How do you make cornish crosses?

You have to back cross if you want to isolate specific genetic traits

jessicayarno said:

You will not get the same chicken if you try to breed it yourself.. These birds are a hybrid and are bred 4 ways to get the fast growing cornish x... Most people are raising fast growing DP birds if you want something you can breed.. I personally am going to try the Delawares soon, which is a Barred Rock roo over a New hampshire red hen.. Another fast grower is the Turken, and these guys get pretty big too.. Good luck..

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Did you try crossing them and if so how long did it take to finish also how long does a turken take untill full grown

DUCKGIRL89 said:

What breeds of chickens do you need to breed together, to make cornish rock crosses? I want to buy a few chickens from a hatchery next spring, but I want to breed tuem to make cornish rocks crosses. Is ot white rocks, and white cornish? Does the cornish need to be the rooster, and do the rocks need to be the hens? Does it matter? Thanks!

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did you have any luck with creating a cornish cross? If so please share.

Whats a barring gene?

Jason2337 said:

Whats a barring gene?

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Its a gene on the Z chromosome which periodically inhibits the dominant color gene, causing the feather in that spot to be white instead of whatever the dominant color is (black in barred rocks). Since Hens have only 1 Z chromosome the gene is less active, and so the unbarred regions are thicker. The Roosters have 2 Z chromosomes, and dosage compensation works differently in chickens than in humans, so they get a double dose of the barring, hence why the white regions are thicker.

It is also why barred rocks can be used in sex linking. A white leghorn or pretty much any unbarred rooster crossed with a barred rock hen will produce cockerels that have the barring gene, and pullets that do not. I have never done this, so I don't know how it presents in the chicks. This is the method used to produce black sex link chicks, by crossing a Rhode Island Red rooster with a Barred Rock hen. The cockerels will have a white spot on their heads, and the pullets will be entirely black. Normally Barred rock chicks all have white spots.

Question... what is the result from a Cornish Cross Roo and Cornish Cross Hen? Will you get actual Cornish crosses?

Thanks

lelystad said:

you can't breed them, the parent stocks are not just a breed, more importantly a strain that is being selectively bred for more than 50 years. You can cross a DP breed with a cornish and still get decent meat birds.

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We recently got some RIR chicks, so we are new to the chicken world. What is a "DP breed?" Thanks.

Bridget-Louisiana said:

We recently got some RIR chicks, so we are new to the chicken world. What is a "DP breed?" Thanks.

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Dual Purpose. Good for meat and eggs.