Looking for the best meat birds

[Beer can]

Naked neck turkens make fine meat birds, not a CX as far as growth but better than other pure breeds cause they don't put energy into growing feathers. Have half the feathers, they are actually more naked than they look the feathers they do have cover up big bald patches. Makes them much easier to process/pluck, and they have NO 'hair' to singe off, smooth thin skin crisps up nice.
Naked necks rate #1 best tasting chicken with those fancy French chef's, better than Bresse or Barbezieux.
They lay tons of eggs and breed true.
Super hardy in extreme heat AND cold. I've had them last two yrs in a open hoop coop subzero temps, -20*F wind chill for many weeks in the winter with no ill effects, no frostbite on hens and only the tips of the combs on the roosters (healed come spring just fine) and nothing on the wattles.
And they're just awesome anyway, most 'exotic' chicken out there IMHO, and the chicks are the darn cutest

 

[Cyprus]

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.

RR is Red Ranger.
Rhode Island Reds are always abbreviated as RIR.

 

[JDN]

I found this. Very useful. White Plymouth Rock or Naked Neck would appear to be the way to go.

It might well be a good experiment to see what you get if you breed White Rock's and Cornish/Indian Games.

Source: https://projects.sare.org/sare_project/fnc12-866/
Feed efficiency rates based on dressed weight (lb. feed per lb. carcass), by breed:
– Dominique – 7.66
– White Plymouth Rock – 7.17
– Naked Neck – 7.13
– Silver-Laced Wyandotte – 8.34
– Speckled Sussex – 7.30
– New Hampshire Red – 7.38
– Delaware – 7.64
– AVERAGE – 7.49

Cost of production per lb. dressed weight, by breed*:
– Dominique – $4.08
– White Plymouth Rock – $3.71
– Naked Neck – $3.73
– Silver-Laced Wyandotte – $4.21
– Speckled Sussex – $4.01
– New Hampshire Red – $3.82
– Delaware – $4.05
– AVERAGE – $3.90

 

[Austradork1819]

Get some Pekin ducks.

 

[Beer can]

Get some Pekin ducks.

But they don't taste like chicken

 

[Kessel23]

Naked neck turkens make fine meat birds, not a CX as far as growth but better than other pure breeds cause they don't put energy into growing feathers. Have half the feathers, they are actually more naked than they look the feathers they do have cover up big bald patches. Makes them much easier to process/pluck, and they have NO 'hair' to singe off, smooth thin skin crisps up nice.
Naked necks rate #1 best tasting chicken with those fancy French chef's, better than Bresse or Barbezieux.
They lay tons of eggs and breed true.
Super hardy in extreme heat AND cold. I've had them last two yrs in a open hoop coop subzero temps, -20*F wind chill for many weeks in the winter with no ill effects, no frostbite on hens and only the tips of the combs on the roosters (healed come spring just fine) and nothing on the wattles.
And they're just awesome anyway, most 'exotic' chicken out there IMHO, and the chicks are the darn cutest

Wow, I never thought the Naked neck would be a good meat bird, it is nice you have had such a good experience with them, I will have to get some to try out next year. How do they do with free ranging? I assume they are much better than the CX.

 

[Rev Jimmy]

I've thought about raising meat chicken's but after all the controversy I'm still at a loss.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I've thought about raising meat chicken's but after all the controversy I'm still at a loss.

You'll find the only controversy is people's opinions. Cut right through the hybrid meat bird selections (rangers, cornishX, etc.) and only talk about a dual purpose bird with bent towards meat. From there ditch the Rainbow Chickens as they are hybrids to look at only specific breeds. It's here at breeds there will be bias as a person or nation sells them as more than they are. My personal problem is constant slogan of Bresse that talks of benefits only achieved if the bird is in fattening shed. That's not real world nor what a particular breed can do. It's a fattening shed.

What many have a hard time wrapping minds around is chicken is meant to be butchered early. The average of hatch is 50% male. You can always sell overstock of pullets but cockerels need to be eaten. They're were a lot of old time farmers keeping Leghorn as they lay many huge white eggs. They put the skinny cockerels into their bellies. Delicious chicken.

What this thread is about to me is asking what is a viable dual purpose breed with bent toward meat? By the OP's original criteria of not caring about eggs I still stand by a breeder quality Cornish. Not to be confused with cornishX hybrids. To expand from that we need to look at peoples criteria for meat. The pure Cornish breed is the only breed I know with broad breast. If that's not a point of interest then you've got to look at more.

When do you want to butcher? Is your time of butcher for broiler age or do you want a large carcass? Take the often looked over Turken- that is an early developing, fleshy bird that does not get to large adult size. It's a good broiler to take cockerels out of flock 12-14 weeks of age and able to grill. In this same vent of fleshy, albeit dwarfed some, Dorking is a great early maturing broiler type. Near midgets as adults and a small carcass to butcher but it will be plump at broiler age. Honestly there are so many. I will say the White rock my have size but the portion of bone frame will be much higher than a Dorking or similar fast maturing/fleshing bird.

This is where you've got to know the birds. The target butchering age means some but in reality all of them are completely non economical if you raise unneeded cockerels past 14 weeks. There are pure breeds that are marketable with appealing carcass (fleshed out, proportioned) by 14 weeks. Let's look at grouse for example, you'd not expect it to be supermarket chicken size but it's still fleshed out. The same would be for a Dorking. Small yet table appealing. For birds that consume more feed, Buckeye, post 40 here, are awesome dual purpose with bent to meat. Fleshy carcass from young age right through. New Hampshire, Delaware, Turken, etc, etc...

Note that no where is Plymouth Rock or certainly Jersey Giant on the above mention. And this comes from a person who breeds Plymouth Rock.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I rambled some and can' seem to stop...

Sussex chicken! Now here is a breed with heritage. The favored variety of this breed for meat was the Red followed by the Speckled. Light get a little larger but don't flesh out as well young age. See a trend? It's not about the size of bird on table rather how it looks on the table and if it's full fleshed. Then take them young for most tender.

What's odd is today in supermarket we see small birds yielding large prices even though they are in the frozen department. Cornish Hen they are marketed as. These are nothing more than cornishX butchered at 5 weeks. The standard is something like birds up to 2 lbs carcass are cornish hens. Not if they even are a hen. The point here is they hold a higher price value and the industry capitalized on it. Traditional meat would be actual Cornish pullets. Size means nothing if the carcass is full.

Take hat 2 lbs cornishX and compare it to a 12week 2 lbs Dorking....the taste would be worlds apart.

I breed Plymouth Rock but I don't have standard adult size in my variety. That's OK by me. One of my cockerels hit 4 lbs live weight at 11 weeks. His sire is only 8 lbs. Standard says he should be 10 to 10.5 lbs adult. I've had large framed to plump in the same breed. I know the large framed will add the mass and be tall adult size. I don't breed them. It's counter to breeding to standard but I also want appealing grilled cockerel culls at 12-14 weeks. So let's say down the years of breeding I get most of cockerels over 4 lbs 12 weeks and they finish only 8.5 lbs adult. Fine by me if those 4 pounders are fleshy which yield (70% dress) 2.8 lbs tender carcass. It tastes worlds apart and better than quick qrown 8 week birds yet still able to grill. Gotta love it.

Pick a breed and go with it. Use research for early fleshing breeds and get stock from a breeder. Breeder birds will far outperform hatchery. From there butcher cockerels always keeping best fleshing to select as breeders later. That's where you get roasters- raising up your breeder candidates. The flavor comes from age and range, the tenderness is always fading. The younger you cull the most tender it will be. I'd not grill a bird over 14 weeks.

But again, if you're a breast person and don't care about eggs then pure Cornish is the way!

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

If I were to go purebred actual breed for meat alone either Standard Cornish or Naked Necks would be my choices, both are meat breeds. Naked Necks have 20% less feathers and the genetic studies I have read indicate the naked neck gene actually puts a little more meat on them. The Standard Cornish have nice breasts usually.

You might want to read the projects where people are trying different Crosses or breeds and comparing the breeds.