Meat breeds

[RUNuts]

I'm just starting out so am researching into meat breeds. I would make as many pens as needed to get what I'm after.

Not sure about timeline I just started so not sure how long this sort of things takes. I'm young and fairly new to poultry and farming.

I see a decision in your future. To over simplify, spend a lot of money for quality stock to save time or spend a lot of time to develop quality stock. Sometimes the journey makes you appreciate the destination more.

How much time would this take? Good question. A lot of times the goals change as your knowledge increases. Simple answer is as much time you think it needs.

Since you are new and this is my opinion only, set a dollar amount to spend/invest. Is this a hobby? How well do you know chickens? Get some cheap chickens and see if you enjoy it. Too many times people discover they don't like something after spending a lot of time and money. So invest the time using your budget. Spend more on the infrastructure than the livestock at first.

I knew nothing about chickens. Did some research and wanted to try it. I'm enjoying in way more than I thought I would. Start small and go from there. Ask around for a mentor. Internet is neat, but touching something is better.

Not trying to evade your questions, but only you know your answer.

Best wishes!

 

[reeeen4]

I see a decision in your future. To over simplify, spend a lot of money for quality stock to save time or spend a lot of time to develop quality stock. Sometimes the journey makes you appreciate the destination more.

How much time would this take? Good question. A lot of times the goals change as your knowledge increases. Simple answer is as much time you think it needs.

Since you are new and this is my opinion only, set a dollar amount to spend/invest. Is this a hobby? How well do you know chickens? Get some cheap chickens and see if you enjoy it. Too many times people discover they don't like something after spending a lot of time and money. So invest the time using your budget. Spend more on the infrastructure than the livestock at first.

I knew nothing about chickens. Did some research and wanted to try it. I'm enjoying in way more than I thought I would. Start small and go from there. Ask around for a mentor. Internet is neat, but touching something is better.

Not trying to evade your questions, but only you know your answer.

Best wishes!

I guess it would also depend on if there is quality stock near me, I'm from Australia and I can buy what they call "Ross" or "Cobb" chickens here but they are the industrial meat chickens.

I have found some people who have pure breed Cornish (indian game birds) I was thinking of getting some and breeding them with some other large heritage breeds that have good table value like Sussex, Australorp and Dorkings (although I have heard that dorkings are not that large in Australia).

I have had egg chickens for years and I love raising chickens so it is a hobby I guess but I'd also seriously like to develop a chicken that is great at foraging and fast growing but in a healthy way not like the industrial chickens. Something more suited to the Australian climate too.

I guess I will just have to take it as it comes and hope it doesn't take me 40 years hahaha

 

[NatJ]

Are Black Australorp, Buff Orpington, Barred Rock and Delaware chickens good to raise for meat?

You CAN eat any chicken, at any size.
Some people eat quail--it's hard to find a chicken smaller than that!
You can butcher chickens very young. I've been known to butcher 4-week-old bantams. You get miniature "wings" from the hindquarters, and 1 "chicken nugget" from each half of the breast. Collect all the hearts, livers, gizzards and you eventually get a little pile of boneless meat (different flavor than the other parts).

Whether a particular chicken is worth it for the feed it eats, the time it takes to grow, the size it ends up, and the time it takes you to butcher it (or the cost to have someone else butcher it)--the answers differ depending on who you ask.

If you love doing breeding projects, you may end up with so many culls that you have no need to raise "meat" chickens at all. If you just want to efficiently fill your freezer, and do not want to experiment, then cornish cross (or whatever the commercial broiler types are called in your area) are apparently the way to go.

There's a thread in the Meat Birds section of the forum, by someone raising purebred White Cornish (not crosses) as meat birds. They work well for that person--it's a long thread with lots of details.

The breeds that are perfect for some people look ugly to me, and the breeds I think are pretty tend to have colored pinfeathers (Ridgerunner makes a good point there, about plucking vs skinning.)

 

[RUNuts]

I guess it would also depend on if there is quality stock near me, I'm from Australia and I can buy what they call "Ross" or "Cobb" chickens here but they are the industrial meat chickens.

I have found some people who have pure breed Cornish (indian game birds) I was thinking of getting some and breeding them with some other large heritage breeds that have good table value like Sussex, Australorp and Dorkings (although I have heard that dorkings are not that large in Australia).

I have had egg chickens for years and I love raising chickens so it is a hobby I guess but I'd also seriously like to develop a chicken that is great at foraging and fast growing but in a healthy way not like the industrial chickens. Something more suited to the Australian climate too.

I guess I will just have to take it as it comes and hope it doesn't take me 40 years hahaha

Australorps were developed in Australia as DP birds. Just find a strain to your liking?

There is value in everything. I raise the commercial birds for fast meat that is better than grocery. Diet affects flavor. Husbandry affects all.

Enjoy the journey.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

You should try eating a dual purpose bird before you make any decisions. You may find it too strong of flavor- many do.

The photo of leg meat posted makes my mouth water. If you've had duck and like it then dual purpose chicken is for you. That dark leg meat is very close to duck flavor.

Thinking you'll create a meat strain/line is an extremely lofty goal. You are better off getting the best stock you can of the breed you settle on. Look for faster maturing breeds, breeds and lines of breeds that flesh out early as that's what you'll mostly be eating. Young cockerel culls. Butchering around 14 weeks of age is still young enough to broil or put on the grill.

Try eating a young dual purpose and a roaster dual purpose prior to making the plunge. Look around for under 15 week old cockerel and one over 20 weeks old to roast. Don't roast one much over 30 weeks unless you brine it first. Really should try eating the two age groups you'd be culling for food. Likely you'll find hatchery stock cockerels free on craigslist. Know that a standard bred bird will have better carcass but taste the same.

 

[Klutch]

I like chicken meat that has some flavor to, here in the states were so used to eating chicken like foster, zacky and tyson farms. Go with your DP Australorps and if thats not giving you enough meat throw some indian games into them.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If eggs arn't a priority but a sustainable table bird is then Cornish (Indian Game) all by themselves stack up well. Check out "sustainable cornish flock" thread in this meat forum.

I've said before if a person just wanted to breed quickly for a good sustainable dual purpose flock they should try Dixie Rainbow. It's a hybrid that quickly matures and has high egg output. If a person line bred them it would take a few years but could manage a decent repeatable dual purpose bird. Would take culling and only keeping far less than 10% of the F1's to make headway. More like 4%- if you hatched a 100 keep a quad.

 

[reeeen4]

Well I recently moved onto my family farm and have 270 acres to grow chickens on. So it's sort of something I "hope" will come a large part of the farm. Where I can grow a meat chicken breed similar to what we get in the shops but more ethical. Sadly here in Australia we don't have Freedom Rangers or Red Rangers to the best of my knowledge so going to have to make something myself. But I'm liking the sound of a Cornish X Australorp though.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Well I recently moved onto my family farm and have 270 acres to grow chickens on. So it's sort of something I "hope" will come a large part of the farm. Where I can grow a meat chicken breed similar to what we get in the shops but more ethical. Sadly here in Australia we don't have Freedom Rangers or Red Rangers to the best of my knowledge so going to have to make something myself. But I'm liking the sound of a Cornish X Australorp though.

Can you get Bresse there? It's a very meaty, relatively fast-growing breed...and the flavor is amazing. Bresse crosses well with other large fowl, too. They're also very good layers.

 

[reeeen4]

I don't think we do, but we have something called a Sommerlad which is apparently australia's version of them. I don't know what their like or even if I can get my hands on them. They are pretty hideous though haha they have transylvanian naked neck genetics in them.