Cornish

I bought my breeding trio from a show breeder who bred them for looks and temperament since they would be handled regularly at shows.

While none of my birds like being handled, I haven't had a single one of my Darks bite me once I have a hold of them. Both the males and females have a nice, heart shaped body and thick, stocky legs. The double lacing on the females is gorgeous! This is what they looked like at 6 months when I got them.

This is them at a little more than a year.


This is one of the Cockerels I'm saving for next year.


This is a pullet I hatched this year. Her coloring is too light for her to make it as a breeder next year, but the lighter coloring shows of the lacing very nicely.


They grow out slow, but their carcasses have really nice meat on them. Please excuse the bad butchering job. This is a 6-7 month old cockerel. The younger cockerels (14-15 weeks) also dressed out nicely, they weren't as big (half the size), but were just as plump.

Love my LFWC. Just can't say enough about how much fun they are. Impressive to look at and the compliments don't hurt a bit. A lot of people ask if they are on steroids. Lol
Then proceed to beg to buy some. It'll be quite a while before I have enough to share but am having high hopes. Love my Cornish.

I have two dark Cornish roosters that I'm selling along with some white Plymouth Rock hens. They are either going to be rehomed OR MEET THEIR MAKER!!! In the 15 years that I have owned chickens with a multitude of breeds, I HAVE NEVER HAD ROOSTERS THIS AGGRESSIVE!!! Perhaps the hens are docile and make great mothers...but I have nothing good to say about the roosters. And in reading the other reviews, I'm definitely not alone in this! They are indeed pretty with that metallic sheen on their feathers, but my compliments end there. If you are going to keep this breed, keep hens! And if you must, keep only one rooster and handle him constantly in the hopes of preventing the daily attacks that I've sustained over here.

This has to be a favorite of the heritage birds for me. Beautiful, compact and so calm. Good seasonal layers. The roosters are amazing. Calm, dedicated and a really great table bird too. They do take time to mature.. but good things are worth a wait.
This is not a high end egg producer.. be aware, more of an experienced keeper for the breed. Adults are very flock oriented and very difficult to introduce new birds.

I was looking for a meat outcross for my EE hens, so I bought 25 Dark Cornish roosters. I raised them together and culled them down (sent to freezer camp) all but 5, then introduced them to my hens. Yes, I've gotten fertile eggs, but I have to carry a net with me every time I feed the flock, and net whichever of the roosters I have kept because they will crouch and jump at my face. When they started being this aggressive I smacked at them with a horse whip, but that turned out to be a challenge. When it's time to clean the coop I net them and put them in a dog crate to keep them from attacking me! I have experienced aggressive roosters before, RIR are also aggressive and will attack their feeder, but I read after the fact that these are "game birds" which means that they were bred for both meat and fighting.
I won't be keeping them after the next incubation and I won't purchase them in the future. I might try the hens.

Great alternative to the cornish cross but takes some more time to mature.My hens are very nice and gentil.

Our Turkey was a great hen. She laid eggs up to her death from old age. She was big, easily our heaviest hen, but she was, in my opinion, a sweet bird.

These hens were very hardy and excellent foragers. Not flighty as some breeds, but cautious, and likely to be below other breeds in the flock pecking order. The eggs are medium, brown, with very strong shells, laid regularly but not as well as some laying breeds. They are slow to mature, but get very meaty, and the cockerels made excellent roasters, as would be expected. They did not seem as alert to predators as some people have said, but it is hard to keep chickens free-range in my situation. They didn't seem to hide eggs as my Kraienkoppes did so admirably. Overall very nice birds for a dual purpose flock that is not so worried about high efficiency, but concerned about being more self-sufficient in terms of feeding and hatching their own replacements.

The very first chickens I got were two dark Cornish hens. One was very tame and was a great show bird. Their feathers are really nice, I never had to wash her before a show. My other one wasn't purebred, but she was really nice feathered and loud. They don't really lay well but they're cute eggs. I let them free range and they love it. Not flighty, overall I'd get them again.

Great chickens! Great rare Jubilee colour! I wish it shows up on other breeds when crossbred.

I started with two Dark Cornish chicks in the spring. Both did well, even though I was totally new with having chicks. One was named Buddy, since she was so friendly, and the other was simply referred to as "the wobbley chick" since she was in such rough shape when they arrived in the mail. They were both sweet. Unfortunately Buddy, who liked to sit on my shoulder any time I entered the coop, meet her end due to a predator. Wobbley has stepped into her place, being almost as sweet as Buddy. I will be getting a few more Dark Cornish this coming spring. Cornish is one of the less aggressive of all my 20 chickens.

I'm so proud of my little Dark Cornish, Chickity. She's gorgeous, for starters. She also has the temperament of a princess, hops up in my lap and lets me pick her up when I need to without a fuss. She's a sweetheart and I love her dearly. Loves looking at her reflection and taking accidental selfies on my phone while pecking it. Lays a medium-sized brown egg every other day like clockwork. She puts all of my layer pullets to shame so far with consistency.

well I have a white Cornish rooster that i wish i had killed a very long time ago. This is one of the worst roosters i think i have ever owned. I got hellion for $10 As a package deal with a black Sumatra off of CL that i ended up having to put down because of him.
Pros: hellion is a good mater he leaves no hen's needs "unattended" to and he has on more then one occasion taken on (and won) a dog three times his size.

now for the cons: This bird compared with the stories of other peoples cornishes doesn't fit he is very bird and human aggressive. He jumps and pecks for my face every time i bend down to fill the feeder or waterier. And he attacks the other chickens on the roost if they roost before him i have watched him more then once pull his pen mates off the roost by her tail or neck feathers this lead to a another hen (my only black Sumatra Watson) having to be put down when she hit the floor at a bad angle and broke her hip. I have tried for several months to get him a new home but no bites. so hellion will be meeting Jesus on Saturday i finally got the ok to cull him after he attacked my dad. I'm tried of trying to train him not to attack me he has over stayed his welcome by several months.

I owned a Cornish Rooster and at the time I had a flock of 24 and he was 1 of 3 roosters. He was never aggressive towards me or other roosters. I harnessed trained him and even took him into Rural King once ! His crow was a mixture between a a whale giving birth and a dying cockatiel Other than that he was great to own and I do miss having him in my flock!

We initially had two, Henrietta and Harriet, unfortunately Henrietta was a bit of a wonderer and got hit by a car It was a real blow as they made a lovely pair. Would recommend to anyone who allows their birds to free range - these are tough birds, they are more likely to attack a predator than run from it (especially if they have chicks or eggs to think about). They are great protectors for any flock as their alarm call is LOUD and they always seem to be on the watch, even the hens. having never had males I can't say for sure, but I suspect they would be fiercely protective of their hens.

Handling early is a must as I can see how their wary nature could make them aggressive to humans if not shown that they are no threat.

I have 2 Dark Cornish birds in my flock, a hen and a rooster. While the hen is a little less friendly, the rooster is quite friendly and outgoing. He is always the first to come investigate when I go feed them in the morning and he is easily the easiest to catch.
He is a handsome fellow who is neither at the top nor bottom of the pecking order (same with the hen).
Mr Rex currently has some bumbles which I am treating and takes it like a champion. He falls asleep in the foot baths I provide for him, and sits nicely while I put ointment on his feet and then bandage them.
My only issue with this breed is that they have a bare chest and the skin can become dry and chaffed in a cold Manitoba winter. I rub a natural cream onto his chest to prevent this.
My original plans were to eat him when he came of age, however after quickly becoming a favorite with my family, he has successfully secured his position as a future breeding rooster for our farm
I would recommend this breed to any person starting a flock as they are easy to handle and are great fun to watch and be around

Mr Rex having a foot bath


^ My Dark Cornish hen Priscilla

I have 2 Dark Cornish hens in my free range flock and they are easily my favorite. Both are friendly towards humans. The main downside, as i see it, is that they go broody a lot. By a lot i mean my girls hatch babies out 2-3 times per year in all sorts of weather. For that reason i think it's a good idea to have a couple dark cornish hens if most of your flock consists of non broody breeds. That being said, if your only goal is egg production, having a flock of nothing but dark cornish would probably be a disaster. Their mediocre egg production combined with a high frequency of broodiness, would make them less than ideal for that purpose.

If you're looking for a dual-purpose meat bird that will have a respectable carcass by the time they hit 15 weeks, go for the Cornish. I got 7 Dark Cornish cockerels from MMH in April, and have butchered two so far. The first weighed 5lbs. 12oz. before butchering and 4lbs. 3oz. after dressing. The second was a few ounces bigger before butchering, but I forgot to weigh him after dressing. Aside from some "rooster" flavor my family mentioned tasting (I can't comment on it since until these two boys, I hadn't eaten any fowl for 5 years, and I didn't notice it), they were great. Certainly better than Cornish Cross... our lovely local bear killed them all, while every single DC escaped unscathed... I'd go Cornish over CX any day.

Bought my first chicks today, will see how I like them.

They are great heritage Breed meat chickens. We have crossed them with our Light Brahmas and Jersey Giants. They are huge! These are really sharp looking, tight clean birds. Able to take care of themselves and any chicks. Worth every penny on your farm!