Standard, Heritage, or Production?

[ajlynco]

I'd like to start raising 6 RIR's and 6 BR's for eggs and meat. After reading BYC for a while I started thinking about the variances within the breeds. My priority at this time is egg production. In another year or so I'd like to increase my flock using my own eggs. Eventually my flock will be providing both eggs and meat. Considering my goals for the flock, should I buy Standard, Heritage, or Production day-olds? I'm beginning to like the idea of raising purebred lines but egg production and later, freezer meat is most important in the beginning. Can anyone explain the difference in the 3 options and which would fit my needs the best?

 

[F-One]

Standard can have two meanings. The first referring to size is very simple. It simply means a full sized chicken or simply, not bantam. The second use of standard is breed specific. Meaning a chicken or flock meets the standard for the breed as outlined in The APA Standard of Perfection.
Herritage generally refers to the old dual purpose farm breeds that produce both eggs and meat like the Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red. It also can mean an old breed that is a better egg procucer like Legorns and Minorkas or a better meat bird like the Cornish and Dorking. You can get some meat from a Legorn but it is a better egg producer. Likewise you can get some eggs from a Cornish but it is known as a meat bird. One thing that makes these old egg or meat breeds " Herritage" is that they breed true unlike modern crosses.
Production is a modern hybrid like Red Stars, Isa Browns ect. for eggs and Cornish, White Rock crosses, or simply Cornish X for meat. These hybrids produce lots of eggs and the meat birds bulk up in a matter of weeks. Hybrids will not breed true. The Cornish X was bred to be slaughtered before point of lay.
Both the BR and RIR are good dual purpose herritage breeds. If you wanted to improve your flocks you could cull the inferior birds for meat and use the eggs of the rest for eating and breeding.
You could even cross the two flocks for sex links or barnyard mixes.