How many of you FULLY Free Range your Cornish X Meaties? Tractors do not count.

[ChocolateMouse]

Surprised to see this as a featured thread because it's an older one, though still a good one.

 

[ThracianHorse]

Why can't tractors count? Mine gets moved regularly. If I didn't have a tractor, I might as well put up a neon sign for the local predators reading "FREE BUFFET LUNCH HERE!". One coyote will fix that free-ranging habit in an afternoon for a large flock.

My cornishx get sun, they get fresh grass, they get exercise, and everything else thier little chickeny hearts desire. Opening the door to the tractor does not get me any volunteers to come out. They've been offered the opportunity to free range, and I have yet to see one actually take up the offer. Needless to say, I am not convinced that 100% free-range ONLY is the best route for CX. Other meat breeds, maybe. But not this one.

 

[ChickenyChickeny]

the industry way way i lost about 40%.

40% ?! what happened to them?! did you have some out break of some disease?

 

[karenerwin]

Surprised to see this as a featured thread because it's an older one, though still a good one.

Yep, it's an oldie, but it has a lot of great information!! Plus it's timely as many people are getting meat chicks or are starting to think about getting meat chicks. The first time I raised Cornish X's I kept them in small pens and offered food around the clock like I had been told. It was a gross mess!! The next time I raised some I wanted them to have a lot more room but was still afraid that the "regular" chickens would bully them. So I put them in a much larger space and only gave them food during the day.
The third batch, most of them died because they didn't come in out of the rain and they got to cold ( they were Cornish game hen size). The few that did survive had a lot of room, relatively speaking.
After that batch, I finally came across a thread on BYC that talked about letting them free range and limiting their food (to prevent the leg problems and prevent sudden heart attacks). It worked! I saved 1 hen and 1 rooster from that batch. The rooster was too big to mount the hen. She was laying eggs, eventually she broke a leg and I butchered the both of them.
I will be getting some more around April/May. A science teacher at my school hatches them out at school and then I bring them home and raise them for meat! Some years I get a lot of chicks and some years I just get a few. I think 3 was the least I have gotten from this arrangement.

 

[karenerwin]

Why can't tractors count? Mine gets moved regularly. If I didn't have a tractor, I might as well put up a neon sign for the local predators reading "FREE BUFFET LUNCH HERE!". One coyote will fix that free-ranging habit in an afternoon for a large flock.

My cornishx get sun, they get fresh grass, they get exercise, and everything else thier little chickeny hearts desire. Opening the door to the tractor does not get me any volunteers to come out. They've been offered the opportunity to free range, and I have yet to see one actually take up the offer. Needless to say, I am not convinced that 100% free-range ONLY is the best route for CX. Other meat breeds, maybe. But not this one.

I read all 29 pages last night
and most of the posts said they fed theirs 2x's a day. Once in the morning and then again in the evening. They just didn't use as much feed because they weren't offering it 24/7.
Sorry to hear that you have not had very good luck with your Cornish X's.

 

[northeastDad]

Has anyone had success limiting feed / free ranging Cornish X and being able to breed them ?

 

[karenerwin]

Has anyone had success limiting feed / free ranging Cornish X and being able to breed them ?

I have to a point. I've gotten eggs but I have not tried to incubate any of them. Mainly because I don't think the rooster Cornish X was able to do his job. Plus they don't hatch out true because they are a cross. @duluthralphie I know has a project breed he calls Toads. They ( I believe ) are at least started from Cornish X. Hopefully, he will jump on and clarify if I am wrong.
I have had a lot of success with getting them to live a lot longer than the 8 to 12 weeks I was told they would live. Yes, I limited feed and let them run around our very large fenced in yard. We live on 2+ acres so they probably have about 1/4 acre yard (at the least).
@aoxa, the person that originally started this thread also had a lot of success, but they bred their Cornish X hen(s) to a Barred Rock ( I think) and got a couple of chicks out of it. I don't know if they continued to work on this breed or not.
I hope this helps.

 

[duluthralphie]

Hi.

Yep, I have raised CXs to live longer. There are a couple threads on it.

I crossed them and bred them back. I wanted to develop a self sustaining breed, so I did not AI. I think I should have to speed the process up.

I have had toad rooster that dress out over 15 pounds.

I did restrict feed (severely) I forced them to free range. I kept the water a long distance (over 50 ft) from the feed to force activity.

The birds are very susceptible to over heating because of the large bodies. If you are down south it may not work. We have put a rose comb on ours because of our harsh winters.

I fed them for 20-30 minutes in the evening only. It forced them to forage during the day..

Good luck @northeastDad if you try this. They are great birds when treated right.

 

[ThracianHorse]

I read all 29 pages last night
and most of the posts said they fed theirs 2x's a day. Once in the morning and then again in the evening. They just didn't use as much feed because they weren't offering it 24/7.
Sorry to hear that you have not had very good luck with your Cornish X's.

See, I've had perfectly good luck with my cornish crosses. I am aware of the presence of localized predators due to some incidental losses of goslings and ducklings (Which prompted some gamecam work, but revealed the presence of several extremely undesirable critters). Frankly, I don't plan on feeding the local population of predators, or encouraging them to stick around to see if they can habituate on free meals. A neighbor of mine used to free-range cornish crosses... at least until a coyote found the situation much to it's liking.

 

[LilyD]

I have tried with mine let them out of the coop yard to free range through the yard which is mostly fenced. Out of 25 birds I lost 5 birds due to a neighbors dog that got into my yard and went on a rampage the others just hung around the coop and ate staying pretty close wouldn't go out with the other roosters and hens. The DP meaty roosters would go out and run through the pastures eating all the bugs only had to feed them at night and 1/2 that would be left in the feeder in the morning. I only fed at night and let them out during the day to eat all day long.