WHat kind of meet bird would be produced?

[KWAK]

Black Australorp roo/ Buff orpington hen?
EE roo/ Buff orpington hen?
Black australorp roo/ White leg. hen?
EE roo/ white leg. hen?
what 2 crosses would be best?
what would be the fastes growing/largest ?

 

[Stingrayg4]

This is really only a guess, but I'd think the Aussie/ Orpingtons would grow the largest.

-S

 

[KWAK]

Thats what i was thinking too...
would any of these go broody regularly? haha

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Since EEs have no standard weight, it makes them to hard to assess, but are generally smaller birds than most breeds considered to be dual purpose. [Leghorns can be eaten, but are bred for, and considered, egg layers.] If you have hatchery sourced birds, they are probably smaller than the breeds are supposed to be, but hopefully the Orpingtons are larger and meatier than the Australorpes.................... that would be my choice of the three. The Austrlorpes were actually bred down in size from Orpingtons as a more econimical keeper.

 

[Mtn Margie]

The smart alecky answer would be that you would get a bird that says "Hiya doin. Name's Mutt!" But seriously I would go with the first cross as well, depending on your EE rooster for the second cross. EE's are mutts and there is a big difference in body type. Leghorns are egg layers and don't have much carcass to them.

 

[triplepurpose]

Funny how these discussions always seem to head toward "which gets biggest the fastest." What about which might have better flavor, darker/lighter meat, tenderer meat, not to mention which birds are easier to handle, prettier to look at, better at foraging, avoiding predators, raising chicks, etc. etc. Why is size of carcass always paramount, if not THE only focus of these discussions? If I'm going to eat a chicken for dinner, I don't really care all that much if it's 3 lbs. or 4 lbs., for example--it's still a meal. You have to spend months working with the birds, looking at them, managing them, feeding them--but the meal is over in a just few minutes anyway...

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a ranting loony, it just gets to me sometimes... Why must bigger ALWAYS be better, unquestioningly?

 

[Bossroo]

You see, US CARNIVORES eat meat... we feed the veggies to the rabbit, chicken, duck, goose, turkey , sheep, pig, cow, fish, etc. then eat them as Mother Nature intended.

 

[KWAK]

Quote:
I live in a large family so every thing has to be bigger haha... 8 kids and taking care of 2 extra kids haha... and my mom/dad lol

 

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
I live in a large family so every thing has to be bigger haha... 8 kids and taking care of 2 extra kids haha... and my mom/dad lol

haha! Ok, fair enough.

Sorry, I hope you didn't take my post personally, ksm. I was just trying to make a point, that's all...

Good luck to you!

 

[al6517]

Quote:
Simple economics is probably a good assumption, feeding for a bigger better product faster just makes sense and saves $$. I personaly don't want to feed some hatchery mutt for 20wks only to get a 2lb tough and randy meal. Most folks are just looking for a way to raise decent sized birds cost effectively that are as healthy as we can raise them.