What breeds other than Cornish X

[Stevenson]

This is my first year of really working seriously with chickens, so I can't speak from experience...however the reason I am so interested in raising Delawares is that they were gaining a lot of popularity in the 1940s as a commercial meat bird (until the cornish crosses came along). I think that the fact that they were bred as a meat bird but happened to be so good as a layer is outstanding! Also you can breed a Delaware roo to a New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red hen and get a chicken with the same feathering as the Delawares...which makes for a nice carcass from what I read. Again, I am new to this...but I am looking forward to my efforts with the Delawares.

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
I can't wait to see how your year goes. Delewares interest me as well. I am thinking that they will be added to my layers so that I can collect eggs from them as well. My long term goal is to be sustainable with a bird that is still a decent weight and size to be eaten by my family but one that will lay eggs and live without having to use extreme measures. We will be able to compare the Cornish X to these DP birds we raise since we still have some Cornish to do this year as well.

I don't think Cornish are bad I am just looking at the cost for ordering them each year and my thoughts are what if the hatcheries were to magically disappear and we can't get them anymore. I would want to be able to create my own meat and eggs right here. We already do it with cows, goats, sheep so the chickens are the next logical way to go.

Let me know how your experiment goes I am excited to hear how it is going

 

[Ridgerunner]

The specific breed is probably not that important to your project. About any of the Dual Purpose breeds should suit you if you get the right ones. There is a tremendous difference in the strains of the birds in each breed. You do need to look at conformation though as a starting point, so breed may have some importance to you.

Before the Cornish X was developed Delaware, White Rock, New Hampshire, and probably a few others were the most popular meat birds. A big part of why these breeds were chosen is that they have light colored feathers. When you pluck them, you cannot see the pin feathers that well so you get a prettier carcass. The other DP breeds could have been used just as well, but these were chosen for development, or developed in the case of the New Hampshire, specifically as meat birds.

They were bred specifically to put on weight fairly quickly, compared to others. But this was specialized breeding for meat. Breeders worked hard to get the size and weight gain up there. But with any chicken breed, if you do not continually cull severely for specific traits, you lose those traits in just a few generations. In general, the Delaware, White Rock, and New Hampshire have not been bred as meat birds for decades. What gains were made have been lost in the general population. So while these breeds have the potential to be pretty decent meat birds, you are not going to find that from hatchery birds or about anywhere else.

If you can find a breeder that has specialized in breeding any of these breeds for size and weight gain and knows what they are doing, you can get some pretty decent stock to start your flock. Even their culls are going to be a lot better than the hatchery chickens. Expect to pay show quality prices for those eggs or chickens. And don't believe that just because someone calls themselves a breeder that you are actually getting the stock you want. They have to be breeding for the specific traits you want. Not all do. And they have to know what they are doing. Some are better than others. And once you get the stock and start your own breeding program, you have to carefully select your breeding stock or you lose the gains you had.

You can take hatchery stock and develop what you want by eating the smaller and breeding the larger. You can save yourself a few generations of doing this if you can find good stock to start with, but if you are consistent you can get there. You will never match the growth rate or feed to meat conversion of the Cornish X, but you can get a decent sustainable flock this way. I'm trying that from hatchery stock and have noticed a pretty good improvement in just a few generations, but I don't hatch out the numbers you do. The more you hatch out the more breeding stock you have to choose from.

Good luck!