[SallyintNorth]

The eggs side won't be a problem, but have you priced up the cost of putting 2 cockerels a week on the table of a traditional breed.

Yes.  Between £4.70 and £9.70 per bird in feed, depending on when we eat them between 16 and 26 weeks.  I'm hoping that two birds will feed the whole community for a supper, plus a soup for another day, and some stock.

I know you don't want to but if you could have 2 breeding flocks it would make things a lot easier.

Why?

Sorry, that may sound facetious, but I genuinely think it'll be much easier for us to let the hens do what comes naturally, then separate the cockerels out at around 10-12 weeks.  So I'm interested to hear why you think we're making more work for ourselves.

[Dave C]

I don't think you are making more work I just think 2 flocks will give you more options.

Everyone wants the perfect duel purpose breed but to be honest they don't exist, but it doesn't stop us breeding towards it.

If you have just one breed it will be lacking in something, most DP breeds lay large amounts of eggs and might have large cockerels but there mostly frame and not much meat (the last thing you want is 20 + people sitting down to a leghorn type carcass) and there's no guarantees they go broody.

If you run 2 flocks they can complement each other i.e. One lays the majority of the eggs (LS) the smaller group make good crosses (IG) with the first group for the table and are also broody which doesn't effect your eggs as this is taken care of by the first group.
This also makes your flocks sustainable.

[Marches Farmer]

Most commercial hybrids are versions of the original LS x RIR crossbreed, as this permits autosexing.  If you breed them "pure" you may find the offspring variable as the breed hasn't been established long enough to be properly fixed, as the old pure breeds are, particularly the Sussex and Dorking.  Since most commercial hybrids have been selectively bred for either meat production or egg production you're unlikely to get a utility bird that will also be a satisfactory broody, have a good temperament, be long-lived and have robust health.

[Jukes Mum]

We have Silver Grey Dorkings for eggs and meat. We get 12 eggs/day from 14 hens during the summer and 6 ish a day over the winter.
They aren't fast growing, but produce a wonderfully tasty bird for the table.
Another plus is that they don't sctratch particularly so don't make a mess of the ground.

[SallyintNorth]

That's good to hear, [member=42972]Jukes Mum[/member] .  I have a leaning towards Dorkings myself, I must admit.

At what age do you eat your cockerels?  And what sort of weight / size are they at that point?

Do you find them to be good mothers?  We're thinking we'd probably better net the whole area for safety from predators - if we get another lockdown next year for avian flu, it'll be a good investment anyway.

[SallyintNorth]

Thanks for explaining that so concisely, [member=27063]Marches Farmer[/member].  Makes perfect sense to me.

[Jukes Mum]

I do have a real soft spot for the Dorkings, they are the chicken equivelent of the Ryedale sheep- very easy, rather lazy and taste great 
We usually hatch at Easter and eat in early Autumn. The birds are an OK size. Not as big as a supermarket chicken. If we have any left over the winter, they are a better size by early spring the following year. They taste so good though! Likey really chickeny chicken!

They are exceeding good mums, but ours don't go broody until summer so we tend to do our first hatches in a incubator.

[Dave C]

I've never tried Dorkings but really like the sound of them, one day I will give them a try 

They sound a good choice.

I've also found Cuckoo Marans make good utility birds if the strain isn't concentrating to much on the darkness of the eggs and still keeping an eye on the size of the cockerels.

[macgro7]

Don't working have really tiny eggs though?
The once I saw for hatching were really small

[Jukes Mum]

The pullet eggs are small, but generally they are just a bit smaller than nornal supermarket eggs.

[Anke]

Yes.  Between £4.70 and £9.70 per bird in feed, depending on when we eat them between 16 and 26 weeks.  I'm hoping that two birds will feed the whole community for a supper, plus a soup for another day, and some stock.

What?  Two chickens for 29 people.... there ain't much meat per person, especially if you are talking traditional breeds...

[Jukes Mum]

What?  Two chickens for 29 people.... there ain't much meat per person, especially if you are talking traditional breeds...

I had wondered the same, but assumed that maybe i am just greedy 
We usually get 4 meals (adult) from a chicken.

[SallyintNorth]

Well, we normally figure an average of 4-6oz meat per person.  Some will have more and some less, of course.  It's rare that absolutely everyone eats together (although a roast dinner does usually get a very good attendance ), there are two vegetarians and I'm not sure how many of the children are likely to eat much chicken.  (One only really eats pizza at the moment , two are kind of veggie but eat sausages - well, you get the picture  )

Sounds like we'll need more than 2 birds for a roast dinner, but I'd been working on 3-4kgs per bird and mostly having chicken dishes rather than a roast.   It is very hard to get info about carcase weights, which is one of the reasons I asked the question!  So your sharing of your own actual experiences is exactly what I was wanting - thanks very much and please keep 'em coming!

[DippyEgg]

If you were looking for maximum production at the lowest cost, it would be Hybrid layers being kept a few years, culled and replaced and hybrid meat birds bought in batches, the free range types can be kept and bred from.

What hybrid meat birds is there, that can be free range and kept and bred from?

I ordered the red one from piggies hatchery and was very pleased with them last year. I think Dave has the same ones or  very similiar, bit from different supplier:
http://piggottspoultry.co.uk/meat.html

Thanks, sorry my reply is so late.
What do they charge for delivery?

[macgro7]

They charged me £18. I only ordered 30 I think. They have me 40 though