Meat birds and crossing for meat

[Lauravonsmurf]

I've grown barred rocks, orpingtons, white rocks, cornish X, easter eggers, australorps, various BB Red Games, brown leghorns, black giants, delawares, dark cornish, rhode island red, and of course wyandottes. White Wyandottes are currently the largest birds in the wyandotte group, but be aware they don't have the double breast size of the Rocks.

Thank you.

I currently have Naked Necks (keeping to breed), RIR, Marans, Olive Eggers, kids birds (Barred Rock and Black Australorp) and bantams. Ordered RIW, Buckeye, Saipan, Egyptian Fayoumi and Jersey Giants.

I am not necessarily looking for fast fast growth, but a good dual purpose.

I’ve been wondering about the Wyandottes.

Figuring out what I want to cross with the NNs.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have (hatchery quality) SLWs. Better than Brahma (as they were intended to be), but NOT meat birds. Grow way too slowly (though quicker than Brahma), not good egg birds either (medium eggs, pinkish cast in certain light, 3 days in 5). Decent free-rangers.

Possibly less free ranging (or none) would benefit speed of weight gain.

I love mine, they have some valuable traits I am trying to incorporate into my culling project, but their time as a good "dual purpose" birds is so last century. In the 1920s, I'm sure they were very good compared to many other available birds - but compared to a 2020s ranger, a slow red broiler, etc??? Not so much.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

If you keep Cornish cross till 6 months on limited feed they become monsters. And at 6 months they would still be rather tender.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I have (hatchery quality) SLWs. Better than Brahma (as they were intended to be), but NOT meat birds. Grow way too slowly (though quicker than Brahma), not good egg birds either (medium eggs, pinkish cast in certain light, 3 days in 5). Decent free-rangers.

Possibly less free ranging (or none) would benefit speed of weight gain.

I love mine, they have some valuable traits I am trying to incorporate into my breeding project, but their time as a good "dual purpose" birds is so last century. In the 1920s, I'm sure they were very good compared to many other available birds - but compared to a 2020s ranger, a slow red broiler, etc??? Not so much.

I wonder how the maturity rate of the Wyandotte compares to Buckeye and the RI breeds. I know Buckeye take a bit longer from what I read concerning eggs… not sure on their meat end, they should based on what I read be good shaped body for meat… but again no one has been really working to maintain and improve them… so who knows what I will get. Either awesome birds from Cackle or just OK.

I have been wondering about the Rangers and other broiler lines.

The Naked Necks I have that are now laying in my opinion need line improvement for meat or dual purpose. (Meyers birds) They need more size for one thing, and egg size improvement would be beneficial. I am glad I have them though to fiddle with.

I picked up two new NN from a different hatchery (Ideal).

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

I wonder how the maturity rate of the Wyandotte compares to Buckeye and the RI breeds. I know Buckeye take a bit longer from what I read concerning eggs… not sure on their meat end, they should based on what I read be good shaped body for meat… but again no one has been really working to maintain and improve them… so who knows what I will get. Either awesome birds from Cackle or just OK.

I have been wondering about the Rangers and other broiler lines.

The Naked Necks I have that are now laying in my opinion need line improvement for meat or dual purpose. (Meyers birds) They need more size for one thing, and egg size improvement would be beneficial. I am glad I have them though to fiddle with.

I picked up two new NN from a different hatchery (Ideal).

The hatchery birds all seem to mature at they same rate (more or less). Breeder quality wyandottes would probably be awesome meat wise. Just my currant thoughts on the matter.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Well I’m going to order some hatching eggs of the mythical beasts known as Rosecombed Rhode Islands both Red and White, might see if they can add a few Wyandotte as I think both have that breed. Hopefully the Red source is not a bust. I know the white source is operating so will put an order in with them first. Thankfully I have multiple incubators…

 

[DarJones]

The question I was addressing was with regard to birds to use in a cross for meat production. As I stated, I can turn 8 month old SLW roosters into perfectly edible fried chicken. However, the breast size leaves something to be desired and the growth rate is slower than desirable in a meat bird. This is why I suggested a Wyandotte rooster over Cornish X hybrid hens. I've grown these in the past and had decent meat birds between 8 and 12 weeks old. I got the Cornish X hens from McMurray in their meat bird special. Turns out that they pull all the newly hatched roosters and sell them separate, then discount the hens as "meat bird special". It was easy to tell what they sent as every single one of the 25 meat bird special was a Cornish X hen. I had Wyandotte roosters so.....

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Oh that is good to know. Thank you.

 

[ChookieG]

Sorry if someone has mentioned this before as I haven't the time and patience to go through 5 pages of this thread.. but have you thought about keeping quails for meat instead of chicken?

They consume very little feed and reach butchering size at 7-8 weeks old. The larger variety - Jumbo/Goliath Corturnix quails can reach up to 400 - 500 g (0.88 - 1.1 lbs). Their feed:meat conversion is as efficient as Broilers and you get 70% meat from one bird and the meat protein is denser than chicken (greater amino acid range/coverage) - so you feel fuller eating far less meat. The meat is also lower in fat, and higher in vitamins and minerals. They taste very much like chicken but with a slightly gamey aftertaste. They will also provide you eggs at butchering age if you were housing them for longer.

You can keep them in a small backyard and breed them without the worry of rooster restriction and if you're really keen you may be able to sell them for profit as they are considered premium meat. They are also very tough and can sleep out in the snow. The downside is you'll have to keep them in a run as they will not return to a coop like chickens do in the evening and also rodent-proof the run as rats and other predators love to eat them.

 

[CNJ]

What I like about my Breese/Cornish x cross is they are easy to catch. They are more concerned about their food, and will gather around me when I fill their food tray. Its easy to pick them up, but they don't like it.

I wonder what the next generation will be like? The hens look small, but when I carry them, they feel husky, way more meat than regular heritage breeds at the same age.