Orpingtons as Meat Birds

[Hetherlynn]

This interests me a lot because I'm basically doing the same thing you are but with Buckeyes. I also don't have a lot of extra space for overwintering, so I also will be butchering the birds I don't want to keep in the fall. I'll be following along as your project progresses.

I am doing this with Buckeye as well! Please post updates

 

[LilyD]

One more step towards my goal. Each year the girls and boys grow a little faster get a little heavier. My primary goal is to grow orpingtons with a focus on temperament and mothering as well as keeping the dual purpose that they were designed for. I want roos who can defend the flock and go after any threats that come for the girls. I also want girls who are ferocious mothers. This year I had a batch hatch in the coop the same time as the batch I had hatch in my incubator and they were co-mothered by 6 hens I lost 4 of the 6 when the fox attacked my coop and my two roos.

They fought to drive him back from the coop. had they held out for just a little longer I would have been out doing chores. I will be keeping a few of the new ladies for this upcoming year who fit what I am looking for. I will also be keeping another rooster or two as protectors of the flock to work with Ninja, who is black mottled from Carolina Rare Chicks stock I added two years ago, and keep Cocoa and Igor's lines in the flock.

These are big beautiful girls and boys that grow 10 -15 lbs once they are full grown. I use these both for meat and for eggs. Losing my two roos (yes even Igor) was tough and a bit of a setback. Thanks to Rose Denis for giving me back Ninja who will join as one of our breeding roos for this upcoming year.

I will also be adding some Kosher King females to the flock as a side project to add more breast meat to them and increase their growth rate. Kosher king are barred rock crossed with Rhode Island Red and/or Cornish to make a flock that grows fast like the Cornish Cross but still carries the foraging ability and health from the dual purpose breeds. I also enjoy their temperament. These ladies will walk up to me when I come out to sit with the flock to be picked up and held. They are not quick to startle, but if they do they tend to bounce back quickly and settle faster than my orps do. We will see where this goes.

I have added pictures to the post. Eventually I will have a few girls to offer up for others if they are interested. At this time I'm not quite sure who I will be keeping. We will see where this group takes us.