Originally posted by rickymouse
My chance of getting a good response may be better with the title

I am thinking of getting some MEAT CHICKENS next summer and am wondering if there are any varieties that have more dark meat than others. My daughter and I both prefer the dark meat and store chickens seem to have more white meat. My wife eats white meat but there is a lot more white than dark on these chickens.

People like me who have allergies should eat dark meat because it contains more selenium which can help them with their allergies. White meat is higher in Calcium.

Does anyone know the best variety of chickens that has a more equal ratio?

edit on 17-12-2012 by rickymouse because: (no reason given)

This may come to a surprise, but there aren't many non gmo "meat" breeds of chickens. The mass production chicken in modern cuisine is brought to you by genetic engineering. Most of what you eat in fast food restaurants and in the grocery store are what's called "Cornish Crosses". They are genetically engineered to be ready to eat within 6-8 weeks. The current constant saturation of cheap chicken is completely an artificial creation. Cornish crosses are absolutely pitiful. They CANNOT reproduce naturally and most can't walk correctly due to the quick and huge unnatural breast development.

Heritage breeds (non gmo) are divided into 3 broad categories based on purpose. Dual purpose, egg production, and ornamental. If you want healthy chickens that can reproduce and are big enough to eat, you need to pick out a dual purpose variety.

www.backyardchickens.com

Is a great information resource.

Traditionaly, in a dual use flock, only excess roosters and old hens were eaten as young hens produce more food through eat laying than just eating them outright. The egg layers are usually very small framed chickens that lay more eggs but are too skinny to bother eating.

Pretty much the quickest you're gonna be able to eat a heritage breed is six months. I'm not sure about the dark meat to white meat conversion other than as a general rule a heritage animal will have more dark meat.

You might like this chicken:

I would think that any free range chicken is probably going to have a greater density of dark meat simply due to using their legs more. I've eaten a home made chicken, the taste difference is like eating a store bought tomato vs a garden tomato, it's night and day.

Originally posted by grownshow
Heritage breeds (non gmo) are divided into 3 broad categories based on purpose. Dual purpose, egg production, and ornamental. If you want healthy chickens that can reproduce and are big enough to eat, you need to pick out a dual purpose variety.

Personally, I raise three different breeds. Buff Orphingtons, which are a golden color and are a dual purpose breed. The roosters (even in a box of pullets you are going to end up with 25% roosters) are big enough to harvest at the 4 month mark. They are big enough to eat when they are done with their laying time but way smaller than store bought chickens so if you'd normally roast one for your family just roast two. As for temperament the ladies are docile and curious and will even land on my shoulders occasionally. The roosters are not aggressive towards people in my experience but like people they all have different personalities.

Rhode Island Reds are my favorite layers as they seem to be the most prolific of the egg layers and lay an egg without fail every day after they are 6 months old. However, they are indeed small framed and after they have outlived their egg laying years are pretty much only good for pot-type cooking dishes where the whole carcass is rendered and pulled - say for soup, noodles or even chicken salad type meals. Cooking one for a pot of soup or noodles in a large crock is about perfect for a non-meat centric soup.

We added in Barred Rocks because the wife thinks they are pretty - not the most practical of reasons but then again the wife is not known for her practicality. They are considered a dual purpose breed and the roosters are big enough to harvest around 4-5 months depending. They are comparable to the Buff Orphington in my description above.

As for an order of the Cornish Cross – it is not necessarily a bad thing if you just want to raise 24 birds for the freezer. We have done it in the past. The breed is not the problem it is the hormones in the feed and that factory conditions that make their meat value questionable. Understand that you do not want to allow them to free range as they will develop leg and feet problems early if you do. Give them just enough space to move about in the pen or safe area. They are admittedly the most stupid of birds but you can’t beat them for a quick way to fill the freezer. 24 birds will cost you about 2-3 dollars each (feed them the 22% protein meat breed feed rather than the 16% all purpose feed) to raise to kill weight in 6-8 weeks. You get the peace of mind knowing they were not stacked on top of each other sitting in their own # and feed a decent diet free of hormones.

Make sure you don’t put off the harvest past 8 weeks because they will start to flounder about because they will be top heavy.