Looking for the best meat birds

[Kaybear1950]

So it seems I have mixed answers but an RR or Jersey giant are what I am looking for. What about Plymouth rock chickens?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Post #4 suggested Indian Game and that's a good choice considering your criteria. Not a lot of eggs but enough to propagate and raise meat birds. The full double breast you are accustomed to. Photo of CornishX and layer bird breast is that example of double breast. And of course they are a pure breed. You'd want to source them from a breeder.

Indian Game is a bit archaic, Dark Cornish is what is current and more common name for them. If you look through the Meat Bird forum you'll find a thread on Sustainable Meat birds with White Cornish. The white I believe get a little bigger but harder to source. Either way you'll definitely not want hatchery stock. Do the leg work and find a good breeder. The aim on these would be 4 lbs dress weight at 14 weeks of age. Still broiler tender age and a fair carcass with full breast.

 

[speedy2020]

I highly recommend White Bresse as dual purpose.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The OP wasn't looking for dual purpose.

If that was the case then New Hampshire or Buckeye would fit the bill nicely. Faster to mature than other dual purpose.

Jersey Giant are not a good choice, slow to mature. They get big but are lanky with little meat at young butchering age. It doesn't make economic sense to raise birds to older ages for less options on how you can cook them. Plymouth Rocks are similar to Jersey Giant in that they are all frame at young age. Assuming RR is Rhode Island Red then New Hampshire is RIR that were bred selectively for fast maturing so clearly the better option.

If eggs are not of importance and your partial to the full breast then Pure Cornish is the way to go. Dark, White and Laced Red are the three varieties.

 

[speedy2020]

The OP wasn't looking for dual purpose.

If that was the case then New Hampshire or Buckeye would fit the bill nicely. Faster to mature than other dual purpose.

Jersey Giant are not a good choice, slow to mature. They get big but are lanky with little meat at young butchering age. It doesn't make economic sense to raise birds to older ages for less options on how you can cook them. Plymouth Rocks are similar to Jersey Giant in that they are all frame at young age. Assuming RR is Rhode Island Red then New Hampshire is RIR that were bred selectively for fast maturing so clearly the better option.

If eggs are not of importance and your partial to the full breast then Pure Cornish is the way to go. Dark, White and Laced Red are the three varieties.

Bresse growth faster than most breed, but much slower than CornishX and few weeks behind the Ranger.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I've not seen anything to support that. Unless someone puts up real numbers on weights at 12 to 14 weeks, and no one ever does, I say Bielefelders out perform Bresse. If you want an expensive breed new to America might as well get the better performing one. Then you could just use an American dual purpose bird like New Hampshire or Buckeye. Or what the OP was looking for and that was a meat bird like Cornish.

 

[DianaMallory]

Cornish Cross are cute and so sweet looking when they first hatch, they are eating and pooping machines in about 3 weeks! From the incubator to the freezer in 8 weeks! My experience with them is this, they don't do well in heat, they grow so fast that you would have to keep them cool in the heat. I will never put them in a stationary coop again! I have never shoveled so much chicken poo in my life! I use chicken tractors for them now. I do a batch in the spring and the fall, I hatch them out every Easter and the fall to fill the freezer for winter. It is a lot of work having a breeding pair, because they eat so much, you would have to control their diet, or they will get so fat they can't walk. They are not good foragers, they don't get to far from the food dish! I raise mine in chicken tractors and move them once or twice a day so they have fresh grass all the time. They have heart problems do to their rapid growth. I highly recommend them for fast meat in the freezer, but not in a stationary coop. You should see how nice my grass looks after it grows back!
Someone once ask me how could I kill them and eat them after hatching them out. I thought it would be hard, but by the time it is time to butcher them, they are monsters!I can not stress this enough, they poop a lot! Not suitable for stationary coops!

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Depends what your definition of best meat birds is. If you’re looking for fastest growing with the most meat, then Cornish cross. If you’re aiming for quality and taste, I’d say go with Bresse. Cornish cross need to be protected, since they are rather slow and clumsy, whereas Bresse are a little more natural and can run and move around much better. They forage much better and from what i remember, they lay pretty well.

Quality and taste is highly subjective and widely varies from consumer to consumer. A homegrown Cornish cross is always going to be better than a factory bird. But saying a heritage breed is better taste and quality than a homegrown Cornish? Unlikely. Many do not like stringy, chewy chicken.

 

[Mosey2003]

I agree that you don't want Jersey Giants. Plymouth Rock would be okay, but again, it's more of a dual purpose rather than meat oriented, you'd be better off with well-bred NH. My Barred Rock cockerels dressed at 3.5lbs at ~18-20 weeks. Breast was bigger than a hatchery stew hen, but still nowhere near a Cornish.

I don't know what showing meat birds entails, but I think you really want Cornish X for that. Maybe a Ranger type.

Red Rangers would probably come closest to ticking your boxes as far as meat and being able to breed well, but I don't know if they actually reproduce in kind or if the offspring will be varied. Regular White or Dark Cornish from a good breeder would be the good purebred option.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

So I am looking for a pure meat bird that grows meat quickly but can produce young to cull and eventually replace themselves. I need good enough egg production to fill the incubator with a smaller flock but we won't eat the eggs super often. My current flock takes a few months and even still dress at maybe 4lbs. Definitely not enough. Their egg production also is not the greatest. They are all currently a year old. My Aracaunas also are not purebred and it shows. I get zero consistency.

I recommend you look into Buckeyes.

The hens are decent layers while the roosters are known to dress out at 5lbs by 16 weeks if managed correctly.

They are a beautiful, calm bird with sweet personality and the ability to forage well.

They are also a heritage breed that is in need of more breeders and thus sought after.

I really enjoyed my Buckeye project. To get good quality with the characteristics you seek, I recommend getting hatching eggs from a reputable breeder.