best hatchery to purchase dark cornish?

[Jerry C]

LOL the Duke is da man

 

[Paulyp]

Hey Taxidermist I took some pic's of Big Boy for you, hope this helps.

I love this Rooster! He may not be to standard but, he looks super wide and his legs look long enough for him to still be able to breed his hens. I have a nice DC roo doesn't look quite as impressive as this one but seems to be getting it done!

 

[blucoondawg]

where does one find a chart or description of what the standard actually is for different breeds? I don't really care about showing but I would like to have them close to what they are supposed to be and I would try to pick good traits in my breeding if I knew what to expect of different breeds.

 

[taxidermist]

Oh, no doubt he's a great looking bird. I'd love to have him. As far as finding the standard, I just look through photos of them online.

 

[Jerry C]

Thanks for the comments on Big Boy, he may not be the standard but he's got to be pretty darn close and yes he is very active with hens. I can't wait to see how his offspring turn out.

 

[ThomsonCentennialFarm]

I have 7 or 8 Dark Cornish hens, all from McMurray. They are on the smaller side (as are most of the hens I've received from McMurray, except the Partridge Rocks which are huge!) but they have a very nice temperament and are very docile and are all shaped nicely. I have found some other hatcheries I like (Estes; Hoover's) but they don't have Dark Cornish, and I probably won't buy from McMurray again. Would like to find a nice Dark Cornish rooster.

(As a sidebar, in the mix I purchased from McMurray last year I got a bunch of various Leghorns. Tiny tiny birds, tiny eggs, poor layers, flighty. Never again!)

 

[biologynerd]

These are at 5 months. That pic is obviously much bigger.

This second pic is of jumbo cross at the same age with a hen

This is my rooster (all 5 mos)

I am gunna hafta get some from cackle too
They look nicer? Were urs bigger than this at 5months?
They are mcmurrays biggest out of 10.. Overall small I thought and slow growing

 

[Jerry C]

Biologynerd what are you using ti feed them? I fed mine starter grower till about 4 weeks old then switched to fermented scratch. At 5 months old all five were bigger then all my laying hens witch were Buff Orpingtons and Amberlinks I can't really tell but that rooster looks a lot smaller to the other chicken in the pic.I think mine had a good growth rate for a Dark Cornish but it took a little more time for them to fill out.

 

[biologynerd]

Yes mine are way smaller.. Ugh! I hate having to order 15 from cackle and starting all over again. Jerry where r u? Ur birds look awesome!
I really wish I knew breeders around here in nc...
I fed mine 20% protein feed I think from purina I think. It's a grower/starter. I just now switched to layer.
I heard that fermented feed is good but I wondered about mold and that asperigillus or whatever that fungal disease is called...
Let me know if u know anyone shipping eggs.

 

[Jerry C]

Hey Biologynerd, I live in Loris South Carolina, but here's a post with a breeder in North Carolina check out the last post in this thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/838335/where-to-buy-dark-cornish-chicks maybe you can get some from there. They are located in Rockwell, North Carolina...