The offspring of Cornish x.

[Free Feather]

I have recently acquired five Cornish x White Rock pullets from a neighbor. They are ten weeks old and have been fed like a meat bird their whole life until I got them. I am in the process of slimming them down through free ranging and a restricted diet. Three are bigger with reddened comb, bumble foot, and are featherless on their stomachs. I bathed them and am looking into bumble foot treatment, but I do not expect them to live as long as the smaller two, who have pink combs, no bumble foot, and feathered chests. Once they are more comfortable with their surroundings I am going to allow the very interested roosters around them, probably the smaller breeds. If any of the Darlings get to laying age and start laying fertile eggs, would their offspring be heavier breeds? Would some be more White Rock and others more Cornish, or would they be like their parents? I am dying to know, but I cannot seem to find the information anywhere. I like White Rocks, and I really like Cornish, but I definitely do not want Cornish x's being hatched.

 

[junebuggena]

The reason there isn't much information, is because most Cornish Cross are purchased with the intent for them to be processed no later than 10 weeks old. Those that accidentally ended up with them when they thought they were buying laying hens, didn't manage the feed properly and most of the time the birds rarely lived longer that 3 or 4 months before having to be put down due to poor health or being unable to even walk. It is very rare for a Cornish Cross to live past 6 months of age and still be a healthy, active bird.
If you do manage to get a few hens to live to production age, congradualtions. As for breeding potential, I think it would be reasonable to assume that the resulting chicks would be larger than the average chicken, but would not be likely to grow as quickly as the specialized hybrid that is a Cornish Cross.

 

[Free Feather]

There seems to be a LOT of controversy as to what the babies would be like. Does anyone have experience with the babies?

 

[junebuggena]

They are dominant white, so I think that most of the chicks would be white as well.

 

[Free Feather]

Okay, it turns out that they are actually three months old this week...
Tomorrow I am going to weigh them. They are big chickens, but actually smaller looking compared to most Cornish x's at this age.
I am just worried about the really bad bumble foot in both feet on three of them.

 

[Michael OShay]

The reason there isn't much information, is because most Cornish Cross are purchased with the intent for them to be processed no later than 10 weeks old. Those that accidentally ended up with them when they thought they were buying laying hens, didn't manage the feed properly and most of the time the birds rarely lived longer that 3 or 4 months before having to be put down due to poor health or being unable to even walk. It is very rare for a Cornish Cross to live past 6 months of age and still be a healthy, active bird.
If you do manage to get a few hens to live to production age, congradualtions. As for breeding potential, I think it would be reasonable to assume that the resulting chicks would be larger than the average chicken, but would not be likely to grow as quickly as the specialized hybrid that is a Cornish Cross.

There seems to be a LOT of controversy as to what the babies would be like. Does anyone have experience with the babies?

X2 on junebuggena. I think you will be hard pressed to find someone who has much experience with Cornish cross babies as they rarely live long enough to lay eggs. Based on what I know of hybrids, and the fact that they do not breed true, I suspect (although I've never hatched Cornish cross eggs either) that there is no way to predict how similar the offspring would be to the Cornish cross parents. Perhaps some of them might be lighter in build like the White Rock mothers of their Cornish cross parents. It would be interesting to find out if you can keep some of them alive long enough to get a clutch of fertile eggs from the Cornish cross pullets.

 

[mollybuck]

i was going to try something similar, i had a CX hen who was small, so I tried to restrict her feed and not let her grow like the others, it didnt matter. she had a stroke or heart attack anyway and she was not much bigger than other chicks her age. I did read once that someone had gotten one to laying, but i dont remember if they bred her.

we are just going to do a different route and are trying the white jersey giants. they certainly do NOT grow as fast.. in fact they are well behind in feathering as the buff orps of the same age!! they better start growing!

 

[Free Feather]

i was going to try something similar, i had a CX hen who was small, so I tried to restrict her feed and not let her grow like the others, it didnt matter. she had a stroke or heart attack anyway and she was not much bigger than other chicks her age. I did read once that someone had gotten one to laying, but i dont remember if they bred her.

we are just going to do a different route and are trying the white jersey giants. they certainly do NOT grow as fast.. in fact they are well behind in feathering as the buff orps of the same age!! they better start growing

I have a hatchery Black Jersey Giant, and he took FOREVER to get big. He did not crow until he was like eight months old. I have read that it takes them seven months to grow their frame and bones, and then they start filling out. That seems to be true. He is sixteen months old and still filling out. I have a pullet that is two months old yesterday, and she is behind in growth as well.

 

[Free Feather]

Does anyone know when cornish x will lay eggs? Our neighbor said like four months old, but I am not sure if this is true. They look like they are losing weight, but I never got around to weighing them. It seems like now that they are getting thinner, the three with redder combs are starting to lose some of their redness, and the combs are shrinking. I wonder why this is.
They are panting less, and all of them can jump up on the 18 inch high stand I keep the feed on to keep it out of their reach... I am trying not to get too excited, though. One could drop dead tomorrow.

 

[junebuggena]

I'm guessing they will start at about the same time as a Cornish or a Rock would, around 5 to 6 months old.