Rare chicken breeds desired for their meat qualities?

[Our Roost]

Buckeyes surely have good reports of being a good dual purpose bird. I have a friend thats planning a cross using them this spring.

 

[Regin]

I'm breeding buckeyes. They are very good dual purpose chickens.

At least the LAY line which were selectively breed for SOP and egg production.

 

[Our Roost]

Nice post of the buckeye picture. Is the buckeye considered a recognized heritage breed or on the rare breed list? I believe its become more readily available with hatchery stock being sold. I assume its still on the rare breed list?

 

[Regin]

The Buckeyes are definitely making a come- back. And have been added by some hatcheries. (they generally sell out, as their availability is still limited). Also, the hatchery stock is not the same as stock from a good breeder, like this LAY line. I have eggs, or chicks on a limited basis.

 

[Our Roost]

Well, it made the home page as 1 of 10 birds. Still listed as threatened! Making a good comeback unlike efforts on other breeds.

 

[Double Kindness]

My shipped eggs didn't hatch but I did process a white bresse roo yesterday, and am now sold on this breed as a meat bird.
I culled an ayam cemani at the same time that was 6 weeks older. The bresse had more meat, fat and was a breeze to dress out. Unlike the cemani. Can you say holy lots of too many feathers?

 

[Our Roost]

Bresse eh? I hear lots of good promotions on them for a meat bird. I have some bielefelders on order arriving in April. The Malines breed was in on the making of this breed and it has some good size to it as well as taste. I have some huge blue orps and am planning a cross with them. I also may get a few crele orps to add to the mix and see what shakes out. Obtaining a second bloodline of malines hatching eggs this spring in hopes of working with them in 2016. Cant wait to see the offspring on these combos! Should all be meaty and tasty plus some real eye candy! Might be too pretty to eat.

 

[DesertChic]

My shipped eggs didn't hatch

but I did process a white bresse roo yesterday, and am now sold on this breed as a meat bird.
I culled an ayam cemani at the same time that was 6 weeks older. The bresse had more meat, fat and was a breeze to dress out. Unlike the cemani. Can you say holy lots of too many feathers?

This is precisely why I raise Naked Neck Turkens. They're purported to be good meat birds (and egg layers) and have half the feathers of the standard chicken. In fact, in France they're now crossing the NN with nearly all of their meat birds, including the Bresse, to make processing easier. I plan to raise a pure line of NNs, a pure line of Bielefelders, and then cross-breed the two.

That's a total bummer about your eggs not hatching. I've got two dozen Bielefelder eggs in the incubator right now and have consistent anxiety over whether or not they'll hatch. Fourteen of them came from a nearby breeder and I drove up to meet her so the eggs wouldn't get shaken in the mail, but my test candling indicated a lack of fertility in the two I tested on day 4. The other ten eggs came from Oklahoma and were shipped in the mail. My test candle showed the two to be viable, so I'm holding out hope.

 

[Our Roost]

"Rare chicken breeds desired for their meat qualities?"

I guess there is a few things I left out when starting this thread. Some very valuable information people may want to know about the birds and breeds discussed if they so decide to own and raise these "Rare" chicken breeds! Taste and flavor might be how you judge them "but" other key issues may play a more important role before making your decisions.

Here are a few important questions you might want answers to before you start.

What is the average weight of a rooster and hen at maturity. (Culling age and dressed weight)
How long does it take for the bird to reach that maturity? !2-14-16-18-20 weeks or more?
Do they eat a lot of feed and if so, how much?
Do they free range or prefer coop and run confinement?
How is both the roosters and hens temperment? Docile, or other? Be specific!
Good egg layer, average, or poor? How many, what size, what color, how often?
Broody hens or not?Good mothers or seldom brood.
Cold hardy or not?
Comb type?Rose, peacomb, or other?
dark meat, light meat, mixed, or black?
Can you obtain future bloodlines!!!!!!!!
Tastes like chicken or delectible?

When we brag about our "Rare" finds, we should include some if not all of this information about the breed. These are not breeds readily available on the BYC breed list and digging up known facts and experiences truthfully shared can be most important if not difficult to someone wanting that "special" meat bird project. This is not to say we shouldnt quit bragging or talking about our chickens or projects, It just provides the readers a little more incite to get them excited!! :cd

 

[Kev]

This is precisely why I raise Naked Neck Turkens. They're purported to be good meat birds (and egg layers) and have half the feathers of the standard chicken. In fact, in France they're now crossing the NN with nearly all of their meat birds, including the Bresse, to make processing easier. I plan to raise a pure line of NNs, a pure line of Bielefelders, and then cross-breed the two.

Yes, very popular free range meat chickens, also they are supposed to have the best skin for crisping/frying or something like that. I've read some broiler studies that showed naked neck birds had higher meat yield than non-NN, especially in hot conditions. As if the naked neck gene had a side effect of increasing meat on the birds somehow.

I like your plan! The crosses are gonna be beautiful.