Plymouth Rocks as Meat Birds.....

[SandRun]

I haven't purchased chicken number one as of yet and was wondering if anyone had any experience with Plymouth Rocks as meat birds. I've noticed some resources list them as a dual purpose bird and some list them as a laying breed.

Is there a difference between barred rocks and plymouth or buff rocks.

 

[rooster-red]

If you are looking for meat birds cornish crosses are a much better breed for it.

 

[skeeter]

i believe they all are plymouth rocks,just different colors but i did see something about the partridge rock is smaller than the barred,but who knows maybe speckled hen,she knows all....
I would think if you wanted eggs then any of the heavier breeds would be ok,but I just dont care for the ultra fast growing cornish cross,the buff orpington is a good heavy bird and a good egg layer

 

[SandRun]

OK thanks for the info.....

I've read in other posts about aging. What is the proper way to age chickens?

 

[SandRun]

I meant Partridge Rock as well not Plymouth. I'm showing my Newbieness......

 

[hsm5grls]

I have 4 kinds of Plymouth rocks.. the partridge, white, barred, and buff and my partridge and whites are the biggest. They grew really fast. I'm not sure if it is just my flock or if they are all like that but Murray mcmurray catalog says the roo's are 10 lbs and full size. (that is the partridge)

 

[skeeter]

aging,gosh i dont know,my old grandma would catch a couple take the hatchet out to the stump by the wood house and whack whack,then she would pour hot water in a stainless steel milk bucket and start picken feathers then clean them and it seems like she would let them soak in salt water in the fridge for awhile then cut em up and fry them,I really dont think you need to age chicken like you do beef,but i would let it cool out before i ate it,Ive ate pheasants and ducks the same day i shot them so i would think itd be the same

 

[silkiechicken]

Most "dual purpose" birds you can commonly get are really layers. The "dual" was bred out of them with the introduction of the cornish x which reaches market rate at 42 days, rather than 4 months. Nothing compares to cornish x when it comes to meat, but flavor of other breeds is often better.

To age the bird, just let it sit in the fridge for a day or two so that the muscle can relax.

 

[greyfields]

I have eaten Rocks cockrels becasue we like coq au vin. It takes them, and all purebreds, a very long time to get to a good cooking size compared with cross bred meat chickens. I think eating dual purpose breeds is "advanced meat chickens 103". You probably want to start with a nice run of Cornish crosses to give you a better baseline on your expectations.