Hi All,
A quick chickeny question around the dual-purpose viability of chicken breeds.
My partner is equally terrified and fascinated by chickens.... well, maybe not equally actually. Given this fear, she's rightly having a big say in the breed of chicken we go for. Now, I should say at the outset that we've got plenty of land, and have no plans to need to fully stock a farm shop or anything like that. What we would like is to have a rolling supply of meat birds for ourselves and for bartering with others, and a healthy supply of eggs for the same.
My partner has become pretty attached to Buff Orpingtons... I think it's the general soft fuzzy look of them which makes her think they'll be less painful if one was to fly at her (yes I have tried explaining). A second option is Brahmas, as she's read that they're at the docile end of the spectrum.
Now, what I wanted to know was basically this:
- Can we use pure BOs as dual purpose birds, and just feed to cockerals to fatten them up?
- Would a BO cross with an IG be a better option, and rear all cross-bred progeny as a meat crop?
- Would pure Brahmas do a better job of being dual purpose than either of the above?
To be clear, we have no interest in buying the latest modern bird with in-built short life spans, nor do we need the birds to fatten within short timescales.
The plan is that all birds will be free range (subject to the acid-fox-test) and that they will be fed on a home-grown or locally sourced mixed diet - i.e. not grower pellets.
Thanks all!