Best meat breeds

[greyfields]

No one here is claiming to have problems with standard Cornish. It's the Cornish Crosses which are problematic. Some people don't understand (yet) that they're not the same. One is a purebred chicken, like all other 'breeds' of chicken. The other is a hybrid selectively bred for meat production. PM me if you're still not sure which is which. :0

 

[willheveland]

All this talk got me to digging out some pctures of a few years ago.I had a bunch of White Rocks all roosters,It was the first I had ever had those.They were really nice large birds.I wish I would have had some hens.I wondered how it would have been to breed White Rock hens with a Aseel to try to get a meatier bird.
It would be nice to get a small group together,all trying to get similar results and share notes. just a thought. might save some time for the whole group. Will

 

[hiddenmagnolia]

Quote:
PM ed you and yes i know difference explained experience in PM thanks.but point is that you can raise the cornish cross to be health birds if you do it right. Which means not over feeding them and putting them on a lower protein diet. Like a good laying crumb are finishing crumb that is closer to 18% protein. The bird will not starve and if are raising it for a layer or a pet it can be done safely. That has been my experience in raising cornish cross for over 20 years. Thanks.

 

[greyfields]

Hi there. I don't think anyone was implying you were confused as to the difference. But not a day goes by I don't explain the difference to someone; and here are surely lots of people lurking and reading this thread.

As far as raising Cornish Crosses sucessfully, it depends a lot on your climate, shipping conditions of the birds before they reach you, the weather, etc. Diet probably is not in the top three worries with broilers. Good luck with your meat birds.

 

[snewman]

All of this has been tremendously helpful, thank you to everyone who contributed. I've decided to change my original order with McMurray to take off the heavy rooster assortment and instead get 10 dark cornish males. I'll pick my favorite to keep, process the others whenever they get big enough, and next spring give the keeper a shot with a couple different hens (I got quite an assortment of breeds of hens too, couldn't decide). There's a barred rock, buff and white orpingtons, black giant, RIR, and a dark cornish hen that could be candidates. I also got a couple of standard cochins, just because I like the way they look. I'm hoping they can serve as incubators if the real moms don't set, since that's what cochins seem to be known for. I'll just see what happens, and if it doesn't work out, or the results are unsatisfactory, then I'll know. Or I might find that I really enjoy trying to create the "perfect" meat bird for me. I'll let you know how it all plays out!