Boulders?

[PineappleMama]

So I got to thinking... what if you put a Jersey Giant over a White Rock...

As opposed to Cornish over a Rock...

Cornish, a game bird now meat, top out at 8lbs... Jerseys, a DP formerly meat, top out at 10lbs.

So, WHY aren't JG's the Cross of choice for a fast growing big meatie?

Boulders seem like a good idea... JG's are the #1 choice, supposedly, for capons...

Figure there has to be a reason that they aren't being used for Cross Meaties

Do they not grow quite as fast as CX?
Feed conversion not as good?
More of the heart/leg/etc problems than CX get?
Both have yellow skin, but the JGs have dark shanks could that be it?

Just a nosey posey and had to ask.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Figure there has to be a reason that they aren't being used for Cross Meaties

Do they not grow quite as fast as CX?

They do not grow as fast as most other dual purpose breeds.

Feed conversion not as good?

Feed conversion is not nearly as good.

More of the heart/leg/etc problems than CX get?

No idea.

Both have yellow skin, but the JGs have dark shanks could that be it?

I doubt it. Color problems can be taken care of by selective breeding.

I find the video in the link below very informative. You'll see that they keep four separate flocks, each one genetically designed to produce one of the grandparents of the broilers. For example, one flock is used to develop roosters that will be the father of the rooster that fathers the broilers. Another flock produces the hens that will be the mother's of the father of the broilers. Then the other two flocks produce the parents of the hens that will actually lay the eggs the broilers hatch from. You could maybe look at it as the broilers are a special breed, but it is probably more accurate to say that they have developed four different breeds that are combined a certain way to produce the broilers. The video explains it better than I can.

If they wanted to, they could develop these breeds even further for faster growth or to grow even bigger, but they can't overcome the medical problems this causes. The commercial growers are always working with the genetics to try to improve the efficiency of growing them out, but it's a little more complicated than just fast growth and feed conversion.

Broiler Chicken Videos

 

[PineappleMama]

Oh I know normally JGs grow slow, but then normally so do Cornish... hence crossing them with the fast growing rock to get a BIG bird fast. *shrug* Eh, it was a thought. Thanks for the reply and linkage Ridge!