The Best Dual-Purpose Chicken Breeds for the Hobby Farm
Вставка
- Опубліковано 7 сер 2024
- Some chickens were bred to be good egg layers. Some were bred for meat. But the best breeds for many hobby farmers and homesteaders are those that do both well. Steve & Brian talk about what makes a good dual-purpose breed and give their top 10 list.
#HobbyFarm #backyardchickens #homestead
The speckled sussex is my favorite. these birds are calm and trusting and good with kids.
I think they are awesome birds!
I can confirm RIR are a great choice in Utahs climate 😎
My lone RIR is the champion layer in the flock and does well all around!
Thanks for the info! As a kid, my folks had plymouth rocks and Dominique. I wasn't fond of them, kids, wanted to pet, interact, not the friendliest of birds. Mom killed a mean rooster with a coffee can upside his head when he attacked her one morning, at noon, Dad dispatched the dizzy bird. Maybe Dad had these on purpose so I wouldn't get attached to pets at butcher time.
50yrs later, I'm starting over, we have 4 ISA browns and 3 Silver laced Wyandottes. The ISA are friendlier ones at the moment, 6weeks old. Also have 16 Cornish and have recently lost 2 to some stifling Ga. heat. Surprised at how fast they grow, even on lower protein feed and only daylight feeding to slow them down a bit, but disappointed at the same time, I didn't know about the heat intolerance so they get a fan every day to help them. We were I guess, following the crowd when we bought those. Next year, a different more upright better foraging meat bird will be grown. But I love the dual purpose. I wasn't considering Australorps but after your info, if some are still available at TSC next visit, I may just get some for harvesting next Spring. I like the big fat typical farm hen look and it's why I chose Isa and Wyandottes first. Wish I had added Sussex when they were in too.
Love your informative vids guys :)
All great birds, and the ISAs are great layers too!
I'm slightly surprised the New Hampshire didn't make the list.
They are great in the heat, as are Plymouth Rock and Brahma breeds, but we decided to narrow the list to 5.
Yeah they have the Rhode Island red instead LOL Modern Rhode Island Reds are not dual purpose. They used to be but selection has stopped since hybrids took over.
Very informative
Glad you think so!
Another interesting and informative video guys, thank you
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
I have seramas too . They are sooo adorable the extreme tipe . 😊
They are great looking birds!
We also have barred rock mixed with silky lol
The roos are maturing quicker than the rest of mixed silky chicks
That must be an interesting looking mix!
@@HobbyFarmGuys yes they are lol but they mostly look like a barred rock the hen has a little poffy head the males have a bigger comb already
Silkys are hard to tell the difference when young but the barred rock ones you can tell
They are still young yet 5-10weeks old without looking at the calendar lol
Great vid, thank you! Question: If most start laying around 6 months, and they're ready to process about then, they can't be very dual purpose- or can you wait longer to process...what's the most you want to wait to get as many eggs before you process them?
Many are ready to process before they even start laying. The term dual-purpose typically means they can be used for either. For example, if you keep a flock of about 12 birds and one hatches a clutch of 8 chicks, you may want to let a couple of them grow into laying hens to replace some of the older hens and process the rest for meat...or maybe just process the cockerels. But yes, you can process older hens and many people do. If you let them lay for a year or two and then process them, you will will get both meat and eggs. The meat is usually better when they are processed young though.
Thank you for the video. On our 17 acre farm we have 45 assorted hens. Australorps, Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds as well as Americaunas, and a few Leghorns. All are 2 year layers. We like the temperament and size of the Orpingtons to try our hand at meat birds. We also want to breed the Orpingtons to have a continuous supply of meat/ layer birds. Is there better time of year to start a broody Orpington? Or, would you recommend a good quality incubator? Hope things are still going well for you guys.
If you are keeping a larger flock & looking to sustain meat & eggs I’d recommend an incubator to have more control. But, if you are raising Orpington, they tend to be good at going broody & raising young on their own (less work for you). So you may try the easier route before getting an incubator. As for when they go broody…usually any time outside of the winter months.
@@HobbyFarmGuys that’s exactly what I was thinking. I like the size of the Orpingtons. I’ll give it a shot and let you know how it goes.
Episode suggestion… clipping chicken wings. Would you recommend doing it and if so, how to properly do it.
That's good idea. I'll talk to the guys about it.
@@HobbyFarmGuys 😎 we had one fly the fence yesterday. Luckily the neighbors dog was inside. They have everything a chicken could want or need in our yard. She’s the trouble maker of the bunch and was feeling a little adventurous. I’m afraid she will definitely need to be clipped. I’d just like to hear your opinions and research a little more before taking drastic measures.
#6 Dominique is a good forager. Would these or any breed be better at stirring up deep litter?
The Buckeye comes to mind as one of the best, but there are others (including Dominique). Brahmas and Leghorns are good too.
whats a good roaster?? mine is a plymouth rock and chases me out of the coop every day!! want one thats calmer.. he needs to go after spring and after i get chicks chick..
I like the Orpington or Brahma as a calm rooster. Steve says his calmest rooster ever was a Plymouth Rock, which just shows that individual traits can vary greatly even within a breed.
We have Dominique hens and rir mixed hens
They are bigger birds
Our buff Brahma are bantoms so meat birds they have no meat lol but I'm sure they are still edible but tiny birds
Just as good, only smaller!
@@HobbyFarmGuys lol if you can wait for them to fill out lmbo :)
I really thought the Turken would have made the list.
It easily could have. It's a great dual-purpose breed.
Well no new Hampshire, but I guess they're the same as Rhode Island reds to some degree
Not exactly the same, but also a great choice!
Why does it seem that everyone has different numbers for eggs layer per breed?
A lot of the numbers come from the breeders themselves, and it is likely different lines of a breed have different productivity.
How much is it brother
Sorry, we don’t sell them…just talk about them.
1st :)
🏆
Can I order rir day old chics
Sorry, we don't sell chicks, or any livestock. We just talk about them. Thanks for watching!
Vorwerk
Another great choice!
ua-cam.com/video/kFo-mwtNnrU/v-deo.html