Heritage breeds are all the 'old fashioned' breeds bred by farmers in the past that were used for dual-purpose- eggs and meat. Ie. Rocks, Orps, dorking, Favs etc... This was all there was before the creation of the Cornish cross as the premier meat bird.
The problem is, most of today's 'Heritage' breeds are basically from hatchery stock, and are a far cry from the "true" heritage birds. Look at the difference between Kathyinmo's Barred Rocks and regular Barred rocks. They don't even look like the same breed....
Do you mind if I ask why you are not wanting to use Cornish (CCX) as your meat bird? It seems to me that the cost of CCX chicks is negligable compared to the return you get by raising them yourself on pasture.
But there are many people who want their meat birds to be sustainable- and not have to rely on buying chicks.
I have raised many batches of CCX for meat, and to me, there is nothing better. The thing that makes them better than 'store bought' chickens- even though they are the same breed, is that we raise them ourselves, on pasture, and then process them ourselves so we know excactly how our meat has been raised and processed.
The problem is, most of today's 'Heritage' breeds are basically from hatchery stock, and are a far cry from the "true" heritage birds. Look at the difference between Kathyinmo's Barred Rocks and regular Barred rocks. They don't even look like the same breed....
Do you mind if I ask why you are not wanting to use Cornish (CCX) as your meat bird? It seems to me that the cost of CCX chicks is negligable compared to the return you get by raising them yourself on pasture.
But there are many people who want their meat birds to be sustainable- and not have to rely on buying chicks.
I have raised many batches of CCX for meat, and to me, there is nothing better. The thing that makes them better than 'store bought' chickens- even though they are the same breed, is that we raise them ourselves, on pasture, and then process them ourselves so we know excactly how our meat has been raised and processed.
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