What is a good dual purpose breed that is heat tolerant?

[Citron_d'uccle]

What would be a good breed to keep as a dual purpose bird that is a good egg layer but would also be a good broiler? I would like a breed that would enable me to keep a few hens and a rooster that would provide me with offspring for meat as well as a few eggs. I have been told that Barnevelders are a good dual purpose bird as are Cornish Rocks and Delawares. Is this correct and are these breeds heat tolerant? Would they breed true?

 

[Judy]

"Cornish Rock" is a cross, not a breed, the standard meat bird, and will not breed true. It is Cornish crossed with a Rock. There are a number of old fashioned dual purpose breeds, Delawares being one of them. Also Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire Red, any Rock (Barred Plymouth Rock, etc.,) Orpingtons, Australorps (an Orp cross, now a breed,) Sussex, and others.

Here's a breed selector tool that may help you: https://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/breed-search.php

You'd no doubt learn lots browsing our meat birds forum.

You can eat most any chicken, it's just a matter of amount of meat from various breeds. You may also find this article about eating old fashioned breeds interesting:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=285788

 

[pgpoultry]

Just got some La Flèche myself......rare and said to be good for both eating and eggs (though we'll never find out about the former as we are vegetarians). BUT......they have a rather unusual look!

 

[Missbehavin]

Wow, thats a great chart
Deb

 

[Chris09]

Any of the crosses below would make a good table fowl but keep in mind the birds from a breeder will work better than birds from a hatchery. (hatchery birds are a lot smaller than they should be)

• Light Sussex x White Wyandotte
An excellent table chicken but care must be taken in selecting the breeders so the breast bone of the offspring is not too high. Care should also be taken in selecting the White Wyandotte hens, they must not have any black in the legs in order to get good white fleshed table bird. These are fast growing birds that are short legged, carrying lots of meat. Feathers are white with the odd black fleck. Almost all of these birds will be white fleshed.

• White Wyandotte X Light Sussex
Take care in selecting the White Wyandotte Cocks, they must not have any black in the legs in order to get good white fleshed table bird. Some chicks will have a yellow skin but other than this, the resulting birds are much the same as the Light Sussex X White Wyandotte cross mentioned above.

• Indian Game (Cornish) X Rhode Island Red
This produces a yellow skinned bird which can be greatly enhanced in color by feeding corn and allowing access to fresh green grass. The Rhode Island Red is a fast growing breed which dominates the slower growing Indian Game. Indian Game cocks should be at least a year old so that fertility is high. Since Rhode Island Reds are prolific layers, there is never any shortage of hatching eggs.

• Indian Game X Light Sussex on Light Sussex
This is a second cross that was once very popular to produce a very meaty white fleshed table bird. The first cross results in slow growth but the second results in very fast growth.

In the Indian Game (Cornish) X Light Sussex on Light Sussex above, you will bred a Indian Game (Cornish) Rooster to a Light Sussex Hen then the offspring of this cross would be crossed back to a Light Sussex

Note that the Indian Game (Cornish) is not the Cornish Cross but the actual Cornish breed.


Chris

 

[speckledhen]

I have been told that Barnevelders are a good dual purpose bird as are Cornish Rocks and Delawares. Is this correct and are these breeds heat tolerant? Would they breed true?

Yes they breed true. My Delawares had lots of trouble in the heat this year, though it was more the humidity than the heat. Their musculature seems to be so dense (they are much heavier than they look) and that is the only reason I can think of that a white single combed, not heavily feathered bird would be less heat tolerant.​

 

[scwheeler24]

I live in Central TX and can tell you they seem to handle the heat better than my Specks and EE's. My EE's struggle the most. I have been pretty happy with my Barnies, and am now looking to keeping only them and getting a rooster to repopulate our small flock for meat and egg purposes. Right now I have 6 and am using them just for eggs, so I couldn't tell you how they taste. But on the heat aspect, they seem to handle it pretty well.