Hello All. I got 2 new Hamps a month ago. I am only having them for their eggs not dinner. Someone told me that i will have to slaughter them beacuse they are considered a Meat bird and will get really big and heavy and their chests will drag on the ground. They said that they will develope health problems from this so i should really just slaughter them. Is this true? thanks Everyone. Oh... and i have nothing against slaughtering, "to each his own", I just prefer my chickens for their eggs
"Someone" has no idea what they are talking about. This is the Standard Bred fowl- http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/chickens/ Not like what you will get from a hatchery but simular.
Hogwash! New Hamps are primarily layers but are a great dual purpose breed but not the heaviest of the heavy breeds by far. Just a nice-sized layer but no tendencies whatsoever of becoming "too large". I'm sure they were confusing them with Cornish Rock Cross meat birds.
Ditto! Relax...NHReds are a nice dual purpose breed. She'll be a good layer you can enjoy for awhile.
