What is the best breed for meat chickens? Thanks
What breed should we get?
- Thread starter ttbkremer
- Start date
Raise Cornish Crosses. Once you get a few crops under your belt, you may want to move along to colored range broilers:
http://www.jmhatchery.com/Colored-Range-Chicks-p5.html
http://www.jmhatchery.com/Colored-Range-Chicks-p5.html
Lil Bit North Farm
In the Brooder
- Feb 21, 2021
- 20
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I've had layers before but was hoping to have some meat birds too. I heard Barred Plymouth Rock had good meat?? My goal is to have something that I'd keep a few hens to keep laying eggs and raise my own meat birds rather than ordering chicks every year. Thoughts?
Timmy59
Songster
- Jul 26, 2020
- 238
- 722
- 186
We have a meat flock, which is currently out laying the layer flock.. We love'em, we just need to get a 2nd generation to confirm our love.. Currently the eggs are infertile but the time of year and frigid temps are likely at play here.. Hens are running 8+ lbs roos about 12.. BTW, good thinking..
https://www.welphatchery.com/meat-type-broilers/broiler-slow-white-straight-run/
https://www.welphatchery.com/meat-type-broilers/broiler-slow-white-straight-run/
Attachments
Lil Bit North Farm
In the Brooder
- Feb 21, 2021
- 20
- 24
- 39
Thanks!!! And sorry, are you feeding them layer or??? I have the room to keep their coop side by side with the layer flock but give them a separate run
Hi, welcome to the forum, glad you joined. You might notice this is a very old thread. The forum managers recently changed the format to show "similar threads" which seems to be causing the revival of old threads. Nothing wrong with that. Glad you posted.
Do you have layers now? You can eat any chicken of any age and any sex but the age especially makes a difference in how you cook them. If you can, it might be helpful to try to butcher and cook one before you embark on a new adventure.
Some people are obsessed with size which leads them to their opinion on this. I like a larger chicken myself when I butcher but for thousands of years people have ben raising chickens for eggs and meat, long before individual breeds were developed to specialize in meat or eggs. A lot of these were "game type" chickens, not as big as many current breeds but they were certainly eaten. What you are talking about doing is what people have done for thousands of years.
There are several different types of chickens. Some are more decorative, like the bantams. Some lay blue or green eggs. Some specialize in egg production. Some specialize in meat production. What you are talking about are the dual purpose chickens. They do not specialize in either egg production or meat, but provide both but not as well as the specialists. They typically don't lay as efficiently as the egg specialists and don't provide meat as efficiently as the meat specialists. The true egg specialists are pretty efficient at turning what they eat into eggs so they don't have big bodies that require a lot of food for maintenance. The meat specialists convert what they eat mostly to meat so are generally pretty lousy egg layers. The dual purpose are in the middle, they may lay really well but the eggs may not be as large and they will eat more to lay those eggs.
No dual purpose breed can be as efficient at meat as a meat chicken. No dual purpose can be as efficient at egg laying as the egg specialists. But I raise dual purpose birds to do both. Some people like to specialize and keep different flocks for each.
The meat specialists generally are not kept to reproduce themselves. They grow so fast and so big that it is a challenge to keep them alive long enough for that. Lots pf people on this forum try and several succeed, but it is not that easy. There are lots of threads on here about how they go about that.
There are a lot of nuances to raising them for meat. Some are personal preference. We all have different goals and likes. What works for one doesn't work for everyone. Some people say they can tell the difference in taste or texture between breeds. I haven't experimented with that, to me it all tastes like chicken.
Back to your basic question, what is the best dual purpose breed for meat and eggs? There is not any "best". There are nuances between breeds and we all have our individual preferences. Some have difference conformations, maybe more dark meat than light. If you pluck instead of skin you might want a lighter colored bird, the white or buff colors give you a prettier carcass if you pluck because of the pin feathers. Some often handle confinement better than others, some forage better so how you manage them may make a difference. Some lay larger eggs. Some go broody more often than others, you may need to use an incubator to hatch eggs. If you are expecting a lot of chicks for meat an incubator may be a good idea. We all like our own preferences for our own reasons but what works best for me might not be your best option. I personally mix different breeds to try to get what I want but that's just me playing around. Besides I like a flock where I can tell each individual just by looking at them, they don't all look the same. I skin mine so feather color doesn't matter. Personal preference.
Another thing is that every chicken of a specific breed is not like all other chickens in that breed. Each one is an individual. Some lay better than others. Some go broody. They grow to be different sizes. Some of that is just difference in individuals. But a big part is that different people pick which chickens get to breed in different flocks. They have their own criteria and preferences. Some may pick for better egg production or meat production. Some look at feather color or conformation. So where you get your chickens from can make a difference. How you feed them makes a difference in how they grow. Mine forage for a lot of their food, which reduces how fast mine grow and how big they get, but reduces my feed costs.
Do your basic research. Henderson's Breed Chart may help, then go to Feathersite to see what they look like. See what is available to you. Then try something. Trial and error is a great learning tool. As far as I'm concerned as long as you do your due diligence it's hard to make a bad choice.
Henderson’s Breed Chart
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html
Feathersite
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens
Good luck and again,
Do you have layers now? You can eat any chicken of any age and any sex but the age especially makes a difference in how you cook them. If you can, it might be helpful to try to butcher and cook one before you embark on a new adventure.
Some people are obsessed with size which leads them to their opinion on this. I like a larger chicken myself when I butcher but for thousands of years people have ben raising chickens for eggs and meat, long before individual breeds were developed to specialize in meat or eggs. A lot of these were "game type" chickens, not as big as many current breeds but they were certainly eaten. What you are talking about doing is what people have done for thousands of years.
There are several different types of chickens. Some are more decorative, like the bantams. Some lay blue or green eggs. Some specialize in egg production. Some specialize in meat production. What you are talking about are the dual purpose chickens. They do not specialize in either egg production or meat, but provide both but not as well as the specialists. They typically don't lay as efficiently as the egg specialists and don't provide meat as efficiently as the meat specialists. The true egg specialists are pretty efficient at turning what they eat into eggs so they don't have big bodies that require a lot of food for maintenance. The meat specialists convert what they eat mostly to meat so are generally pretty lousy egg layers. The dual purpose are in the middle, they may lay really well but the eggs may not be as large and they will eat more to lay those eggs.
No dual purpose breed can be as efficient at meat as a meat chicken. No dual purpose can be as efficient at egg laying as the egg specialists. But I raise dual purpose birds to do both. Some people like to specialize and keep different flocks for each.
The meat specialists generally are not kept to reproduce themselves. They grow so fast and so big that it is a challenge to keep them alive long enough for that. Lots pf people on this forum try and several succeed, but it is not that easy. There are lots of threads on here about how they go about that.
There are a lot of nuances to raising them for meat. Some are personal preference. We all have different goals and likes. What works for one doesn't work for everyone. Some people say they can tell the difference in taste or texture between breeds. I haven't experimented with that, to me it all tastes like chicken.
Back to your basic question, what is the best dual purpose breed for meat and eggs? There is not any "best". There are nuances between breeds and we all have our individual preferences. Some have difference conformations, maybe more dark meat than light. If you pluck instead of skin you might want a lighter colored bird, the white or buff colors give you a prettier carcass if you pluck because of the pin feathers. Some often handle confinement better than others, some forage better so how you manage them may make a difference. Some lay larger eggs. Some go broody more often than others, you may need to use an incubator to hatch eggs. If you are expecting a lot of chicks for meat an incubator may be a good idea. We all like our own preferences for our own reasons but what works best for me might not be your best option. I personally mix different breeds to try to get what I want but that's just me playing around. Besides I like a flock where I can tell each individual just by looking at them, they don't all look the same. I skin mine so feather color doesn't matter. Personal preference.
Another thing is that every chicken of a specific breed is not like all other chickens in that breed. Each one is an individual. Some lay better than others. Some go broody. They grow to be different sizes. Some of that is just difference in individuals. But a big part is that different people pick which chickens get to breed in different flocks. They have their own criteria and preferences. Some may pick for better egg production or meat production. Some look at feather color or conformation. So where you get your chickens from can make a difference. How you feed them makes a difference in how they grow. Mine forage for a lot of their food, which reduces how fast mine grow and how big they get, but reduces my feed costs.
Do your basic research. Henderson's Breed Chart may help, then go to Feathersite to see what they look like. See what is available to you. Then try something. Trial and error is a great learning tool. As far as I'm concerned as long as you do your due diligence it's hard to make a bad choice.
Henderson’s Breed Chart
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html
Feathersite
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens
Good luck and again,
Lil Bit North Farm
In the Brooder
- Feb 21, 2021
- 20
- 24
- 39
Thank you that really helps. What do you feed your meat birds? Keep them separate?Hi, welcome to the forum, glad you joined. You might notice this is a very old thread. The forum managers recently changed the format to show "similar threads" which seems to be causing the revival of old threads. Nothing wrong with that. Glad you posted.
Do you have layers now? You can eat any chicken of any age and any sex but the age especially makes a difference in how you cook them. If you can, it might be helpful to try to butcher and cook one before you embark on a new adventure.
Some people are obsessed with size which leads them to their opinion on this. I like a larger chicken myself when I butcher but for thousands of years people have ben raising chickens for eggs and meat, long before individual breeds were developed to specialize in meat or eggs. A lot of these were "game type" chickens, not as big as many current breeds but they were certainly eaten. What you are talking about doing is what people have done for thousands of years.
There are several different types of chickens. Some are more decorative, like the bantams. Some lay blue or green eggs. Some specialize in egg production. Some specialize in meat production. What you are talking about are the dual purpose chickens. They do not specialize in either egg production or meat, but provide both but not as well as the specialists. They typically don't lay as efficiently as the egg specialists and don't provide meat as efficiently as the meat specialists. The true egg specialists are pretty efficient at turning what they eat into eggs so they don't have big bodies that require a lot of food for maintenance. The meat specialists convert what they eat mostly to meat so are generally pretty lousy egg layers. The dual purpose are in the middle, they may lay really well but the eggs may not be as large and they will eat more to lay those eggs.
No dual purpose breed can be as efficient at meat as a meat chicken. No dual purpose can be as efficient at egg laying as the egg specialists. But I raise dual purpose birds to do both. Some people like to specialize and keep different flocks for each.
The meat specialists generally are not kept to reproduce themselves. They grow so fast and so big that it is a challenge to keep them alive long enough for that. Lots pf people on this forum try and several succeed, but it is not that easy. There are lots of threads on here about how they go about that.
There are a lot of nuances to raising them for meat. Some are personal preference. We all have different goals and likes. What works for one doesn't work for everyone. Some people say they can tell the difference in taste or texture between breeds. I haven't experimented with that, to me it all tastes like chicken.
Back to your basic question, what is the best dual purpose breed for meat and eggs? There is not any "best". There are nuances between breeds and we all have our individual preferences. Some have difference conformations, maybe more dark meat than light. If you pluck instead of skin you might want a lighter colored bird, the white or buff colors give you a prettier carcass if you pluck because of the pin feathers. Some often handle confinement better than others, some forage better so how you manage them may make a difference. Some lay larger eggs. Some go broody more often than others, you may need to use an incubator to hatch eggs. If you are expecting a lot of chicks for meat an incubator may be a good idea. We all like our own preferences for our own reasons but what works best for me might not be your best option. I personally mix different breeds to try to get what I want but that's just me playing around. Besides I like a flock where I can tell each individual just by looking at them, they don't all look the same. I skin mine so feather color doesn't matter. Personal preference.
Another thing is that every chicken of a specific breed is not like all other chickens in that breed. Each one is an individual. Some lay better than others. Some go broody. They grow to be different sizes. Some of that is just difference in individuals. But a big part is that different people pick which chickens get to breed in different flocks. They have their own criteria and preferences. Some may pick for better egg production or meat production. Some look at feather color or conformation. So where you get your chickens from can make a difference. How you feed them makes a difference in how they grow. Mine forage for a lot of their food, which reduces how fast mine grow and how big they get, but reduces my feed costs.
Do your basic research. Henderson's Breed Chart may help, then go to Feathersite to see what they look like. See what is available to you. Then try something. Trial and error is a great learning tool. As far as I'm concerned as long as you do your due diligence it's hard to make a bad choice.
Henderson’s Breed Chart
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html
Feathersite
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens
Good luck and again,
Lil Bit North Farm
In the Brooder
- Feb 21, 2021
- 20
- 24
- 39
I currently have 10 red sex links and I've got 10 columbian rock x coming laterHi, welcome to the forum, glad you joined. You might notice this is a very old thread. The forum managers recently changed the format to show "similar threads" which seems to be causing the revival of old threads. Nothing wrong with that. Glad you posted.
Do you have layers now? You can eat any chicken of any age and any sex but the age especially makes a difference in how you cook them. If you can, it might be helpful to try to butcher and cook one before you embark on a new adventure.
Some people are obsessed with size which leads them to their opinion on this. I like a larger chicken myself when I butcher but for thousands of years people have ben raising chickens for eggs and meat, long before individual breeds were developed to specialize in meat or eggs. A lot of these were "game type" chickens, not as big as many current breeds but they were certainly eaten. What you are talking about doing is what people have done for thousands of years.
There are several different types of chickens. Some are more decorative, like the bantams. Some lay blue or green eggs. Some specialize in egg production. Some specialize in meat production. What you are talking about are the dual purpose chickens. They do not specialize in either egg production or meat, but provide both but not as well as the specialists. They typically don't lay as efficiently as the egg specialists and don't provide meat as efficiently as the meat specialists. The true egg specialists are pretty efficient at turning what they eat into eggs so they don't have big bodies that require a lot of food for maintenance. The meat specialists convert what they eat mostly to meat so are generally pretty lousy egg layers. The dual purpose are in the middle, they may lay really well but the eggs may not be as large and they will eat more to lay those eggs.
No dual purpose breed can be as efficient at meat as a meat chicken. No dual purpose can be as efficient at egg laying as the egg specialists. But I raise dual purpose birds to do both. Some people like to specialize and keep different flocks for each.
The meat specialists generally are not kept to reproduce themselves. They grow so fast and so big that it is a challenge to keep them alive long enough for that. Lots pf people on this forum try and several succeed, but it is not that easy. There are lots of threads on here about how they go about that.
There are a lot of nuances to raising them for meat. Some are personal preference. We all have different goals and likes. What works for one doesn't work for everyone. Some people say they can tell the difference in taste or texture between breeds. I haven't experimented with that, to me it all tastes like chicken.
Back to your basic question, what is the best dual purpose breed for meat and eggs? There is not any "best". There are nuances between breeds and we all have our individual preferences. Some have difference conformations, maybe more dark meat than light. If you pluck instead of skin you might want a lighter colored bird, the white or buff colors give you a prettier carcass if you pluck because of the pin feathers. Some often handle confinement better than others, some forage better so how you manage them may make a difference. Some lay larger eggs. Some go broody more often than others, you may need to use an incubator to hatch eggs. If you are expecting a lot of chicks for meat an incubator may be a good idea. We all like our own preferences for our own reasons but what works best for me might not be your best option. I personally mix different breeds to try to get what I want but that's just me playing around. Besides I like a flock where I can tell each individual just by looking at them, they don't all look the same. I skin mine so feather color doesn't matter. Personal preference.
Another thing is that every chicken of a specific breed is not like all other chickens in that breed. Each one is an individual. Some lay better than others. Some go broody. They grow to be different sizes. Some of that is just difference in individuals. But a big part is that different people pick which chickens get to breed in different flocks. They have their own criteria and preferences. Some may pick for better egg production or meat production. Some look at feather color or conformation. So where you get your chickens from can make a difference. How you feed them makes a difference in how they grow. Mine forage for a lot of their food, which reduces how fast mine grow and how big they get, but reduces my feed costs.
Do your basic research. Henderson's Breed Chart may help, then go to Feathersite to see what they look like. See what is available to you. Then try something. Trial and error is a great learning tool. As far as I'm concerned as long as you do your due diligence it's hard to make a bad choice.
Henderson’s Breed Chart
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html
Feathersite
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens
Good luck and again,
First, appreciation to @Ridgerunner with a thorough, informative answer and good links. Example of some of the best of what BYC has to offer.
and second, regarding feeding...
LOTS of posts about feeding here on BYC. The general consensus, and one I share, for mixed flocks (mixed in gender, mixed in species, mixed in laying or not) is to feed the entire flock an "All Flock" or "Flock Raiser" type feed in the 18-20% protein range (basically trade names for a generic all around poultry feed) with free choice oyster shell on the side, so your actively laying birds can get the extra calcium they need to support shell production without running the risk of liver damage and the like from calcium buildup in hatchlings, roos, and other birds not yet (or ever) laying.
The advantage of an All Flock-type is that you needn't segregate your birds for feedings, since most backyard owners have but one house and one run, or perhaps two houses in a shared run, and that it meets all of their nutritional needs. The extra protein compared to layer actually helps laying hens with molt and likely extreme weather (particularly cold), while the free choice oyster shell allows them to get as much, or as little, extra calcium as they need. The disadvantages are two-fold - one, its a little more expensive, likely $1-2 per 50# than layer feed (assuming non organic), and two its a generic feed. If you were raising game birds, you really want something with much higher protein - 24-28%. A flock of nothing but meaties? 20%+ will help them bulk up fast for market, a savings in time and reduction of risk that helps offset the higher feed costs. Its not perfectly suited to ducks, but the protein quantities aren't so high as to increase risk of angel wing - while being high enough to support early, rapid growth in hatchling chicks and ducklings.
and if you can't find All Flock/Flock Raiser, a chick grower/starter is usually a very close substitute in terms of bulk protein, calcium, fat content. More likely it will be medicated (whether to medicate with Amprolium is up to you, but it can be a (correctable) concern if you are raising ducks, Amprolium is - as I recently found - a thiamine blocker), and it might not have the additional trace minerals often added to mixed flock feeds (that chickens don't require).
Hope that helps!
and second, regarding feeding...
LOTS of posts about feeding here on BYC. The general consensus, and one I share, for mixed flocks (mixed in gender, mixed in species, mixed in laying or not) is to feed the entire flock an "All Flock" or "Flock Raiser" type feed in the 18-20% protein range (basically trade names for a generic all around poultry feed) with free choice oyster shell on the side, so your actively laying birds can get the extra calcium they need to support shell production without running the risk of liver damage and the like from calcium buildup in hatchlings, roos, and other birds not yet (or ever) laying.
The advantage of an All Flock-type is that you needn't segregate your birds for feedings, since most backyard owners have but one house and one run, or perhaps two houses in a shared run, and that it meets all of their nutritional needs. The extra protein compared to layer actually helps laying hens with molt and likely extreme weather (particularly cold), while the free choice oyster shell allows them to get as much, or as little, extra calcium as they need. The disadvantages are two-fold - one, its a little more expensive, likely $1-2 per 50# than layer feed (assuming non organic), and two its a generic feed. If you were raising game birds, you really want something with much higher protein - 24-28%. A flock of nothing but meaties? 20%+ will help them bulk up fast for market, a savings in time and reduction of risk that helps offset the higher feed costs. Its not perfectly suited to ducks, but the protein quantities aren't so high as to increase risk of angel wing - while being high enough to support early, rapid growth in hatchling chicks and ducklings.
and if you can't find All Flock/Flock Raiser, a chick grower/starter is usually a very close substitute in terms of bulk protein, calcium, fat content. More likely it will be medicated (whether to medicate with Amprolium is up to you, but it can be a (correctable) concern if you are raising ducks, Amprolium is - as I recently found - a thiamine blocker), and it might not have the additional trace minerals often added to mixed flock feeds (that chickens don't require).
Hope that helps!
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