Delaware Heritage Meat Chickens For A More Sustainable Homestead
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- čas přidán 4. 04. 2022
- We can make a lot of plans on the homestead, but sometimes we need to pivot out of necessity.
Have you seen the skyrocketing prices and food shortages at the grocery store? We sure have. We wanted to make sure we could produce our own meat again this year. But what about next year? And the year after that? We needed a more long-term solution.
So our order of Cornish Cross broilers became an order of Delaware heritage dual purpose chickens. Yes, they take over twice as long to raise. Yes, there are feed shortages to consider. But we can keep a breeding flock indefinitely, they are decent foragers, and a big bonus..they’re fantastic egg layers! As soon as we clicked the “order” button at Meyer Hatchery, we knew we had made the right choice. You know what I mean..sometimes you can just “feel” it.
Delawares originated in the 1940s by crossing Barred Plymouth Rock roosters and New Hampshire hens, which resulted in a bird both excellent for meat and eggs. They were an early commercial chicken breed!
Are you considering taking the leap into raising poultry (or any other livestock, for that matter)? Why not get started with a heritage breed? You can help contribute to agricultural diversity and heritage by preserving rare breeds of livestock that will otherwise be lost to history.
For a list of heritage livestock breeds and their conservation statuses, as well as more info on why they are important to preserve, please visit:
livestockconservancy.org/
Music By:
Von Meyer/Barley Fields/courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Martin Landh/At Last/ courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
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I got Delawares in 2021 best breed so far, great egg layers, quick to begin laying, will still produce eggs through winter (reduced). The roosters are chill and the least human aggressive I have ever owned.
We cannot knock their egg laying abilities that’s for sure. We did find the roosters to be a bit aggressive however the ones we did not process for meat grew out of their aggression and are wonderful flock protectors now. We are enjoying them.
I know this is from last year, but some of they hybrids are getting better, and even the CX will survive for 5-7 years on a good feed schedule if the base genes are good. I have Freedom Rangers (4 total, 2 have Cornish X genes) that are my egg laying champions, dropping on overage 3 eggs a day. The two Cornish versions, 11 & 13 lbs, are almost a year old and are thriving. Now this is dependent on a feed schedule, as even regular FRs will eat themselves to death if you let them. They get 5 oz (dry weight) per chicken per day of a home mixed 22% mash. That's it. Food is: 2 parts floating catfish food, 1 part whole Black oil sunflower seeds, 1 part Alfalfa Timothy grass pellets - all ground together and fed wet - not soaked or fermented. The yokes are orange with this mix.
I have some New Hampshire roos coming so we'll see how breeding goes in about 5-6 months. I don't care about breeding true, I'm trying to create a good heritage hybrid that I can reliably get meat from that also lay prolifically, and I think I've got the hens to do that with.
This is very interesting info regarding the feed. I think it’s great to experiment with crossing different breeds. Who knows, perhaps you’ll find a stellar cross and will start a new breed. Very cool, interested to see how this cross turns out for you.
Very well said we have a lot of same thoughts
Always tough to lose birds, regardless of age. We lost about a dozen from our original flock in a storm. The birds panicked and they crushed themselves. We learned fast after that. You have a decent thought-out plan. Great video and great homestead. I am not sure a 'prepper' is a bad thing. I think it has to do a lot with why and how you are looking ahead.
Thanks so much for the encouragement!
I think its smart now to be a prepper. We are getting our chickens next weekend, but def doesn't hurt to prepare.
Absolutely! Because if you’re wrong about preparing, oh well..you learned extra skills and have extra supplies on hand. Nothing wrong with that!
We don't use paper towels you forget then after you get used to it
I'd love to see an update on this video. What do think?
I'm hoping for a video how the Delaware broilers turned out.
Indeed, we are working on an update video on that!
We raised delaware meat birds last year and loved them and definitely are raising them again this year. We kept one back, and she is our best egg layer and has the best personality. They definitely grow faster than other heritage birds, but Im sure their genetics play a big role as far as Delaware meat vs. Layer lines. We are considering keeping some more back this year for sustainability purposes.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I’m glad to hear that the egg output is respectable too. We are really excited to see how they turn out and hopefully we can see some success with this breed and carry some over to next season. We will do an update on how it turns out!
I'm trying them this year. I'm worried about tough meat. Are these able to be baked at 350 for a couple of hours and come out soft?? I've tried other dual purpose and had tough meat.
+Nature's Kind Heart we haven’t tried them either however we are going to be sure the meat is rested in the fridge for at least a few days prior to freezing, so the muscle fibers have a chance to relax. It’s something have done before with good results, but only on Cornish cross. We will post a video once we try them. We sure hope they turn out well.
@@natureskindheart3691 low and slow is the best way to cook them. The legs are definitely more tough since they are really active. When cooked in crock pot/instant pot, all the meat is very tender and flavorful.
@Maria G How was the breast meat? Some heritage can be kinda skinny up front.
Even though the large hatcheries have good biosecurity, they are still susceptible to getting avian flu. Murray Mcmurray just had an outbreak and I'm guessing there are more we haven't heard about yet.
Heat lamps are completely
Safe if you know how to use them and if your responsable.
Hows the chicks?
Grown up now and most in the freezer!
hello, i want to buy delaware chicken eggs, can you help me?
We got our birds from Meyer Hatchery meyerhatchery.com/. Not sure if they sell just the eggs for hatching. We may eventually have some for sale but it won’t be for some time. There may be someone selling them on eBay.
@@wojohomesteadI’m definitely interested in eggs keep us in mind - following with great anticipation 🙏
First comment! The babies are so cute
Little fluff balls!
where do get ur chicks?
That is NOT TRUE!!! If you dont feed them as much and let them run more they CAN BREED!! I had a 15 lb roo and 2 hens that bred and i was able to incubate eggs.
That is amazing! We are learning the truth of this with broad breasted turkeys as well. We do not pen our birds up except at night, so they can go where they like and get exercise. Definitely helps. Were the eggs you incubated able to hatch? If so, what were those birds like?