Need quick advice for a school project about a small business.

[cupman]

I need to come up with a couple good dual purpose breeds for my project. I have sold hens before to local families both as laying hens and those I'm sure went to the families' dinner table. Chickens are more of a hobby to me rather than a job, I've just occasionally made a few dollars selling the extra birds. I kind of want to adapt the hobby into my business project and before I do that I needed quick advice about breeds.

What I'm looking for is a good dual purpose breed that has meaty birds but nothing like a Jersey giant because of their slow growth rate. I want to be able to sell it as a laying hen or a hen that is to be eaten. I am looking for 2-4 different breeds and I'm open to suggestions. I've asked a similar question in the past so sorry if you've read that and feel I'm repeating myself.

I have heard speckled sussex used to be bred as a meat bird before the days of the broiler and I was just looking for birds like that. Thanks in advance.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Dominique.

 

[kizanne]

Hopefully others with more experience will answer.....

I have a speckeld sussex and don't feel she would make a good meat bird. She also isn't a great layer. She friendly and pretty. She is a moderate layer and a little on the light side but not like an ISA.

I have some barred rock mixes they lay good and are larger than my other birds. So I think they would be good.

 

[RWD]

Delawares

 

[shober]

Rocks and or Orpingtons.

 

[Beekissed]

White Rocks have what you are looking for, with New Hampshires coming in a close second. The other breeds mentioned are slightly less meaty in build than these two and these two are consisten layers with hardy constitutions.

 

[bigredfeather]

Buckeyes. Decent layer, above average meat bird, excellent personality, great foragers.

 

[cupman]

Great so far, I've been looking up these breeds and it's going to be tough narrowing down which 2 or 3 types to settle on. I gotta run to my afternoon classes, I'll check back later and thanks again everyone.

 

[Oregon Blues]

More eggs than almost any chicken will lay, a huge carcass at 10 weeks of age that is much more valuable than a chicken: Silver Appleyard ducks.