Wyandotte carcass?

[cottontail farm]

I'd like to move to a purebred flock and am looking at Wyandottes. Has anyone dressed one of these out? I've butchered rangers, cornish cross, mixed breeds etc so I know this is not going to look like a store bird. What I'm asking is how the carcass size compares with other breeds - scrawny like an easter egger? That kind of thing.
I'm limiting myself to a bird with a tighter comb because winters can get pretty cold here. Brahmas are another option. Currently I have a part-Brahma rooster and a bunch of ranger hens. They do cross to make a nice bird but I'm hoping to move to a pure flock. Thoughts?

 

[GanderGirl]

They would probably work just make sure it’s a plain Wyandotte, not a bantam- no meat (obviously) if there free range(not caged) I wouldn’t bother trying to eat them as most likely there tough and scrawny

 

[Ridgerunner]

My thoughts are that strain is more important than breed when it comes to carcass size and configuration of dual purpose birds. Where are you getting them, what is your source? Unless someone that has a clue what they are doing breeds for size the chickens are almost certainly not going to meet the SOP size/weight or even conformation requirements. Different hatcheries have different people selecting which chickens get to breed and they all have their own criteria, but size doesn't appear to be one of them. They typically have different criteria.

Another criteria for meat birds is when you butcher them. Different birds mature at different rates. As I'm sure you know you can butcher any chicken of any sex at any age and make a meal of it, but you will get a wide variety in the amount of meat you get. Brahma's typically are slow to mature, they are mostly bone until they get to a certain age. Rangers typically mature quite early. What is your sweet spot as to age and size for butchering?

Something else I've noticed about hatchery chickens is their inconsistency. I've gotten different breeds or crosses from different hatcheries to grow out for meat. Some of those cockerels were a lot larger than others in the same hatch at butcher time. Hatcheries typically use the pen breeding method where you might have 20 roosters breeding randomly with 200 hens. Good breeders carefully match a certain rooster with certain hens so they get a lot more consistency in the offspring. I've been happy with my hatchery stock. There are only two of us so size of the chicken isn't that important. I also eat pullets and we can get two meals out of a pullet, let alone a cockerel. It sounds like your criteria is different.

I don't know why you want to go with pure stock but that is your business. My real suggestion is to try some from your source and see how they meet your goals. Just get enough so the averages mean something.

 

[Ahavati]

We only have Wyandottes as layers. One thing I noticed for them, they don't fully mature (size wise) until a little after a year. Mine were always smaller than my other hens and around a year or little after, they filled out to full size. Even my roo.

We have been thinking about heritage birds as well as opposed to the cornish and rangers. Haven't made up our mind yet. The butcher time is so much faster on those birds.

 

[cottontail farm]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I was assuming I'd get hatchery stock and hadn't considered that the strain would be as important as the breed - I am just looking for a showy bird that produces a reasonable carcass. The reason I'm considering a pure flock is because I enjoy hatching chicks and there seems to be a good local market.
Again, not looking for a cornish-sized bird, just something reasonable. This week we cooked a mixed breed; yesterday I roasted it, today we made enchiladas with the leftovers from the roast and tomorrow will be leftover enchiladas. Just looking for something worth the time. Hmmm. Lots to think about.

 

[bngowe]

You’re in luck. Processed a wyandotte capon a few weeks back. Came out weighing roughly 6 lbs live and 5 lbs plucked (ungutted). This is at 26 weeks.

 

[bngowe]

This was a hatchery wyandotte bird as well. I was hoping it would be bigger and weigh around 7-8 lbs but growth seems to be slowing down after 20 weeks. Breast meat isn’t as plump too.

 

[cottontail farm]

You’re in luck. Processed a wyandotte capon a few weeks back. Came out weighing roughly 6 lbs live and 5 lbs plucked (ungutted). This is at 26 weeks.

Hey thanks so much for sharing this. It really helps. Do you do all your extra roos as capons?

 

[bngowe]

It depends when you plan to process. If you’re planning to process younger than say 20 weeks, you don’t really need to caponize. If you’re planning to raise them longer, I think capons are wonderful. Instead of a bunch of cockerels always fighting, they all get along much better and the meat will be the best chicken you’ll ever had.

 

[Mosey2003]

If you're wanting to butcher, I would suggest looking for someone that's breeding to the SOP as they keep a tighter watch on weights. I'm into Barred Rocks, and the birds I got from a breeder are far and away bigger and prettier than my mishmash of hatchery stock. I have a couple hatchery BR hens that are quite small for Large Fowl and some that are mid-range, I'd say my heaviest grown hen might be 6lbs right now, *maybe*. Whereas the breeder let me feel his hens for weight, and they are HEFTY, he said they're 8lbs by 1 year old, and the roosters 10+. I have some growouts from his line right now that should be 16-18 weeks old in May that I plan to butcher, I'm going to weigh them before I do the deed just to see how big they are then.

If you're wanting a purebred flock but plan to eat them, I think Delawares are meant to be decent meat birds, aren't they? And good New Hampshires should dress out fairly nice.