First Time With Cornish X's

[Coralietg]

I think you did an excellent job of processing by yourself on the spur of the moment! Kudos to you!

You did what was best for the bird and didn't let your own emotions stand in the way of doing the right thing.

So how much did the finished carcass weigh?

The first pictured roo isn't the one I processed, he was just one of the biggest. The processed one had a live weight of 5.5lbs, and dressed weight of 3.7lbs. It's right on track with my original goal, which was a 6lb live weight for a 4lb dressed weight.

 

[Bethel3330]

The first pictured roo isn't the one I processed, he was just one of the biggest. The processed one had a live weight of 5.5lbs, and dressed weight of 3.7lbs. It's right on track with my original goal, which was a 6lb live weight for a 4lb dressed weight.

you did fantastic! You're much braver than I am.

 

[LindaB220]

The first pictured roo isn't the one I processed, he was just one of the biggest. The processed one had a live weight of 5.5lbs, and dressed weight of 3.7lbs. It's right on track with my original goal, which was a 6lb live weight for a 4lb dressed weight.

Really glad I was able to see pictures. Your daughter was doing fine on it wasn't she? To my way of thinking 3.7 is just about perfect. I'm not crazy about those grocery store breasts that are so huge.

 

[Coralietg]

Update. I've processed a measly two. Smaller ones that had legs problems are were no longer standing. One flipped dead a couple of nights a go, our fault for delaying processing.

Picture of the tractored Cornish, they are 7 weeks and 6 days old.

Couple of weights:
Male- 8.7lbs
Male- 8.8lbs
Female- 7lbs
Female- 6.4lbs
Female- 6lbs



The goal (yet another!) is to process a chunk of them on Wednesday and Thursday.

This is one of the stall techniques courtesy of my husband. An (unnecessary) deck to elevate a processing area.



I also got some extra Cornish X's 4 weeks a go (March 28th). It was a silly idea thinking I got rotate them in with the older Cornish in the tractor. 10 minutes and pecked heads later, I moved them all out. The older Cornish looked like terrifying Sumo wrestlers chasing the poor small(er) ones. I put them out with the laying flock. There are 5 red rangers in the mix to, but I have NO CLUE who they are. I had similar aged red sex links and New Hampshire Reds and I can't tell them apart right now.



A male sample from the outside Cornish crew weighed 2.5lbs. Quite frankly I have expected them to be puny, as I have a tough time separating the laying ladies from the youngsters eating Chick Starter. Apparently Chick Starter is the most amazing thing on earth to them. One of the 4 week old Cornish was wounded in the failed tractor experiment, and I put him separated into a brooder that is currently holding a crook beak EE and some smaller babies. He has access to food all the time. Coincidentally he is also spot on 2.5lbs, so I don't think the outside bunch are starving! They are also a lot cleaner.

 

[new2chickes]

I'm already nervous, I started with 18 I'm down to 16 they're eating about a half pound of food a day and I have 20 more coming on May 9th

. What was I thinking?? This is my first time raising them I hope they all make it!

 

[Diamantine]

Hello!
I'm getting my first ever batch of 15 Cornish X in one week. Already have the brooders set up, tractor built, and am now looking for info on their care. No matter what google search I perform, I seem to have trouble finding answers to many of my questions in one source. Can anyone give me their opinion on:
What type of feed is best for these birds from 1-3 weeks and then 3-8 weeks? What are the best protein percentages?
Can they be given other forms of foods? Treats such as scrambled eggs, grains, oats, vegetables?
What are their ideal temperatures in the brooder? How fast should the temperature be dropped until they are outdoors?

These are probably questions with multiple or variable answers, but I would love some input and advice from anyone who has had success with their methods in the past. Any other tips would be much appreciated, as well.
Thank you!

 

[Diamantine]

Also, what are some housing tips that people use to keep them comfortable in a tractor? I read somewhere that they don't tend to use roosts

 

[Coralietg]

Hello!
I'm getting my first ever batch of 15 Cornish X in one week. Already have the brooders set up, tractor built, and am now looking for info on their care. No matter what google search I perform, I seem to have trouble finding answers to many of my questions in one source. Can anyone give me their opinion on:
What type of feed is best for these birds from 1-3 weeks and then 3-8 weeks? What are the best protein percentages?
Can they be given other forms of foods? Treats such as scrambled eggs, grains, oats, vegetables?
What are their ideal temperatures in the brooder? How fast should the temperature be dropped until they are outdoors?

These are probably questions with multiple or variable answers, but I would love some input and advice from anyone who has had success with their methods in the past. Any other tips would be much appreciated, as well.
Thank you!

It's hard to find a set guide on raising Cornish X's. People do things in such different ways.

I fed 18% Chick Starter from the beginning, fermented. I'm still feeding it now. They have gained weight tremendously, and I had no losses until last week. He was just big and I should've processed him earlier.

I've added oats to their fermented food on occasion, when I had it. No problems with it. I gave them some scrambled eggs as chicks, they seemed to like it.

As for the brooder, I've never kept a strict eye on how warm it was in there. If they were all huddled together, I lowered the heat lamp. This never happened, but if they started giving the heat lamp a wide berth, I would've raised it. I put them outside when they were feathered, about 3 weeks old. BUT, we live in a temperate climate.

Also, what are some housing tips that people use to keep them comfortable in a tractor? I read somewhere that they don't tend to use roosts

The majority of people using tractors, have a sheltered off area and the chickens can sleep on the ground. I added a raised area, because we live in an area where the ground can get wet, and floods. Also red ants. They do seem to prefer sleeping on the grass, it's more comfortable. A couple of them will roost, but the roosts we added and about an inch off the ground.

I'm already nervous, I started with 18 I'm down to 16 they're eating about a half pound of food a day and I have 20 more coming on May 9th

. What was I thinking?? This is my first time raising them I hope they all make it!

I started with 16, thought "this isn't too bad!" I got another 10, then the first 16 started eating significant amounts of food. Now I still have another 13 to process. It is a lot of work!

 

[Coralietg]

I left the lonely one to age in the fridge for 48 hours, and tested out a shrink bag today. It worked really well!



He was one of the smallest males, and I'm extremely happy with his end weight. I'm actually quite scared of how big the ones outside are, I hope they fit into the bags!

 

[Bethel3330]

I left the lonely one to age in the fridge for 48 hours, and tested out a shrink bag today. It worked really well! He was one of the smallest males, and I'm extremely happy with his end weight. I'm actually quite scared of how big the ones outside are, I hope they fit into the bags!

beautiful! Good job!!