Meat/egg combo, what breed?

[seafooeymama]

I am new to chickens, and would like to order 25 birds, with the idea of keeping 10 layers and 15 meat birds. McMurrays has the combo, with varied layers and the meat birds being cornish and cornish X. Should I go this route, or is it better to get 25 dual purpose birds? Do I have to keep my meat birds and layers separate? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[dancingbear]

That combo could be really nice to start with, and give you a chance to try a variety of layer breeds. With just a 15 meaties to start, you wouldn't be overwhelmed with birds to process. I've had meaties ad dual purp chicks together, and they did fine. The only real problem was that the meat birds are very messy, and you have to clean the housing frequently, unless you have a movable tractor. They can make it hard for the smaller bird to get to the feed, too, so you may want to separate them.

The meaties will grow super fast, and you can butcher them in 7-10 weeks. You can do a few earlier for "Cornish game hen" size birds, if you want.

You might want to see if other hatcheries have a similar deal, and find a better price.

 

[seafooeymama]

Thanks so much for your input! After reading multiple posts, I may go with dual purpose breeds.

 

[Mr.Bojangles]

I find that the dual purpose birds have a better flavor due to the slower growth and free ranging.

 

[BirchHatchery]

same i agree mr bojangle