Meat breeds for legs

[K0k0shka]

I have occasionally entertained the idea of raising a couple chickens per year for meat in my small pet & egg flock. So I was wondering what breeds you guys would recommend for meat, for a family that hates chicken breast So much selection and work has gone into the enormous breasts on meat chickens... But has anybody ever selectively grown meat birds for legs and thighs? Any breeds out there that have huge juicy thunder things and tiny boobs?

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

Orpington and Barred Rocks are good ones but of course they take longer to harvest then Cornish X

 

[U_Stormcrow]

anything other than a CX (almost) will have a larger leg/breast ratio. CX have been selectively bred for that.

But if you want dark meat, relatively fast growth, and have no desire to breed your own, or maintain large flocks... have you considered Pekin ducks?

 

[HumbleAmerican]

Most dual purpose breeds would suffice.

Homegrown chickens don’t have near the breast meat compared to store bought. Cornish cross being the exception.

I find my RIR and Bar Rocks tasty. The sexlinks (RIR over BR) are tasty too…. Just smaller.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Rangers supposedly are good meat birds for legs.


There's dong taos too, but they're not outside of Vietnam yet

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Rangers supposedly are good meat birds for legs.


There's dong taos too, but they're not outside of Vietnam yet

I have heard that about Rangers as well, though I have not raised any of my own

 

[iwltfum]

Rangers for sure. A five pound cx will have roughly one pound of breast meat. Same size ranger will have half of that. But as a clarification, most of the weight for rangers is the thighs. Not the legs. I have a weight break down of different cuts for freedom rangers somewhere. I'll try and find it this morning.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm using the "Informative" tag because I'd LOVE to see that chart. My overall yields are consistently 71-73% at butchering, but the proportions isn't something I've seen in print before, nor do I have a good sense of it from my own efforts, since my birds are (now) all mutts. Curious as to where they fall.

 

[3KillerBs]

But as a clarification, most of the weight for rangers is the thighs. Not the legs. I have a weight break down of different cuts for freedom rangers somewhere. I'll try and find it this morning.

I will be very interested in this because my family LOVES dark meat.

 

[K0k0shka]

Thanks everybody! Looks like Rangers are the winner. I'll look into getting some. My default choice was Orpingtons, because they get big and grow proportionately, and are easy to keep. I ate some last year when I had to cull the males, and they were delicious. Plenty big by the end of summer (I don't need them to balloon overnight the way Cornish X do, I can wait). Would you say Rangers have more dark meat than Orpingtons do, relative to body weight? If I wait for either to be full(ish) grown before butchering.