Reccomendations on a Dual Purpose Breed

[CharterChick]

I want birds for meat and eggs. Right now I have mostly mutt chickens but I would like to settle on a breed.


Does anyone have experience with these?
Pioneer aka Rainbows or Dixie Rainbows
The only reviews I found were on hatchery websites... sorry but I don't trust reviews!



What breed would you recommend for meat and eggs? and why?

 

[smitty1135]

I would look in to barred rocks there my fav for both but the white rock r good to if you don't have predators. they grow fast and lay at good rate to

 

[Michael OShay]

I've never had Dixie Rainbows (Pioneers), but I've read a lot of mixed reviews on them (good and bad). There is an excellent thread on the positives and negatives of them at https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/885429/pioneer-meat-birds-the-good-the-bad-and-the-very-very-ugly. I am convinced that Black Australorps are the best all-around, dual purpose breed on the planet. I've raised them (along with dozens of other breeds) for years and they are extremely hardy. I've raised them in northern Kansas where the temperatures dropped to 30 F below zero one winter, and in CA where summer temperatures frequently reached 117-118 F (123 F once), and in both climate extremes, they came through like troopers. They are very calm and gentle. My children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets out of them. And they are the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. A Black Australorp holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while none of mine have ever reached that kind of production (and likely never will), I have still had a few of them lay over 300 eggs in a year. You can't go wrong with Black Australorps. Whatever breed you decide to get, good luck with your flock.

 

[CharterChick]

Wow I didn't see that thread! It's so mixed! I have one Australorp mix and she is sweet. I might go that route....

I was thinking of trying the meat varieties but I like BO and Australorps.

 

[Michael OShay]

Wow I didn't see that thread! It's so mixed! I have one Australorp mix and she is sweet. I might go that route....

I was thinking of trying the meat varieties but I like BO and Australorps.

That's why I never bought any Pioneers. I just went the proven and cost effective Cornish cross route for meat.