I was wondering what breed would be best if they were going to be used for eggs and meat birds? I understand that some are better for just eggs and some are better if being used for meat but it's also my understanding that there are some that are acceptable for both purposes. Anyone have opinions on that?
Dual Purpose
Wyandottes, Australorps, and Buff Orpingtons are all good dual-purpose birds. You'd discover more at a hatchery website like www.mcmurrayhatchery.com or at a informative poultry site like www.feathersite.com. Generally the "heavy breeds" that are layers are called dual-purpose.
And also, Barred Rocks. They are actually triple purpose, if you consider good looks.
Thanks! I appreciate the input!
i think some of the antiquity breeds are the best for both purposes. My Buckeyes are HUGE roaster size already at seven months.
Let us know what you decide.
tamara [chickenmomma around here LOL]
I have some input here. Due to my experiences with plucking and
plucking and PLUCKING, I would only have white feathered
birds.
I don't think there is anything less appetizing than seeing a
roaster that looks like they have blackheads all over their
skin. It takes me hours to squeeze all the feather eugh out of
their follicles. and even then, they are still left looking pocky.
I closed my eyes when I had to cook this, and did it in Italian
tomato sauce and made Chicken Cacciatore with it.
What is roaster size of a Buckeye?
I have the Jersey Giants, and they are only about
5 pounds at 6 months. I really thought the would get larger.
I also have the rock cornish crosses, but they weigh only
about 3 lbs at 6 months, and everyone says I was ripped off
and we were sent Longhorns. I think I might agree. they
were supposed to weigh 8 lbs at about 8-10 weeks!!!!!!!!
and, I saw them at the fair, and that breed sure was nice,
not like mine who were supposed to be like that.
We only have 8 left of the white birds, and I think I will
do them this weekend while DH is finishing the
Petit Trianon des Poulets.
Regards,
sheri
Do the Buff leave too dark of spots when plucked?
Also....not even on the topic...I've seen "DH" many times...as well as some other abbrev. that are close and I think I know what they are but could someone confirm what that is please? Thx!
Dear Husband, Dear Wife, Dear Daughter, Dear Son (DH, DW,DD,DS)
thx Zeppy...thought so but just wanted to make sure I wasn't mistaken....wouldn't wanna embarass myself! hahaha
You know, I have never plucked a Buff so I don't know if they leave
dark spots or not.
Great question!!!!!
more abbreviations:
SIL-son in law
DIL daughter in law
gd granddaughter
gs grandson
MIL oy
FIL father in law
i have not plucked any, and since i am expecting.. i will likely just let the DH skin them, though the buckeyes have nice yellow skin. don't think i can handle it LOL
my DH thinks the avg buckeye was 8 pounds at six months, though about half of them were [and are] much larger.
i wanted to get some jersey giants, chances are they will be about the size of my buckeyes, which were the biggest chickens at the fair, yes even bigger than the black cochins, at only six months of age...
sheri, where did you buy your cornich rocks?
i highly recommend xtrememgamebirds.com for game birds, chickens, and guineas they just can't be beat for quality of birds, though they claim to not have "show stock". i almost bought some black autralorps from them, which are very similar to Jersey Giants, and the last time i checked they are on the anitiquity critical list. but i didn't think i could handle baby chicks and baby guineas at the same time LOL, 27 keets are keeping me on my toes at only three weeks old!
tf
Congrats TamaraFaye...when are you due? I don't blame you for not wanting to do the chicken thing while being preg. it's difficult to do stuff like that during that time....seems like the body you're familier with becomes a stranger and who knows what will happen even with things that you could normally do when not preg. lol
We usually skin the birds before eating, so I'm thinking the color of the bird may not matter as much. Only if we decide to leave the skin on for some reason will it matter - I'm thinking.
Dawn
Yes, if you're skinning them, it doesn't matter. And the white chicken rule isn't hard and fast: I do believe the buffs give a clean carcass as well.
TamFaye, the ALBC is giving samples of buckeye meat to attendees at their upcoming conference in NC; the buckeye's also listed in the Slow Food movement's "Ark of Taste" list. (For those of you who don't know, the ALBC is the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and they work hard to preserve historic or heirloom breeds that aren't as viable for large-scale commercial farming. They do good work.)
My next door neighbor has the cornish crosses. I happen to teach her math ( she's homeschooled and I'm a teacher) and so we were weighing all of her crosses as part of a math activity. Her cornish hens are all 10-20 lbs! They are about 6 months old. They are ENORMOUS and really quite grotesquely obese in all honestly! LOL they can't even walk to the feed dish without taking a nap halfway!
RofL.
Oh MY GOD.
I can't even type for laughing.
grotesquely obese. I MUST have a picture. PLLLLLLLease!!!!!!!!!!!!
6 months old and enormous? I should be so lucky. All I have are
leggy, scrawny looking birds. Even my Jersey Giants are small.
: (((((((
I got Mr. And Mrs. Bocker from Tillers International, as a gift from
them. I dont have the link for that, but you could do a search on
Tillers and see what they do. I had taken my team of percherons
and worked them in a farming and logging class for a week. I stayed
there and it was LOVELY. the farm house is the old drug manufacturing
company mansion. Of course the name escapes me right now. UGH.
Old Timey disease.
My other 50 hens are from Ideal Poultry Company, I think, in Texas!!
All the little babies lived, but I was careful to take extra good care and
to be vigilant. As far as the size goes, I think I got so ripped off I can't
stand it. I would never never breed my Jerseys, nor the Dominiques
I got from them. They are healthy, but small. I don't think they
exemplify the noted qualities you would expect from specific chickens.
Not that I am showing them either, but I expect to receive the best of
a run, and not the culls.
My female Pekin duck has a feather abnormality and a few feathers
sticks out the top of her head, and I think she is a bit *simple*. No
math genius there..... she is sweet though. She has a funny habit of
with every step she makes, her head bobs down diagonally to her
chest and she quacks. this goes on daily, all the time. I think the
other two are drakes, although I wanted 2 females. ONe of the Pekins
chases lustily after one of the Talouse Geese, at a maniacal walking
rate of speed. They will walk totally around the barns in a circle till
the duck gets interested in something else. I dont know if he is
chasing a female goose or a male goose. They really look alike
to me. And, I can't tell which side their shirts are buttoned on yet either.
TamaraFay So many congratulations on the impending arrival of
a new person in your world! Please let us know when the due date
is so we can all send you a million baby chicks to take care of at
that time! ThAT will get your mind off any labor pains! LOLOL.
How many kidlets do you have now? I had 5 under 5, they are
mostly all grown now, about 23 is the average age, and we combined
families when I remarried so we got two more. Same age, and
now we also have 2 Rebeccas, and two more grandchildren born
in about the same month.
Sheri
What a nic ebig family you have Sheri! and i have heard very bad things about ideal, before that i was considering them... i would eat all you got and start over with some better quality birds... now i want a picture of your percherons!!! most of my draft horse experinece has been with belgian mules, beautiful docile, but hard headed creatures!!!
thanks Zeppy for the extra info on the buckeyes. now i am drooling. hubby needs some time off to put my babies in the feezer.
he finished the brooder in the poultry shed yesterday, and now i am wishing i had gotten those jersey giants or those autralorps, since the keets are almost 4 weeks old and won't need that brooder much longer!
yes, taking care of baby animals keeps my mind off of all kinds of pains LOL
byhens, i had no idea cornish cross could get that big! maybe i need to weigh mine. i know when i was nbriefly on lifitng limits of 6-10 pounds being too heavy, i didn't DARE pick up one of my chickens...
Dawn, i say i am due in April, and i like that for a nmae as well. "they" say end of March.. i say it comes when it is time!
gotta run, time running out on the computer, and i have so much typing to do...
tf
Percherons are beautiful! I took a bunch of pics in Casper at the supply store last fall...some special thing going on there. I love horses anyway, but my my.......
TamaraFaye...at least you're not at the end of your pregnancy during the summer months! I was for one of mine....what a miserable time of year for being big pregnant! I'm excited for you and your family....
yes, i am grateful for that. my first was born the end of august, my second the end of may, so it was really hot his first few months... i always thought a spring baby woul dbe more fun! never thought i could be so blessed though... ;-)
:-) My 1st was the middle of July - when I lived in the Phoenix Valley....(mesa) eeewwwwww! 2nd was March and 3 & 4 were February..... I'm a fast learner lol
TF posting a picture of Percheron
Slobs here for you.
What bad things have you heard about Ideal? I don't think I can
afford to kill all my hens. : (
But, can you recommend a super dooper place to buy chicks
next year that are the best of the best? Healthy, not inbred,
heavy and sought after?
Today I am cooking my last two hens on top of the woodstove,
with some onion and salt and celery flakes. Yummy. Smells
deeeee lish!!!!!!!
I sell all my eggs every week. I get $1 a dozen and today,
4 dozen went. Its a wonder! I am putting the money into a
little jar in the kitchen, maybe someday I can buy something
with it! LOLOL.
Thats a picture of my DH Luman ground driving the slobs
back to the barn after they got done unharnessing. I call
the Percherons "slobs" because I love them so much.
Regards
sheri
what a nice team!
yes, i can recommend xtremegamebirds.com last year i got guineas from them, beautiful, healthy, perfect birds, well bred. the nieghbors dog enjoyed them!
this year i got seventy five chicks in the spring. healthy, purebred! did very well at the show this fall. thes people are serious breeders. the ones they don't breed themselves, they get the eggs they incubate from the best breeders. and they are very helpful, i didn't have a clue what i was doing and called and emailed with questions, which they never tired of answering.
i recently got the most beautiful keets from them. and they sent two extra for free! i had heard of a couple of other hatcheries doing that regularly, and it is usually to make up for the ones that don't make it. but at xtreme, they inspect each chick before it ships to insure it has enough yolk to survive the trip, or they keep it. so you don't get the culls, you get the cream of the crop!
i don't wuite understand slobs being a pet name, but i can certainlyu understand you loving them so much. if you ever have one that needs a retirement home, bring it here!
everyone have a beautiful fall day!
tamara
You know, I won't get those cornish crosses exactly because they're big fat mutations: a gigantic breast on two wobbly legs. I'll stick with the dual purpose birds that can breed and roost and... walk.
If you're looking for a good hatchery, another is Sand Hill Preservation. They're definitely doing it for reasons of genetic diversity, so inbreeding shouldn't be a problem. They don't sex their chicks, though: what you get is what you get. www.sandhillpreservation.com I should add that their garden seeds are of excellent quality (and generous amounts) as well.
TamFaye, congrats on the spud!
thanks, Zeppy. I have been wanting ot get some from Sand Hill, and may do that in the spring. I almost have hubby convinced, that if we just have 60 hens, the eggs would pay for feed for all the other animals too... well, almost...
the other day a Texas Ag guy came and tested all my birds for free. he said next year he will just test a sample, plus any new ones. he also asked where they came from, and since all but the bantams came from xtremegamebirds in elgin Texas, he was sure they would all be fine, and they were. he said each state has different health testing requirements for hatcheries, and that i should always get my birds from Texas whenever possible, and never from New Mexico, where they have NO standards.
anyhow, i think sexing the spring chicks will be necessary, since hubby wants ONLY HENS. i remeinded him how good they will taste, and he didn't answer. so i suppose i have a little more convincing to do.
so, what other dual purpose breeds do folks like?
tf
TF, congrats. Kiddlets are great. We have 4. Caring for the critters does help with keeping your mind off all kinds of troubles, plus it's good for the kids to be involved.
Love the Percherons. I like the name 'Slobs'. Endearing. 3/4 Ton stubborn though, huh?
I'm liking the idea of the Buckeye's. Never heard of them. Last month, I butchered our rooster, a black and white aracauna, and those little blackhead thingy's had me so disgusted, I couldn't eat the dinner. Nice to know I'm not the only one affected by this. He was a scrawny thing and not worth all the time and energy, so looking forward to getting a more dual pupose hen.
Do any of you have problems with customers complaining about the 'blood spots' in the eggs?
I quit selling mine cuz I thought something might be wrong with them and don't want to get sued. I don't have a rooster anymore, will the blood spots stop?
i recall reading somewhere about that, i will let you know next time i am online...
you will LOVE the buckeyes.
one thing i noticed, the buckeye hens prefer th lower boxes because there is more room, and they NEVER ONCE hav e had poop on the eggs. when i can't get the white ones clean, i just keep those. they don't get very dirty, but a little on a few every day. we collect them abou tthree times a day. the most we had was twenty three about a week ago. we got 21 today!
the kids love it, and i make them work, this morning we cleaned out the floor and the nesting boxes and put new bedding down and in them. during the time the boxes were empty, the hens were NOT happy! some went over to the corner... well, jost told i have to get off the computer, library is closing...
tf