Hi there and welcome to BYC!
I have to say the best bird to raise is one that your family enjoys the demeanor and looks.. plus production.
The NN I would agree is not a bad choice.. Strange looking as heck fantastic conversation piece, hardy, tasty, quick growing enough.. and usually mild mannered. Select HARD for best qualities.
Orp, in my experience were way to slow growing and bossy.. fat beasts. Some are beautiful and you can select for growth speed, etc.. most offered at hatcheries in the US also appear more stream lined American standard than English.. English probably being a better choice for meat.
MEh to Delaware.
Marans.. a very decent choice for growth, flavor, hardiness, broodiness, forage skill, temperament.. plus popular and easy to sell extras... when selected for good qualities hatching eggs go for NOT less than $65/dozen.. Don't rule out popularity and resell-ability as a possible means of covering SOME of your costs!
Although not known in the US for their meat qualities.. Silkies are so popular I can sell them all day long as fast as I can hatch them.. and the males dress perfectly well for the table!
Bielefelder- Grew fast enough being a 3-4 # dressed carcass at 16 - 20 weeks, laid WAY to slow, all ladies Molted their first fall, ALL cockerels were stupid enough to test me AT least once. Too readily available. But definitely enjoyed the auto sexing aspect!
I'm gonna go out on a limb and state that NOT all so called "breeder" stock is ANY better than hatchery stock. Buy as MANY birds as you can and select the best of the best and eat or sell the rest.. Even as a person who selects hard in my parent stock.. honestly only about 1-2% is TRULY breeding quality IMO.. Since I'm a small timer.. I end up keeping about 10%. PLEASE use an NPIP breeder or hatchery.. what little disease protection it offers is WORTH the effort and usually not anymore than non NPIP sellers!
Also decide if you will want your parent stock or their offspring to be vaccinated against Marek's.. which the vaccine HIDES the disease but does NOT stop it. Since you will be harvesting birds anyways, maybe you will consider breeding for resistance instead of following big pharma or those who are keeping ONLY pets and not breeding at all and a loss to Marek's might be *more* devastating to them, makes sense for them to use the vaccine perhaps.. Vaccinated birds NOT welcome here to hide the disease. One gene was identified that offers resistance..
Marek's Virus FAQ
ONE key is what works in YOUR climate! What's your hottest day, coldest night, and usual humidity like?
I bought a plucker.. they beat my birds up and still need touch up by hand.. get you scald temp right and plucking is not the big deal folks make it out to be.. THIS is where YOUR timing is EVERYTHING.. don't pluck a bird during their mini molts when they have lots of pin feathers hanging in.. Skin if you MUST when that happens. Also feather color of birds impact HOW dresses carcass appears.. dark pins left behind are a lot harder to disguise than light ones.. This has NO baring on MY personal choice but it is still useful information.
I have tried more breeds than I care to shake a stick at. Your mileage will certainly vary since we and the birds are ALL individuals! MOST look better on paper than in reality.. The term "land race" to me is NOT a bonus and nor does it have any correlation to hardiness in OUR settings.
I actually do love Rocks and think barred is pretty cool.. but I would be more likely to go with Partridge.. because they are beautiful and should easily camouflage. Whites seem to grow faster. They have made great mothers, actually some of the best.. better than Marans AND Silkies! I have NOT had any for meat or bred any pure.. only sex linked FBCM sire X hatchery BR dame.. buyer reported acceptable results.
Alas, I have settled with Wyandotte (for now). I overlooked them in the beginning because they seemed so common and really did not stand out among the many "rare" and popular breeds I was trying out at the time. Over time though.. my local friend had some Wyandotte kept in her flock.. and they were just good, solid, hardy, predictable birds. When I remembered a couple of "oops" SLW boys from the feed store.. when I harvested them.. the layer of fat under the skin was melting up my hands as I disemboweled them.. the meat ratio and growth rate were very good on them... very tasty! I enjoy project colors and harder to find things.. So i'm currently working with lavender Wyandotte as well as hopefully Isabella laced (eventually coming from the red laced blue). Hatching is gonna start soon.. but I'm super excited about how their shaping up!
When you DO find a decent breeder.. their birds will ALWAYS be superior to hatchery stock.. But may also be less genetically diverse.. Inbreeding or "line breeding" is acceptable and deformities, reduced vigor, reduced fertility, etc.. should NOT show up until several years of CLOSE inbreeding. So if you are buying from a breeder.. find out where they got their stock(s) and how many male/females are being hatched from, etc..
This is already WAY to long, like everything else I post but including some comparison links anyways..
pickachicken
Chicken Chart
Breeds of Chickens
There are many breeds I haven't tried and many I did but didn't mention. Everyone who came buy my place enjoyed seeing the white Leghorn and the white faced black Spanish.. especially. Each comes with unique traits and challenges including MANY misnomers.. I've never yet had a Leghorn start laying at 16 weeks. Raise what YOU really enjoy.. and adjust your expectations regarding meat.. Don't forget to rest past vigor or you'll be chewing shoe rubber.. and use the cooking method best suited to the AGE of the birds harvested.. (I always include age on the freezer bag).. See following link for time/temp/age suggestions..
https://www.peninsulapoultrybreeders.com/cooking.html
Happy chicken adventures!
