornish Cross because their growth is seen as more natural by most people. Also, Red Rangers breed true and are more hardy than any Cornish Cross. Cons to Red rangers are they grow slower and produce less meat. Red Rangers would be the best option for you IMO, Cornish Cross will definitely not work out for what you want. Another benefit to the Red Rangers is eggs, they will sill lay a decent amount of eggs, definitely more than the Cornish Cross.
 
Cornish cross is out of the question. First off, as the name implies the Cornish cross is a cross breed, not a purebred animal. Second, Cornish cross will not live more than a year and will rarely produce eggs and when they do they are usually not fertile. Another benefit to the Red Rangers is eggs, they will sill lay a decent amount of eggs, definitely more than the Cornish Cross.

My CX mama lays daily and has produced these guys:
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What is the importance of pure breeding if you're just going to eat them?

I ask out of pure ignorance as I'm new to chickens.

Because if they don’t breed pure, you don’t have the species you chose at the beginning of this process. Why waste time trying to get a Cornish X to grow old enough to produce offspring (not easy) if the offspring is not a Cornish X? A different (much less meaty, albeit) breed will at least be the same From generation to generation and you can make more of them not having to buy a new flock every time you eat your birds.
 

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