Meat

[Smokehouse13]

what birds have you used for meat birds that have gave a good meat to feed ratio?

 

[ChickNanny13]

I've read the Cornish

 

[Alaskan]

Best meat to feed ratio ever for me... was geese.

Bought then in the spring, ate truly close to 100% lawn grass and weeds.. I penned them when the grass started to die in the fall(so paid for 1 bag of feed for all summer which was mostly just to get them to coop back up at night), used 1 bag of feed while they were penned to fatten them a bit... and then butchered them all.

I had 5 or 6.

 

[Alaskan]

I am guessing you wanted chicken breeds..... then yes, cornish X.

 

[LilyD]

Cornish Cross have by far the best meat to feed ration. Followed by the Freedom Rangers which take 12 weeks to butcher weight. All are good if you can raise them with enough room to run around so they actually get some exercise each day. Biggest issue is they are not too energetic so I have had issues with green tumors in the muscle tissues if they grow too fast and don't move enough. I try to free range during the day and then feed at night so that they come back into the coop.

 

[Mrs. K]

I raised the cornish cross last year, mine were healthy, grew fast and tasted great. They have their own coop and run. I harvested mine at 8 weeks.

 

[The Dapper Duck]

Obviously the Cornish X, like everyone else said. But if you are asking about a dual purpose/heritage type, I had great luck with Australorps on pasture. Partial pasture actually, I only let them out of the run in the afternoons and they cooped back up at night. They get to be a good size, grow very quickly, and I think they hit the happy medium between foraging ability and activity level, so they don't just burn off the calories they get on pasture.

I'm sure there are other breeds that do as well, but these are just the ones I have the most experience with.