Best Meat Chicken Breeds
Authored by Jemma Petts
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Authored by Jemma Petts
A big part of building your flock is deciding what your chickens are going to be raised for. You may have started with just raising birds for eggs and are moving into raising meat poultry, or you may just be looking for some different breeds to add to your meat birds. Whatever brings you here, we’re here to help.
Raising poultry for meat can be done either by raising hybrid chickens or dual-purpose chickens. Depending on what you want from your flock will determine what kind of chicken you will want to look for. The differences:
Hybrid chickens are bred to produce a large amount of meat in a small amount of time, normally growing rapidly in a few months.
Dual-purpose chickens provide eggs and can be used for meat. These birds grow slower than hybrid chickens, reaching maturity around six months.
You will still want to consider your desired chicken temperament – docile, active or flighty – but there will be other things to consider when raising chickens for meat. How large of a body are you expecting? Do you want to stay away from breeds that are bred to grow quickly (this can cause health issues for the birds)? Taste and appearance are also factors. Let’s take a look at how things may affect your meat chicken breed choice.
Temperament – This comes down to how hard you want to work to catch your bird on processing day. If you are choosing dual-purpose chickens and are spending a bit more time with your bird, research the temperament you’d like best in your flock.
Growth and size of bird – Fast-growing chickens, or chickens bred to develop quickly for commercial processing, can come with health problems that will turn some flock owners off. Heart and respiratory issues can cause death before these chickens will make it to processing time.
Size of the bird is also important. It’s best to stick with standard boilers if your table desires more meat with a good bone ratio. If you’re okay with less meat, take the heritage chicken breeds for a test drive.
Taste and appearance – When you head to the grocery store to pick up a chicken, you are most likely getting a Cornish Cross. These are the standard birds for the dinner table. Trying different birds may be surprising at first, as the appearance and taste may differ from what you are expecting.
Finding that right bird can take some time. Here are some of the most popular chicken breeds to raise for meat.
Once you’ve decided what breed of meat birds to bring home, it’s time to keep them safe and healthy until they are at weight. Find out more about chickens to raise for meat, and start shopping for your perfect breed.
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