Wyandottes are a popular dual purpose chicken. Photo by Mikex – Flickr
Since every hen will produce eggs and every chicken has meat you could argue that all chicken breeds are dual purpose. However, some do the job better than others. These chickens lay a reasonable amount of eggs (1 every day or every other day, with a longer than average laying season) and also are larger than average in size, making them suitable for butchering either excess roosters or when a hen stops laying. One popular variety is the Orpington. The Wyandotte, Jersey Giant and the Brahma are other well known dual purpose varieties.
Chickens for show
Nearly any chicken can be shown. Just as with dogs, you can be judged for best in breed and so on. However, for a particularly unique chicken for your property, try a Silkie. While the Silkie might be the talk of the farm, many other breeds have beautiful plumage and can be just as striking.
Other uses for chickens
Any chicken will do a great job of helping prepare a garden, or give you hours of amusement as they peck around the yard. But if you are looking to use the chicken, much more than the muscle and eggs can be put to use. You can use the feathers in crafts to sell. You can also feed the “waste parts”, or offal, of a processed chicken to your dog, or at least bury them so they compost and enrich the soil.
Selecting your chicken breed
I have personally been using this guide for chickens for a long time. It has some great information about each breed. Choose the breed you want by first thinking about the end results – what do you really want out of the chicken? Doing this, and setting up a proper chicken coop before purchasing your birds, will ensure you get everything you want out of your chickens.
I have a question. We just inherited 13 chickens from a broken home. Since it was December and too cold and frozen to do much digging, my husband built a rather large coop, with 5 laying boxes, a large window, perches and floors that “drop down” for easier cleaning. They have been in the coop since. We clean it weekly. They have no outside access yet and won’t until the ground thaws and we can bury stakes and fencing. We have lots of foxes and coyote here in our 70 acre woods. My question is, if I start allowing my chickens access to free range all day, will they automatically return to the hen house at night? I am 61 and cannot imagine having to “herd” chickens? Thank you!
Wendy,
First, thanks for stopping by and leaving us a note. Second, congrats to your husband for building you what sounds like a very nice coop!
As for your question: Yes, they should return to the coop every night. I have to put the “should” there because I simply cannot guarantee what ANY animal will actually do. However, many many many people let their chickens roam during the day just to find out that right around dusk they’ve gone back into the coop and are ready to have the door shut for the night.
What I can say is that when you are ready to give it a try just open a door and leave them alone. Don’t try to “encourage” them out of the coop. Them them feel comfortable with it. Let them remember where the coop is so they can get back to it quickly should a predator come. Don’t go throwing feed out in the yard or trying to shoo them out of the coop – let the decision to leave be theirs and I think you could almost guarantee that they’ll come back to their roosts by dusk.