Breeding back to parents

[Redhead Rae]

I'm don't have that much patience and at 60 don't figure I have a lot of time left.

There is another option. Heritage meat birds.

Well, I'm 32 and just getting started with chickens so I can do a lot of learning and experimenting between now and when I'm your age. I've never considered cornish birds because I've heard they are temperamental, flighty and not very good layers. How do you find their dispositions/egg laying abilities?

 

[Chooks man]

What are the different methods of breeding? I thought I had to have a few hens for the rooster so the hens aren't over bred.

there is many different breeding chooks methods .
example =
- flock breeding = many related rooster X many related hens( the hens are not related to the Roos) . commercial chooks breeders apply this method
- pen breeding = 1 rooster X many related / unrelated hens
- single mating breeding = 1 Rooster X 1 hen no related to him
-forward breeding = F1 X F1 .F2 X F2 etc..................one generation after another .
- line breeding = Sire over daughters and Mama hen over her son /sons

many more method

hope that help

chooks man

 

[Fairview01]

Well, I'm 32 and just getting started with chickens so I can do a lot of learning and experimenting between now and when I'm your age. I've never considered cornish birds because I've heard they are temperamental, flighty and not very good layers. How do you find their dispositions/egg laying abilities?

The white large fowl (wlf) Cornish is one parent of the Cornish rock crosses. Let me first say I'm no expert for these guys, I'm just starting out with this breed. These guys are strictly meat birds imo. They lay medium large eggs and imo do it poorly. In the southern US, I'm in Texas, they stop laying when the heat sets in and the roosters become temporary sterile until it cools again. I haven't had an egg from mine since mid August. As far as being flighty not anymore than my marans. The older chicks can flighty but become less so as they mature. Really hard for a feathered tank to get excitable. I find mine to be rather docile, slow moving and at the bottem of the pecking order when I had them mixed in my flock. They will free range but not effectively. You'll still need to feed them a decent feed to get the meat on the bone.

As far as hatchability goes I get better than 95% after learning to incubate and hatch vertically. As far as in the backyard I find them to be ideal.

A dual purpose or heritage bird lays eggs and grows out at less than average rate of today's hybrid meat or egg laying specialty breeds. The Cornish Xs are table ready in eight weeks at 99cents a pound at wally world. Hard to beat that price. However when I eat my culls I can taste more than the shake and bake they are coated in.

The 2 largest chicks in the pic will be eight weeks old mid October. Marketable as a single serving Cornish game hen but no where near the size of a Cornish Xs of the same age.

As long as you're in the gathering information stage I'd suggest looking at the Cornish. The advantage of white meat bird becomes obvious after plucking.