What chicken is best for dual purpose?

In our opinion, Sussex Chickens are the best dual purpose heritage breed as they produce a high quality, good tasting meat and their egg laying production is impressive. We've kept and bred these hybrid chickens for more than 25 years and find that their overall size, flesh colour and meat flavour are fantastic.

Which breed do you choose for meat and egg production?

Eggs and meat. Dual purpose breeds include several American and English breeds such as Ply- mouth Rocks, Sussex, and Wyandottes . These breeds lay reasonably well and are large enough for meat production.

When to slaughter dual purpose chickens?

They are generally raised for both meat and egg production and are typically slaughtered between 14 to 20 weeks of age . This extended growth period allows for more natural development, resulting in better meat quality, flavor, and texture.

What are the best chickens to raise and eat?

Cornish, Plymouth Rock and New Hampshire breeds are the most economical meat strains. These crosses feather rapidly and mature early and have the most economical conversion of feed to poultry meat. Some flock owners use White or Barred Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds and New Hampshires for meat.

Can you raise chickens for eggs and meat?

How to Raise Dual Purpose Chickens for Eggs & Meat. There are a couple of options here: Raise 2 separate flocks – a laying flock & a flock for meat – most commonly Cornish Cross or Freedom Rangers. Or, raise one flock of dual-purpose birds for meat and eggs .

What are the fastest growing meat chickens?

The fastest-growing meat chicken is by far the Cornish Cross. They reach market weight within an astounding 6-8 weeks.

What chickens lay 300 eggs a year?

The best laying breeds, such as White Leghorns, Red Stars, Black Stars, Black Australorps and Rhode Island Reds can lay 250 to 300 eggs per year during their first year of laying, possibly more.

What chickens lay the tastiest eggs?

- Marans: Originating from France, Marans chickens lay eggs with rich, dark brown shells. These eggs are often praised for their distinct flavor and deep, almost chocolate-like undertones. With approximately 150-200 eggs per year, Marans chickens offer both taste and visual appeal.

What chickens lay eggs all year round?

Rhode Island Reds are your year-round birds. They are hardy in the heat and cold and can still lay eggs even during the winter season. Their combs are also vulnerable to frost bite if the temperature drops below freezing inside the coop.

What animal makes the best eggs?

The egg whites also have a pale blue tint to them. A duck egg has a richer and smoother taste than a chicken egg, depending on the duck's diet. Since ducks are game birds, their eggs tend to have a gamey flavor.

What is the name of the chicken that is a dual-purpose breed?

Dual purpose chicken breeds are suited for both egg and meat production. Many breeds fall into this category, including Black Australorps, New Hampshire's and White Leghorns .

Are leghorns dual purpose?

Leghorn chickens are classed as a dual purpose breed , as they have enough meat to make a decent table bird, as well as being a productive egg layer. (They aren't as heavy as other dual purpose breeds like the Australorp).

What is the best all rounder chicken?

Brahma . Brahmas are a great all-round bird. Their large size and fluffy plumage make them great birds for eating and show respectively. Furthermore, while they produce a moderate amount of eggs, they dominantly lay in the winter months when other breeds stop laying.

Dual Purpose Chickens, Egg Breeds or Meat Chickens

Dual purpose chickens are bred for both egg production and meat. It may sound perfect but there is a trade off.

If you’re new to chickens and you’ve been perusing the catalogs planning your new chick order you might have come across the term ‘dual-purpose chicken’ and been confused or intrigued.

Index hide

1Egg Laying Chickens

2Meat Chickens

3Dual Purpose Chickens

Egg Laying Chickens

All hens will lay eggs if they stay out of the freezer long enough but there are certain chickens bred specifically for laying eggs.

Egg laying breeds tend to have a slighter build, they put most of their energy into laying eggs, not bulking up. They are also less likely to go broody, when hens sit on eggs they stop laying and won’t start back up until they are done with their chicks.

The best layers in terms of numbers are going to the be hybrid layers. The egg-laying hybrid chicken breeds include Golden Comets and Cinnamon Queens. Both breeds can lay up to 320 eggs in their first year laying.

I have raised a few hybrid layers years ago and they were nice enough birds but they tend to burn out quickly and they were the only birds I’ve ever lost to ascites or waterbelly.

Some people keep the hybrid layers for a few years and then when they stop laying they cull them all and turn them into broth and soup. They don’t have a lot of meat but they still have that chicken-y flavor.

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Easter Eggers, or the chickens that lay blue and green eggs, are hybrids but unlike the other birds I mentioned they weren’t developed for extreme egg production.

They are on the slight side and probably wouldn’t be worth dragging out the scalding pot. They can lay 200-280 eggs a year.

If you’d prefer to skip the hybrids you’ll be happy to know there are some common chicken breeds that will lay almost as many eggs as the hybrid ladies. White & Brown Leghorns can lay up to 300 white eggs per year and Rhode Island Reds can lay up to 280 brown eggs (these guys are dual purpose by the way!).

Popular Egg Laying breeds include:

White & Brown Leghorn (220-300 white eggs/year)
Easter Egger (200-280 blue/green eggs/year)
Red Jungle Fowl (250-300 cream eggs/year)
Cream Legbar (180-200 blue eggs/year)
Appenzeller Spitzhauben (150 white eggs/year)

Meat Chickens

If eggs aren’t your thing and you just want some birds for the table meat birds are for you. Just like with the egg layers, if you want to maximize the return on your investment you want to look for Cornish Crosses.

Cornish cross are hybrid meat chickens that reach butchering size at 6 weeks. You need to be on your game with them too, you don’t want to keep these birds alive much longer than 10 weeks.

When I was growing up my grandparents raised Cornish crosses and compared to the laying flock they had it was like dealing with two different species.

Popular Meat breeds include:

Jumbo Cornish Cross
Freedom Ranger
Dark Cornish

Dual Purpose Chickens

So you’ve got super layers and quick-growing meat birds, and right in the middle you’ve got the dual-purpose chickens. They lay more eggs than a meat bird (a lot more) and carry more weight than a layer.

It probably won’t surprise you to know that most of the classic barnyard chicken breeds like Buff Orpingtons and Barred Rocks are dual-purpose.

They are popular for a reason. Dual purpose birds are the classic farm bird that does everything, they do well free ranging, they are good at foraging, they lay lots of eggs and they hold enough meat on their bones to make it worth butchering.

A lot of the heritage breeds are considered dual purpose. These birds tend to be thiccc and hardy. They carry quite a bit more weight than a layer and tend to be good winter layers.

If you’re looking for a self-sustaining flock a dual purpose breed is a good choice. Broodiness has been bred out of many of the production layers but dual purpose hens tend to retain that habit.

Popular Dual Purpose breeds include:

Barred & White Rock (200-280 brown eggs/year)
Black Australorp (200-280 brown eggs/year)
Buff Orpington (200-280 brown eggs/year)
Buckeye (180-260 brown eggs/year)
Dominique (180-260 brown eggs/year)
Jersey Giant (180-260 brown eggs/year)
Wyandottes (180-260 brown eggs/year)
Light Brahma (180-240 brown eggs/year)
Speckled Sussex (180-240 light brown eggs/year)
Marans (180+ dark brown eggs/year)
Standard Cochin (110-160 brown eggs/year)

Raising Dual Purpose Chickens for Eggs

When they aren’t going broody dual purpose chickens can be really good layers. They lay less frequently that the hybrid layers but they also lay for a longer time.

Rhode Island Reds/White and Barred Rocks will lay up to 280 eggs/year, Jersey Giants, Wyandottes and Buckeyes will lay up to 260 eggs/year, and Marans and Barnavelders will lay up to 200 eggs/year.

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Dual purpose chickens are also known for being good winter layers. Bigger birds handle the cold weather easier and are able to put more energy into laying versus just surviving.

I keep lights in my coop so my poor New York birds don’t spend 18 hours a day in darkness but I still notice when the days start to get longer in January and February just based on my egg basket.

Most of my birds lay light brown eggs but during the coldest months I notice a larger proportion of dark brown eggs (coming from my Marans & Welsummers) and green eggs from my olive eggers. None of my white egg layers are dual purpose and I rarely get a white egg in the winter!

Read more about Picking Chickens for Rainbow Eggs

Raising Dual Purpose Chickens for Meat

You can buy or hatch out a batch of chicks and keep the hens for eggs and process the roosters after 6-9 months. Most hatcheries will sell male chicks for a low price just to get rid of them.

If you have the space to run a few dozen co*ckerels on pasture for a few months it’s not a bad way to fill the freezer. Dual purpose roosters will usually reach 6 pounds around 4.5 months.

Do you Need a Rooster in Your Flock? Find out

You will have plenty of time to get them processed before the hormones kick in and they turn into jerks. Deadlines aren’t as much of an issue with these guys because they grow so much slower than the Cornish Crosses.

Some dual purpose chicken breeds will get pretty big, like my favorites, the Brahmas. Brahma co*ckerels (male chickens less than one-year-old) can reach up to ten pounds and the roosters can hit 12 pounds.

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Dual purpose breeds will look different on the table than the standard chickens you’re used to. One of the biggest differences is lack of giant breast meat, they will have large frames (more bones for stock!) and less meat over all. They also have more flavor and the meat won’t be quite as tender.

Crock pots are a great way to cook dual purpose birds, the slow cooking help relax and tenderize the meat. And don’t forget Coq Au Vin! The braised chicken dish is traditionally made with an old rooster.

Looking for more info? Check out my Chicken Keeping page or start here:

Dual Purpose Chickens, Egg Breeds or Meat Chickens - Which is Best? (2024)