What are the Best meat chickens that breed true?

[Smokin Silkies]

I need something that I can keep breeding for meat. Right now, I have Buff Orps that will give me eggs in spring. I know they are a good dual purpose bird, but is there any better meat chickens that I can get and keep breeding to get the same meat chickens. Cornish X don't breed true and I heard those Rangers don't either? Any suggestions would be great! Spring time I want to get 25 or 50 depending on how big we can make their home. It also don't matter much to me if they get HUGE! I don't want to deal with all the leg problems and such. Thanks so much!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

There are a few of us trying to figure that out too. So far out of all my breeds (without crossing any) the White Rocks have gotten the biggest, the fastest.

 

[GraceAK]

You could use plain cornish or Plymouth Rock. they grow pretty fast and get pretty big, and you'd get eggs besides. The Rocks i mean. Cornish dont really lay....

If you had a Rock hen and a Cornish roo, you could hatch out your own Cornishx's

 

[magentamomma]

I had to butcher some Buff Orpington hens due to a dog attack, and they were not as dual purpose as i was led to believe. Very little meat in fact. Now a roo would be a different story, so if you ordered all males for butchering that might work.

 

[bigredfeather]

I would suggest Buckeyes. They have an excellent carcuss at 16-20 weeks. The leg quarters and breast are comparable to the Cornish X IMHO. I would recommend getting them from a breeder, not a hatchery. You never know what you're going to get from a hatchery. Hatcheries tend to have stock that is more geared towards egg laying not meat production. I have some Buckeyes that are 14 weeks old that I will be culling in a few weeks. If you're raising Buckeyes specifically for meat, it is best to feed a high protein feed similiar to what you would feed the Cornish. I have some BOs as well, and I was also under the impression they were good meat birds. I butchered some at 20 weeks and at 28 weeks. The 28 week ones where much meatier than the 20 weekers. Having done both Buckeyes and BOs, I can tell you the Buckeyes are a true dual-purpose breed. They have been laying well in this cold Ohio climate.

 

[Buster52]

Standard Cornish have good breast meat, which is the main thing lacking in most dual purpose birds, including the Buff Orpington. BOs and Rocks get taller than a Cornish, and heavier faster, but the breast meat is lacking in both. I've raised and processed all three, so I have something to compare them to.

Now, it isn't clear whether the Buckeye has Cornish genetics, or whether they were just bred to have good breast meat (the woman who developed them claimed they have no Cornish in them, but that the Cornish body was her aim during their development), but I understand they do. So, that is another bird I am going to test out this summer.

So, I guess I'm saying, Dark Cornish and Buckeye would be the two breeds I would recommend experimenting with.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
According to their history, Buckeyes had no direct Cornish influence. Nettie Metcalf is said to have used Barred Plymouth Rocks, Buff Cochins, and RIR in creating the Buckeye. The shape of the Buckeye body is very square, much like the Cornish. Even a mature rooster lacks that upright stance you speak about compared to other breeds. Last summer I grilled 2 cornishes and 1 Buckeye. All where split in half for grilling. As I looked at the six halves laying on the grill, I had a hard time determining which was the Cornish and which was the Buckeye. At that point, I knew I needed to expand my Buckeyes for meat purposes. In the coming years, I plan on breeding some of my Buckeyes for strictly meat purposes. I hope to have a breeding flock that can produce enough offspring to satisfy our meat needs. Despite Buckeyes being great for meat as a pure breed, I can't help but wonder what would happen if I crossed a DC and a Buckeye. I have a DC rooster, so I may have to give it a try at some point.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
According to their history, Buckeyes had no direct Cornish influence. Nettie Metcalf is said to have used Barred Plymouth Rocks, Buff Cochins, and RIR in creating the Buckeye.

Yeah, I know that's what she said. I'm just not sure I believe her.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I read somewhere (?) that the Buckeye did have Cornish bred in there somewhere. Hence the Cornish look in the face.

 

[ErieSpurs]

Give this list a try. It has maturity rates for some breeds.

I would say that Australorps, Delawares, and Dominiques would be a few good choices.

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/chickenbreedcomparison.pdf