Breeding Cornish X Rocks

[JRNash]

 

[JRNash]

 

[cppeace]

I know this is an older thread, but I was just curious about something. Does the Cornish have to be the rooster in the crosses to get the bigger breast meat? I don't like Cornish rooters and am using other calmer DP roosters in my plans. Will I not get the larger breast meat by just using Cornish hens?

 

[lpatelski]

I have crossed both ways. I started with a Dark Cornish cockerel and crossed him with two Murray McMurray Cornish Roaster pullets. Then crossed the white splash pullets back. Last year I came across a 4-H project, 2 cockerels and 2 pullets. I crossed the 3/4 Dark Cornish(white) pullets with the two Cornish cross cockerels. Finally I crossed the better cockerel with the Murray McMurray hen. I will be keeping the females back to cross with my blue 7/8 Dark Cornish. The cockerel just below is the 4-H CX... he had no manners at first. I used feed sacks as a reprimand to the attacks. He respected my legs after those many lessons.

 

[cppeace]

Thanks! I figured it should work both ways hut you always hear white cornish rooster over white rock hens over and over. I'm literally just starting and planning out my breeding with my newly purchased dp breeds and getting some cornish pullets soon.

 

[Bridget-Louisiana]

I want to have a self sustaining population of fast growing meat birds. Meaning, they keep laying and hatching chicks and after 8 or so weeks I cull and eat them. Rinse, lather, repeat. A multitude of standardized egg-laying breeds, such as RIRs, Orps, etc., are readily available. There exists no standardized broiler chicken genetic package that can be reproduced true to type, available to the homesteader. All of the broiler chicks bought and sold in the U.S. are generated from hybridized parent stock that are under the proprietary control of large multinational corporations. I see Cornish X Rocks sold all over the place in almost every hatchery with a disclaimer that goes something like this:

"Cornish X Rocks are hybrids. Therefore we do not recommend breeding, they will not produce the same high quality in the next generation and due to the extreme rate of growth they will be too large at time of sexual maturity to breed successfully."

I do understand this, but I'd like to create these hybrids myself, instead of reordering chicks months after month. Is it possible? I'm sure it is b/c they do it, but I don't hear or read anything about people doing it themselves. What kinda of birds to I need exactly? Indian Game? White Plymouth Rocks? Does one breed need to be pullet and the other a roo? How is it done? Does anyone actually do this? I don't need to breed top quality hybrids, I just want to have some dependable meat birds clutch after clutch.

Please fill me in, enlighten me, and correct my misunderstandings here. I can't find much on this subject and want your expertise and knowledge on the matter.

THIS IS BS: "Cornish X Rocks are hybrids. Therefore we do not recommend breeding, they will not produce the same high quality in the next generation and due to the extreme rate of growth they will be too large at time of sexual maturity to breed successfully." ---- Our CC ladies started laying at 7 months. WE CROSSED THE CORNISH CROSS hens with our BUFF ORPINGTON ROOSTER and now have CHICKS that just hatched. Can't tell you yet what they are going to look like as they are 3 days old. But I'll keep you posted. Our CC ladies are BIG! Doubt they'll live much longer, but we are hatching all of their eggs till they pass. I don't think they will be as big as the CC, but w/the BO roo genetics, they will be a nice size and live a much healthier life. Next year, I'm going to get two separate batches of CC chicks and mate one batch with our BO rooster and the other batch with our RIR roo and then mate those two. FYI: As the chicks get a little older, they look to be getting BO color.

 

[philipdj]

Cornish X hens will lay eggs. Mine produced nice large brown eggs. I don't know how many they will lay because I didn't let them live that long. The Cornish X chickens are a cross, not a hybrid, so they are fertile. The problem you would have with breeding them is twofold. One the rooster may be so large he can't mate properly and fertilize the eggs and two, the offspring will not grow and perform like the parents. In other words, they do not breed true. Then of course there is the problem of them just dropping dead for no good reason.

hiii , interesting about offspring. so, the offspring cornish X cant live well like another chicken...?? because i just start to breed CX until their lays fertile eggs and hatched, seems like another chicken life..

and does the hen go brooding their eggs until hatched..??

thanks

 

[SmallFarmLover]

That's what I mean. I'm sure the Cornish X's at every hatchery is not exactly the same. Can you just throw some Dark Cornish and White Plymouth Rocks in a pen and call it a day? Like I said I'm not trying to make a super hybrid, just hatching and raising a reliable meat bird that I can put on the table in 8 weeks.

I read the Jumbo Cornish X Rocks is a hybrid developed by crossing the commercial Cornish chicken with a White Rock chicken. Best of luck of luck to you!

 

[SmallFarmLover]

That's what I mean. I'm sure the Cornish X's at every hatchery is not exactly the same. Can you just throw some Dark Cornish and White Plymouth Rocks in a pen and call it a day? Like I said I'm not trying to make a super hybrid, just hatching and raising a reliable meat bird that I can put on the table in 8 weeks.

I read the Jumbo Cornish X Rocks is a hybrid developed by crossing the commercial Cornish chicken with a White Rock chicken. Best of luck of luck to you!

 

[CNJ]

That's what I mean. I'm sure the Cornish X's at every hatchery is not exactly the same. Can you just throw some Dark Cornish and White Plymouth Rocks in a pen and call it a day? Like I said I'm not trying to make a super hybrid, just hatching and raising a reliable meat bird that I can put on the table in 8 weeks.

I tried doing an ABCD cross with heritage breeds, but it did not work. I needed the dinosaur blood from the Cornish Cross hybrid. Also, I think a White Plymouth Rock rooster paired with Cornish x hens will have better results than a Dark Cornish rooster. You may get parent Cornish X from the offspring.