not cornish meaty.

[dannyisforreal]

dear everyone out there i wish to figure out the best fast growing, meaty, large, heritage breeds out there.

 

[Sonia]

I'm partial to orpingtons. Best tasting chicken I ever had.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

True heritage birds are typically slow growers. New Hampshire was bred out of Rhode Island Reds to be a faster growth for the meat industry before the meat bird crosses. You could check with the" German New Hampshire"" or "New Hampshire" threads to see if these heritage lines maintain the fast growth they were bred for. Use the search function to find those threads. With luck they can be butchered at 16 weeks with good yield. For full roaster size all breeds I've had take 20 weeks.

Don't forget heritage Cornish (Indian Game), these birds would give the full breast meat everyone wants but do take the full growing season to fill out, 20 weeks. It can be difficult to get your hands on true heritage Cornish.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I like Barred Rocks. But they aren't very meaty compared to a Cornish X broiler. We're talking 4 pounds dressed weight at 14 weeks, when my broilers are 6 pounds at eight weeks.

 

[Arielle]

Several people have real conrnish, including Fowlman01

MR Reese has NH meat birds. Beleive he is selling eggs for the first time this year. THese are pure NH and bred for meat rather than SOP.

YEllow house has met dorkings. ANd he has a thread talking about heritage farm birds. Many breeds to concider, though most neeed some work to be truely meaty.

 

[SJ]

Danny i have alot to say on your question. I'm partial to the delawares but check out my profile and some of my ealier posts too. I have real cornish... White laced reds, buckeyes, nhrs, slw, rocks, Dominiques, RIW, BO, Australorps, delawares and crosses of most of the breeds mentioned. You really can't go wrong with delawares as a meat bird. Chanteclers are another good breed. But Dels get bigger faster than other heritage breeds. The real Cornish have a greater meat to bone ratio but grow slow. Delawares are Plymouth Rocks X New Hampshire Red bred for meat production traits like fast developement, uniform growth, rapid feathering and overall size. Check out the Delaware and then research "Indian Rivers".

 

[SJ]

Danny i have alot to say on your question. I'm partial to the delawares but check out my profile and some of my ealier posts too. I have real cornish... White laced reds, buckeyes, nhrs, slw, rocks, Dominiques, RIW, BO, Australorps, delawares and crosses of most of the breeds mentioned. You really can't go wrong with delawares as a meat bird. Chanteclers are another good breed. But Dels get bigger faster than other heritage breeds. The real Cornish have a greater meat to bone ratio but grow slow. Delawares are Plymouth Rocks X New Hampshire Red bred for meat production traits like fast developement, uniform growth, rapid feathering and overall size. Check out the Delaware and then research "Indian Rivers".

 

[sandspoultry]

We like dark Cornish for the size and Marans for the taste

 

[kfacres]

Real true cornish are poor choices for backyard meat birds due to their slow maturing facts.

Best if select something like we raise, which is more of a backyard project cornish bird. Speeds up the maturity and better egg laying. They have a touch of brahma and a little something else in there.

I'm taking my whites and going to try and breed to CX hens this year for something even better maybe. We'll see.