White Cornish: Building a Quality, Sustainable Flock for Meat and More.....

[GreatBreeder]

Well I guess I'll be skipping Cornish Rocks! I'll be getting white broilers this summer, along the lines of WR, WC, and Bresse

 

[JRNash]

I find it interesting, and I include myself, how many people will try and "make" their own bird. Some of the first birds I bought were hatchery dark cornish. I wanted WHITE cornish. To say the birds were a disappointment is an understatement. I had one rooster that had above average width
(for hatchery stock) but had a tail like an ostrich. He also had a couple of white primaries. I had hoped to breed to the "White" plumage. At around 8lbs
A barred owl figured he would make a good dinner. Once I started doing the research I figured out real quick without knowing more about what I was starting with I'd never be able to predict an outcome. I read somewhere that it takes like 6 generations of "back breeding" to get back to a 97% pure strain of what you started with. At first glance it doesn't look too bad. That unknown 3% burns the house down.lol

 

[JRNash]

For the life of me I don't understand why there aren't MORE white cornish out there. I know there is a market advantage with white meat birds. You would think some hatchery would offer their version of a white cornish.

 

[Fairview01]

Alright, is this stuff written down somewhere or does everyone have learn it through the school of hard knocks.

No way in God's creation am I going to show birds. God knows I had enough running around the Lone Star state with 3 daughters in a soccer mom van half full of dwarf hotots bunnies, I have zero interest in doing it with chickens.

But this genetics stuff is interesting as all get out. It's a scientific puzzle.

 

[JRNash]

Lol. Here is what I ended up concluding. Even though I have NO intention of showing birds either ,in order to get a better meat bird your going to have to pay attention to the way you breed the birds otherwise you will lose the body confirmation that attracted you in the first place. Might as well use the tried and true SOP as a guideline.

 

[JRNash]

Poultry geneticist readily admit they are no where close to understanding all the different gene expressions

 

[Fat Daddy]

Alright, is this stuff written down somewhere or does everyone have learn it through the school of hard knocks.

No way in God's creation am I going to show birds. God knows I had enough running around the Lone Star state with 3 daughters in a soccer mom van half full of dwarf hotots bunnies, I have zero interest in doing it with chickens.

But this genetics stuff is interesting as all get out. It's a scientific puzzle.

It's written in a dozen or so books, forums, Facebook groups, etc.... knowledge passed on by old men and women that have raised birds for years, well educated folks that are willing to share information, breeders for profit that think only of selling birds at the highest price possible, the wanna be's that don't know what they don't know.... the hard part is figure'n out who is who!

Edited to add: That sounds more cynical that it should. Iv found most are willing to share info on most topics freely. Some Iv truly admired for their knowledge and willingness to share it. Some were very good at the genetics and breeding, but so profit driven that it just took the fun out of sharing their company....

 

[GreatBreeder]

There should be way more white Cornish around, they have dark and even WLR, why so few whites. Although the market might be cornered by the industry, no typical hatcheries like cackle and Mcmurray sell them. They're out making freedom rangers when they could be getting ahold of white Cornish. They're also a heritage breed, not a cross.

 

[JRNash]

I think that anyone who has any type of Cornish(not CX) that loves the look of the birds,will eventually come to the realization that breeding to the SOP is the only path forward. IMO, this is a breed that you can screw up in one generation. I don't think its as noticeable in breeds the are not hard feathered

 

[JRNash]

SOP means different things to different folks,sorta like politics and religion everyone will have a different idea. To me the SOP, keeps a majority breeding along similar lines even though everyone will interpret the guidelines differently.