Your favourite 'dual purpose' meat breed?

[cluckcluck42]

I just want to hear about peoples favourites when it comes to raising your own meat birds. I do not think I will ever get Cornish x's again and I am looking into buying Barred Rocks to cross with Jersey Giants, or possibly Buckeyes.

In telling me what your preferred breed is, please include if you use the hens for eggs and eat the males, or how you are operating. Do you sell meat birds or is it just for your family? How many chicks/pullets/cockerals do you usually have at any one time? Have you experimented with other breeds before deciding on your favourite, if so how did that go?

Thanks everyone, I look forward to reading your replies and learning of your experiences.

 

[Mom2Cool]

Well I have Buff Orpingtons & Speckled Sussex & I really have them (ok honestly it's because I'm addicted to hatching & having chicks here) LOL but we're really using them for eggs & that's just for us not for sale or anything like that. I'd gotten the dual purpose bird so that if there were too many roos I wasn't having to beg people to take them & we had an option etc & also because I thought a heavier bread would be more winter hardy. Both of these breeds look nice on the table, dress well & the roos are around 5 to 6 lbs after processing and are good for broiling chicken. We're actually having chicken on the grill tonight.

 

[captn_rob]

I'm new to chickens, but my "farmer" mom swears by Buff Orps.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

can i ask why not cornish cross, i know they smell, can be slimy, die easy plus other things, but i have found away around the bad things with cornish cross so it can be done

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

So far, I am crossing a well bred (exhibition) Orpington over hatchery Orpington, Delawares, and Cochins. The best cross so far is the Orp over the Del hens. I like to process between 5 and 6 months of age.

These two were processed earlier this week. The buff/blue is an Orpington and the dark blue with gold leakage is a Orp/del. Both hatched Dec 9th.

I do not have a processed weight on them yet, they are resting in the fridge and I will get one before putting in the freezer or bbqing.



The Orp/cochin cross that I have processed was just over 5 pounds (5 pounds 5 ounces), he was 22 weeks, super tasty. We BBQed him after he rested in the fridge for a week. This is his brother - still running around in the bachelor pen - will process him later as he is friend with two other roos in the pen. The splash behind him is hopefully my next exhibition orp roo - both hatched October 9th.

ETA: We use the pullets for egg hens (also sell some), sell some chicks and we eat all cockerels grown out. I seem to hatch monthly and raise up the chicks who do not sell (usually 4 to 10 chicks are raised).

I stumbled upon my cross – got hatchery chicks first and was lucky enough to find a BYC member who was getting rid of her well bred Orpington roo. I really fell for the Roo’s personality – so different from the hatchery orp – so I have started purchasing more APA Orpington eggs to hatch and add to my flock. I am thinking about getting some breeder/APA Dels to see how I like them.

 

[crazyaboutchickens]

my favorite dual purpose breeds ? !!!!!!BUFF ORPS!!!!!! i just love them for meat and eggs

 

[lisa lisk]

Hi I am new to this forum, I dont understand how how to get from place to place yet on the computer but I keep trying.
I liked your question, I have raised chickens for 15 years . I raise them for meat and eggs. Just this feb. I bought 25 all heavys from murray mcmurray. I ended up with Black giants, buff rocks. white wyendots, dark cornish, brahmas, road island reds, newhampsher reds, barred rocks. I wanted orpingtons. but did not get any. So I decieded to keep records of wich breeds did the best as far as growing fast, haveing the most and tenderest meat fast.
I butcher mine early I want them for fryers. I think If I dont have fried chicken once a week that I will die. haha
Well I was suprised by the outcome of my record keeping. The newhampsher reds grew and featherd out first, followed by the road Island red.
They were also easy do clean. The dark cornish , black giants and bramas were hard to clean. And their maet was not as tender as the R I reds.
The wyendots did not have much meat. The rocks did not have as much meat as the R I reds, well none of the chickens had as much meat as the R I reds and newhampsher reds.
I still want some orpingtens I would like to cross the orpingtens with my R I reds. I think they would be the best!!
I am sorry that I can not spell, I would like to talk with someone who likes to do the same things that I do. I raise rabbits, vegtibles, flowers and CHICKENS.
My e mail is [email protected] thanks lisa

 

[Red&Yellow]

We have two main dual breeds, golden-laced Wyandotte and four colours of Plymouth Rock. The best cross so far (I love crossing them

) is golden laced over a particlarly large buff Plymouth Rock...VERY fast growing, and big. (and pretty, too)

 

[patnjess]

Quote:

 

[bigredfeather]

I would have to agree with BO's being a great dual purpose. Mine seemed to take a little longer to get to 4-6 pounds, but the leg quarters are great. I also like Speckled Sussexs. They have a much better table bird apperance(square body). My Buckeyes and BCM are also worth mentioning. The Buckeyes have a larger breast than any of my DPs and the Marans are very solid for their size. The Marans also have snow white skin after plucking. I have one thawing in the fridge right now. I want to try it in the smoker this weekend. I chose all my breeds in an attempt to find the best meat bird, and it turns out they all are pretty good. In June I am going to hatch out a bunch of everything to put in the freezer for Winter. I will take some pics of the dressed birds for comparison when the time comes.

HorseFeatherz NV, I have access to a Del roo, if you could snap a pic of the dressed Orp/Del cross, I would love to see what they look like without their feathers.