Egg, Meat, and Dual Purpose Birds

Although many people enjoy having chickens in the yard for their ornamental appearance and their scavenging abilities, there are other fringe benefits that come from our feathered friends. They are a source of both meat and eggs.

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Layer Hens

Let's start with eggs. All hens will lay eggs. When you eat eggs that come from your own healthy, happy chickens, you won't want to eat a store bought egg again. Depending on the breed, they could lay 100-300 eggs per year. They will lay the majority of their eggs March through November, and egg production will drop dramatically during the winter December and January. Some breeds are more prone to become broody, which means that they will sit on eggs to incubate and hatch them. If a hen sits a clutch of eggs, she will not produce eggs for about nine weeks - three weeks to hatch them and another six to raise them.

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All hens will lay eggs with or without a rooster, but not all eggs are fertile. If you have no rooster, there will be no fertile eggs. Unless the eggs are fertilized, you will get no baby chicks. If you want to raise your own baby chicks, you will need a rooster and you will need a breed of chicken that will go broody and be good mommas. It is wonderful to watch a momma hen with her chicks.

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As hens mature, they will lay less eggs. Their best egg production comes between 6 months to two years of age. After two years of age, egg production will begin to drop off. Most hens can live between 6-8 years. They will continue to forage, scavenge, and be a productive member of your barnyard, but egg production will decrease over the years.

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A good laying hen will lay over 200 eggs per year.  There are chickens that will lay small sized eggs to jumbo eggs.  If you are wanting eggs to eat or sell, you will want to stick with breeds that lay the large or jumbo eggs.  Even when you raise breeds that are supposed to give you large eggs, there will be some hens that only give medium sized eggs.  Large to jumbo egg layers are the Jersey Giants, Delawares, Rhode Island Red, New Hampshires, Plymouth Rocks, Barnevelder, Chanteceler, Golden Comet, Leghorns, Minorca, Red Star, Welsummer, and Speckled Sussex.  The best combination is to find hens that will lay many large eggs.  Some of these breeds listed only lay 100-150 eggs per year.

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Meat Birds

Are birds that will mature quickly and will provide a good amount of meat, but they may not necessarily be great egg layers or brooders.  These birds will be larger birds ranging from 5-10 pounds. Cornish Cross are fast growing meat birds that are bred to raise and butcher within 6-9 weeks with birds averaging 6-8 pounds. These are not chickens that can be raised as pets and they are not overly healthy because of their size.  Others can grow to 6-8 pounds but could take close to a year to grow that big.  These are going to be healthier choices and pastured or roaming birds will give you the most nutritious meat.  Be aware, that you are going to be eating birds that have put on a lot of miles in their life, so they are not going to be nice and tender like your broilers which are butchered before six months of age. 

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Butchering birds can be a little intimidating.  We learned much from watching youtubes but we have also butchered quite a few as well.  There are some links below to get you started, but we are also willing to help you or even show you how it is done.

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https://howtobutcherachicken.blogspot.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ7McEBJrks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z7KU7WHr3M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwVWOo_mYF8

http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-properly-scald-chicken-my-never.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fZ9GCf0Y1U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGM8FzHhtBw

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Dual Purpose Birds

There are some birds that can be raised for both meat and eggs. You will reap the benefit of egg production while they grow to a size that will produce adequate meat.  While it is harder to butcher birds that have been on your homestead for many years, you need to keep in mind that a dignified end will be better for them then suffering the ills of old age.  They are a wonderful source of good nutrition for your family.  Older birds will be tougher, but they can be used as soup, stews, and bone broth.  Again, there are many sites that will give you good recipes for these older, tougher birds.

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Most of our birds are dual purpose birds.  They lay a lot of eggs.  Some are good mommas so we can continue to grow our own chicks.  They are all of good size, giving us a good amount of meat at the end of their lives.  Some of the best dual purpose birds are Jersey Giants, Plymouth Rocks, Orpingtons, Australorps, Sussex, Wyandotes, Rhode Island Reds, Delawares, and Ixworth.