looking for meat birds!!

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natebmore said:
Ok I'm still a little confused lol I haven looking at purchasing Cornish cross I do not believe they are heritage at all so they will be a typical supermarket bird will picking a non heritage bird affect the flock when it comes to breeding
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Cornish Cross have a VERY short life expectancy, the reality is your birds might not even make it to next year to breed as they have a bunch of known genetic health issues... Also they will not breed true aka Cornish Cross + Cornish Cross does not produce Cornish Cross... Instead you will get a mix of birds that have a mix of varying traits from their origins of Cornish Chicken and a White Rock Chicken ancestry... If you want a sustainable 'breeding' flock, IMO stay away from production or meat hybrids... If you want Cornish cross for meat, get an some Cornish and White Rocks and breed your own Cornish Cross... If you want carefree generation after generation of breeding where you don't have to necessarily pair them up, go with a heritage or barnyard breed...
 
Also note that making your own Cornish Rock is not as simply as just crossing a Cornish with a White Rock (so I'm told - I've not tried it). But there's plenty of other threads going into much more detail about that, so I won't.

There are threads here about people who keep Cornish Rocks as pets, and some of them do live for a while, but I would assume that those are the exception rather than the rule, and any offspring that hatch probably wouldn't be much like the parents.

The heritage birds that are good for meat are also known as Dual Purpose birds. There are several kinds. I got 30 Barred Rocks for that purpose - keep the hens for eggs as well as a male or two, and then use the rest for meat. New Hampshire Red and Rhode Island Red are other kinds, and I'm sure there are more.
 
I believe we decided on barred rocks and rir. I can't believe there was so much information on the subject that I was unaware of. I seriously appreciate every ones help and wealth of knowledge!!! :)
 
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natebmore said:
I believe we decided on barred rocks and rir. I can't believe there was so much information on the subject that I was unaware of. I seriously appreciate every ones help and wealth of knowledge!!!
smile.png
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Do you have Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/idealpoultry

Usually Monday or Tuesday they will post some last minute deals, like Barred Rock straight runs for 95 cents. That's hard to beat!
 
dealfinder500 said:
Also note that making your own Cornish Rock is not as simply as just crossing a Cornish with a White Rock (so I'm told - I've not tried it).
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Well it is honesty that easy, but your Cornish Cross will not exhibit all the same traits as the ones offered by commercial hatcheries that have been selectively breeding their blood lines for decades to develop their own unique hybrid genetics and blood lines... In time though with select breeding and some work you could develop your own Cornish Cross genetics with traits you desire that differ or are very similar to commercial offerings, it just takes devotion and time...
 
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Looking to get my first meat birds. Wanting Cornish X. What hatcheries can you recommend or warn against? Thanks!
 

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