Old School flock for meat?

[muddylilly]

Can't bear to raise the cornish X again. Just my preference. Anyone keeping a flock with a rooster......White Plymouth Rock or Delaware? Wondering about temperament of the two breeds and broodiness comparatively. Thinking 10-12 hens and a rooster to keep me in eggs and meat. So far I've been keeping 5 or 6 hens for eggs, and then raising 50+ cornish once a year for the freezer separately. Just trying to streamline. Any thoughts appreciated

 

[Ridgerunner]

Both can go broody but don't depend on them doing enough to keep you in meat. Get an incubator.

You probably will not need more hens than you have now. You'll find yourself overflowing in eggs. I use a Hovabator 1588 and hatch two batches a year. That keeps me in plenty of meat birds. If 50 a year is what you want, you can easily do that with the 1588.

Another option is to get a few Silkies or Cochin, known to go broody a lot, instead of extra meat bird egg layers. You don't have any control over when they go broody and if they wil raise enough meat birds for you, but it could work. One possible problem is that many Silkies are pretty small. They cannot hatch many eggs at one time.

I love it when a hen goes broody, but I depend on my incubator for enough meat birds.

Good luck!