These don't look like meat birds to me...

[Blstr88]

Anybody know what these are? I got 25 meat birds a few weeks ago...it didnt take long for me to tell half of them were not like the others.

I lost one early on, so of the 24 remaining I have 11 obvious meat birds and 13 of these:



Maybe Brahmas?

 

[featheredplanets]

Delawares. Google says they are “primarily used as meat birds”. They can’t be Brahmas as they have clean legs.

 

[Blstr88]

Delawares. Google says they are “primarily used as meat birds”. They can’t be Brahmas as they have clean legs.

Interesting! I wanted to try a more "natural" breed of chicken to possibly raise as meat birds in place of the current cornish cross Ive done, I guess this will force me to give it a shot. Hopefully theyre at least 50%+ males, the males seem to grow to a fairly large size...if they are indeed Delawares.

 

[ShannonR]

X2. Delaware.

 

[Gray Farms]

Looks like some are Columbian Rocks and some Delawares. Black hackle feathers are Rocks, barred hackle feathers are Delawares.

 

[chickens really]

I'm thinking Columbian Rocks too. They are duel purpose Birds.

 

[PirateGirl]

My Delaware hen looks like a bowling ball. They definitely grow to a hefty size but I don't think they grow at the rate of some of the other meaties nor do they have the associated health problems. The breed was developed to truly be dual purpose, growing to a large size as well as being good layers. Perhaps the strain you get factors how good they are in which aspect.