# Heritage meat chickens



## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I was wondering what are some preferred heritage meat chickens? We had the cornish x last year but they were so nasty and I didn't care for the huge breasts (they were a little stringy ).


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

http://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Thx, I'll check it out.


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## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

Depends what you're looking for really. I ordered Cornish to eat but they're all so damn sweet I couldn't kill them off.... so the three roosters are tending my laying flock and the three hens are contributing to the eggs. SIGH. I didn't however feel bad about eating the Dorking roosters - those things were downright evil to my hens. They got what they deserved and provided a very nice amount of breast meat and the same amount of dark meat. I was very impressed. They far outdid the Welsummers and Brabanters who practically gave me frog legs.... 

I don't really know what breeds are more known for dark meat but I do know if that's what you're aiming for free ranging birds will have more muscles from the exercise and therefore more dark meat. It's possible yours was stringy because you slaughtered it too late or didn't use the correct method to cook it. No one told me in the beginning that rooster meat needs to either be put in brine for a good 12-48 hours or cooked **really** slowly in a crockpot. That's what makes them tender because the older they get the stringier/chewier they are going to be... Grocery store chickens are slaughtered at 8 weeks of age, that's why they're not stringy. Slaughter a heritage bird at 8 weeks and you're not going to get much! In any event I slaughtered my first rooster at a year of age, didn't do any of that and he was like eating boot leather. My most recent were probably ten months, brined and boiled and came out nearly as tender as a market bird.

Some heritage breeds you may want to look into are Buck-Eyes, Jersey Giants, Brahmas, Orpingtons, Bresse, Dorkings, etc. Good luck!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

WeeLittleChicken, that's sweet and funny at the same time, LOL. 

It seems that heritage birds are fine. But what about those bred for meat? shouldn't they be good?


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## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

You mean Cornish Crosses? I was just focusing on heritage breeds because that's what the original question was. I never tried the Cornish Crosses myself. I've had a number of people tell me you have to kill them out of pity more than for meat! They live to eat... and poop. Not my thing but I can understand why others use them - economically they make sense.


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## Cockadoodledoo (Jan 28, 2016)

Ive read that Dominique are dual purpose birds. They are a great heritage breed. The only problem is, they are on the smallish side. Has anyone had luck using Dominique as meat birds.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Our first eating birds were the cornish xl. At around 10 weeks they were so huge that they couldn't stand up without difficulty. We butchered 6 that averaged 6 lbs. However, the pen they were raised was horrendous and took all day to clean and sanitize for the next batch. If we ever get tbem again, we'll raise them separately from the rest. They were tender and quite tastey though.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

One difference between home raised chicken and store bought chicken is the butcher injects chicken broth into the meat,it makes it juicier and heavier.If I butcher chickens again(I have no plans) I'm going to try injecting it with broth.I did not like the roosters I butchered a couple of years ago.They were dry, stringy and mostly dark meat.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I may one day have the guts to raise chickens and let someone else process them for part of the amount. But they have to be really ugly and hopefully mean and I'll put them where I don't have to look at them.


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