Meat breeds for someone who doesn't want to raise Cornish X?

[kstaven]

You always have the choice with going back in history to an older meat breed. That is the Dorking. They flesh out well and serve as good egg layers. not to mention you are helping to keep a heritage breed alive.

 

[kstaven]

greyfields If you ever get the chance to try it cross a dorking with a cornish. progeny is bigger than either parent, they flesh out well, and will come up to slaughter weight much quicker than either breed would on its own. Have been doing this for a few years now and have been happy with the results.

Have heard good things about the freedom rangers, but being in Canada there is no access and very limited choice from our hatcheries. That is what drove me to doing our own.

 

[greyfields]

Well, I'm like 90% certain the Freedom Rangers come from Canada and are moved across the border and shipped from Wisconssin. Have you double checked you can't get them there?

And I am very aware that the Indian Game X Dorking is probably the most common backyard meat bird cross in the UK. I just haven't had the chance to bring in any lovely 5 toed dorkings yet into my flock. It's on my list of things to do, though. The Romans brought dorkings to Britain and they have been there ever since. I have a hunch it's for good reason and they're excellent creatures.

Also, just one more comment. "Dual Purpose" simply means "meatier than a Leghorn". Don't think you'll get nice roasting birds from any dual purpose breed. I mean you can, but the carcass yield is just rather disappointing.

 

[kstaven]

They must be running freedom rangers under another name up here then. Nothing under that name in any of the catologs I received.

It is true a dual purpose does not yield as well. But some breeds come much closer than others.

I tried the game cross and was not as impressed, as with the cornish mix. It may have had something to do with the game lines I was accessing though. Like with anything else that we breed, that ancestry and previous generations of work by breeders makes a big difference.

 

[greentree]

I think you have to order them direct.

They need some catchy theme music like Superman that pops into your head every time someone says "Freedom Ranger".

I will never have another CornishX in my barn again! I can't wait to process them, just to get rid of them.....

Nancy

 

[chickenannie]

I had an interesting conversation with an American girl studying Chinese medicine who lived in China. She said the chinese farmers that she met raise Asian chickens for meat and didn't like to butcher them for meat "too young," so they eat chickens about a year or two old (not culled chickens). They consider those to be the best chickens. They are also not interested in what they consider "bland white breast meat" in their chickens, which is what the Cornish crosses are raised for and which Americans think is the "only" part of the chicken to eat. I work at an organic farm, and I can't tell you how many requests we get for just chicken breast. As if there was nothing else to eat on the chicken -- and we could just throw the rest of it away. Just thought I'd share how much our taste in chicken is influenced by our cultural upbringing!

 

[mamaboyd]

I think the Freedom Rangers are very similiar to the Freys' Special chickens that we got from Freys Hatchery here in Ontario. Thye take a bit longer to grow than the cornish crosses but have excellent meat on them when they get to the right size, they live longer and are way more healthier than the cornish crosses. Here's the site for Frey's Hatchery:www.freyshatchery.com