Anyone ever outcross Cornish X with heritage Birds?

[Egg Snatcher]

I will be going with that slower growing strain of the jumbo variation. In the Netherlands growing your own meat birds is not really a thing. So we can't just buy rangers, I don't even think we have those here at all. We do have heritage breeds that are equivalent to new hampsires and delawares in terms of meat. But I don't like those and since I will be outbreeding the amount of meat would take a hit. Ofcourse now the problem lies in keeping the CX alive long enough to lay eggs.

When I had my Cornish cross I never put them on a diet. My hen lived with my bantams and had access to layer crumble all day. My hens layed closer to a year old and preferred to lay in a nesting box over the ground.

 

[lpatelski]

Hello, anyone ever crossbreed Cornish X with heritage chickens? What were the results of the offspring? Does it make a difference if the Cornish X was the father or mother? How did the offspring do long-term? Decent meat and egg laying? I'm considering using a Cornish X to improve my flock's meat qualities. I know that Cornish X and they require careful feeding schedules to make it to breeding age and still be somewhat healthy. I'm aware that Cornish X don't breed true and that they're a result of crossing 4 different lines. If you have pictures of Cornish X x Heritage birds I would love to see them. Thank you!

I Used Dark Cornish heritage birds over CX.

 

[Molpet]

I Used Dark Cornish heritage birds over CX.

Hard to find standard Cornish. I got shipping eggs before covid 3 times and the PO does a number on them. I got one to hatch. I used him on every hen I could.

Middle is a jake turkey

 

[rollkeeg877]

I Used Dark Cornish heritage birds over CX.

Do you find the f1 crosses of the standard Cornish over CX broilers can reproduce on their own or do they get too large? I’m thinking to do this and hold onto a couple f1 hens to cross back to the standards again.

 

[cj2024]

I crossed a Breese rooster with two Cornish cross hens and most of the chicks were processed at 3 months. They took a month longer than Cornish X to fill out. I kept a blue legged rooster and mixed leg color hens for the next generation. After filling my freezer with offspring from the next generation, I decided to concentrate on the white legged ones and stopped there after my white legged rooster's head got stuck in the feeder and died. The white legged rooster hit 12lbs at 4 months before I started feeding him only once a day to slim him down. I still have 4 overweight 3-year-old hens left with no rooster and low egg production.

I decided to go with Red Star egg layers instead of continuing my meat line. I was impressed with the size, color and the number of eggs they lay.

In conclusion, Breese crossed with Cornish Cross produced large tender birds at 3 months and 12lb roosters at 4 months, so I would go with a one-foot perch instead of a two-foot-high perch. They can live a normal life but can get hurt if the perch is too high for their weight, and they are below average layers.

 

[lpatelski]

Do you find the f1 crosses of the standard Cornish over CX broilers can reproduce on their own or do they get too large? I’m thinking to do this and hold onto a couple f1 hens to cross back to the standards again.

I did both with mine. Some hens are opinionated so I used AI when I wanted a certain pairing. When a hen has been riden raw, I'll AI to give her a break and heal.

 

[cj2024]

I will be going with that slower growing strain of the jumbo variation. In the Netherlands growing your own meat birds is not really a thing. So we can't just buy rangers, I don't even think we have those here at all. We do have heritage breeds that are equivalent to new hampsires and delawares in terms of meat. But I don't like those and since I will be outbreeding the amount of meat would take a hit. Ofcourse now the problem lies in keeping the CX alive long enough to lay eggs.

Just limit their feed around one month in.

 

[cj2024]

Hard to find standard Cornish. I got shipping eggs before covid 3 times and the PO does a number on them. I got one to hatch. I used him on every hen I could.

Middle is a jake turkey

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Murray McMurray Hatchery carries the original Indian game, now known as Dark Cornish. An order for15 chicks get free shipping and an order for 6 gets a $30 small order surcharge plus shipping which comes out close to a standard 15 chick order. In addition, customers can mix and match with other breeds as long as the availability matches each other.
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/dark_cornish.html

 

[Molpet]

Murray McMurray Hatchery carries the original Indian game, now known as Dark Cornish.
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/dark_cornish.html

They are typical hatchery birds. World of difference in the chest. Someone on byc sold some of their stock to a hatchery before he died....in a couple years the birds were not recognizable as from the same stock.

ETA those aren't the right color for dark Cornish

 

[Molpet]

What a good Cornish hen looks like