Slow growing breeds for meat - What breeds to get?

[CNJ]

Do you know if they are breast heavy like other meat breeds? Can't tell from the website... I'd give them a try but I hate white meat, so I don't want breasty chickens.

I think their legs and thighs are bigger, somone has a thread on these. They are big birds..............

 

[SourRoses]

I would go with New Hamsters

 

[KikiDeAnime]

I assume you are going to order cockerels. They are usually less expensive than pullets or straight run and give larger carcasses. That's the way I do this.

What traits do you want in a meat bird? If you are going to pluck them you might want a white or buff colored bird. Some pin feathers get left behind when you pluck and a light colored bird gives you a prettier carcass than a darker bird. If you skin them feather color doesn't matter.

Some people prefer a white, yellow, or darker skin though for a lot of people it doesn't matter. Do you have a preference?

Do you have a preference for light or dark meat? Most dual purpose breeds give a larger percentage of dark meat than the Cornish Cross hybrid meat bird. The true Cornish breed that was used to develop the Cornish Cross hybrid has a large percentage of white meat compared to most other dual purpose breeds.

How important is early maturing and size to you? Brahma or Jersey Giants eventually get really big but you may need to wait an extra month or probably more to take advantage of the potential extra size. Many of us prefer early maturing so we don't have to feed them as much.

Before the development of the Cornish Cross about 70 years ago, the most common breeds raised for meat in the US were Delaware, New Hampshire, and some strains of White Rock developed for meat instead of egg laying. Hatcheries have not been breeding them for meat for about 70 years so they aren't significantly better than other hatchery dual purpose breeds but if I were buying from a hatchery I'd look at them really hard.

I buy only straight run from our feed store. I prefer it over selecting what I want.
I do plan on plucking.
No preference for skin.
Just as long as it tastes great, I don't care for what meat it is.
Maturing isn't important to me.
I tried doing Delawares 2 years ago but only 1 made it close to laying age before a feral cat took it.

 

[CNJ]

View attachment 3374575

Lol, I made the correction.

 

[Tonyroo]

I'm going with dual purpose this year. I read up on the Lamona breed.

And from the description history and temperament of the breed it will work out for my setup. Cause there going to be living with my Swedish flower hens.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Since you have no preferences I suggest you try two or three different breeds and do a direct comparison when they are raised side by side under your conditions.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

This question gets asked all the time and those folks are always disappointed with the results after raising thin hatchery birds bred for egg production and asking how to fatten them up. It just doesn't happen.

That Knoll line from Freedom Ranger is actually what you want. Or a good quality dual purpose from breeder stock. Thinking any of the typical hatchery birds will represent the breed characteristics or suit their utility purpose from a century ago is folly. Standard bred birds from breeders or something like that non standard New Hampshire meat bird will perform well and breed true.

 

[Amer]

Delawares from Deer Run farm have been by far my favorite. A bit lazy, big eaters, fast growers, but not too fast. They go from these chubby little chicks to absolute handsome hunks of roosters, a glow up for sure.

https://www.deerrunfarmmd.com/pages/delaware

Very healthy, they put the frame on for the meat and they have proportional, delicious carcasses with a good amount of breast and not too much leg. Heritage Plymouth Rock are good, but personally I find they grow too big which means too slow to flesh out. I like Buckeyes but not as much speed and their legs are longer. To get the meat quality you have to go for pretty quality birds, standard hatchery fare isn’t going to be meaty enough, imo.
What else have I dressed out, you might be asking (jk I know you aren’t.) I’ve tried bantam Buckeyes , a hatchery Wyandotte, CornishX, Red Rangers, Toulouse Geese utility, Silkie , broad breasted white turkey, heritage turkey, tastewise and probably more things I’ve forgotten about!
Also I’ve eaten the breast meat of Runners, Guinea, and Ancona.

 

[Amer]

I think New Hampshires would also be a good bet since they were a popular meat bird in their day.

 

[Amer]

Do you know if they are breast heavy like other meat breeds? Can't tell from the website... I'd give them a try but I hate white meat, so I don't want breasty chickens.

Try Buckeyes then! I’m the opposite, I love white meat!
I think a lot of the popular meat breeds are pretty breast heavy.
I don’t really remember how the Freedom Rangers were though, other than good.