Meat Birds

[RichmondHens]

I keep sussex and marans and have always been happy with the dual quality -I use the boys for meat (usually cull around 6 months)and keep the girls for eggs. If I try a pairing with indian game and my sussex will I get a much larger bird and would you keep the girls for eggs or meat?

I have a huge IG cock and the boys we raised from IG/Sussex crossings this year tasted wonderful, with much more breast meat and less fat. I did raise girls initially intended for meat but ended up selling them - they turned out very pretty and caught the eye of several customers - but don't know how well they will lay, my guess is not as well as a pure sussex as IG hens are not supposed to be great layers (which is probably partly why the breed is not widely kept).

However I bought two pure IG hens in October (as growers) so will be interested to see how well they lay. Then I will keep one with the IG cock to produce pure birds and put the other with one of my sussex cocks to produce the crosses for meat. Will also be doing it the other way round with sussex girls and IG cock. I'm interested in seeing how the IG crossings differ, ie male IG to female sussex, and female IG to male sussex. Male IGs have a reputation for not being able to (literally) get their leg over because of their broad stance although my cock has not had problems so far. I think this is why some people recommend the crossing of IG female to a different breed male for meat. Anyway, I shall be doing lots of experimenting and will report back!