Breeding Cornish X Rocks

[rockpapershotgun]

I want to have a self sustaining population of fast growing meat birds. Meaning, they keep laying and hatching chicks and after 8 or so weeks I cull and eat them. Rinse, lather, repeat. A multitude of standardized egg-laying breeds, such as RIRs, Orps, etc., are readily available. There exists no standardized broiler chicken genetic package that can be reproduced true to type, available to the homesteader. All of the broiler chicks bought and sold in the U.S. are generated from hybridized parent stock that are under the proprietary control of large multinational corporations. I see Cornish X Rocks sold all over the place in almost every hatchery with a disclaimer that goes something like this:

"Cornish X Rocks are hybrids. Therefore we do not recommend breeding, they will not produce the same high quality in the next generation and due to the extreme rate of growth they will be too large at time of sexual maturity to breed successfully."

I do understand this, but I'd like to create these hybrids myself, instead of reordering chicks months after month. Is it possible? I'm sure it is b/c they do it, but I don't hear or read anything about people doing it themselves. What kinda of birds to I need exactly? Indian Game? White Plymouth Rocks? Does one breed need to be pullet and the other a roo? How is it done? Does anyone actually do this? I don't need to breed top quality hybrids, I just want to have some dependable meat birds clutch after clutch.

Please fill me in, enlighten me, and correct my misunderstandings here. I can't find much on this subject and want your expertise and knowledge on the matter.

 

[Agape Builder]

Dear rockpapershotgun,

It seems that you have already done some research because you are on the right track. I have been interested in doing the same thing myself. In fact, I made a post to that regard yesterday.

The Cornish X-Rocks that the big companies sell are actually crosses between White Cornish roosters and Plymouth White Rock hens that have been specially chosen for the quick growth of their offspring.

The problem with these crosses is that they are weak and unhealthy Frankenstein chicks. To achieve a bied with similar qualities, you can use a Dark Cornish rooster with either Plymouth Barred Rock or Plymouth White Rock hens. I would not use any other Plymouth Rocks such as the Buff Rock because their genetics breed smaller birds. Both the White Rocks and Barred Rocks are known for their fast growth and large meaty frames. The Cornish rooster will add a double thick breast and add to the compact meaty structure of the bird.

The commercial broilers are white because they prefer them for plucking purposes, but it does little to nothing for the meat qualities of the bird. In fact, for the small homesteader that wants to free range the birds, white birds attract more predatory attention and are less desirable. Therefore, using a Dark Cornish rooster instead of the White Cornish, and using a Plymouth Barred Rock hen instead of the Plymouth White Rock will produce a colored broiler that will be better able to stay safe from predators than a white chick.

It is notable to recognize that the Plymouth Barred Rock was the bird of choice that the entire American broiler industry was based upon until at least the 1920's. It makes a great dual purpose bird. When crossed with the Dark Cornish rooster, it will have exceptional meat qualities unmatched by anything other than a Jumbo Cornish X-Rock, yet it will remain much healthier and stronger than the commercial broilers.

The only real downside is that you wil sacrifice a little bit in growth rate from the commercial crosses. Still, I think that the advantages far outway the disavantages.

I hope this helps.

 

[KJaguar]

Hey, this is one of the cockerels from my project. Cornish cross x Naked neck. This one here is 16 weeks old and 13.5 pounds.

 

[DON956]

I've been interested in crossings for my own meat bird and this is what I was told by an old friend of mine that tried it several years ago and results were nice he said. First he got a good quality WHITE standard Cornish male and crossed him with New Hampshire females (offsprings will carry the fast growth) then he crossed the offsprings with white Plymouth Rocks and their female offsprings will cross again with the Cornish resulting in a great meaty egg layer dual purpose bird and fast growing. He said that if no white Cornish is available we could use the black cornish. I got all birds and just waiting for them to mature to start this project.

 

[kstaven]

They have to be a Hybrid X in order to get the growth rate. Our best cross to date has been GOOD QUALITY SHOW STOCK Cornish to GOOD QUALITY SHOW STOCK Dorkings. The hatchery versions of these birds just don't compare when doing the cross. They do take several weeks longer than the commercial hybrid to get up to a good size.

The commercial version has been developed for over half a century to produce maximum results from the cross. You aren't going to luck into it overnight and expect years of selection/record keeping and culling to get a consistent frame.

 

[2ndAdvent]

@rockpapershotgun.I raised a cornish x rock broiler hen to breeding age.She laid about 15 eggs and quit.Of those 15 i managed to hatch 10 in my incubator.The roo was a dark cornish from McMurry Hatchery.All chicks where yellow with some black spots.All seem to carry the broiler genes.There appetite is that of a broiler and show rapid growth.The oldest of these chicks are a little over 1 wk.Will be monitoring and documenting growth rate.Ill post more pics in about 2 wks

 

[KJaguar]

Nice looking birds there, thought I was the only one who had interest in this. Im from Trinidad in the Caribbean. Recently a friend of mine and I started using Cornish cross hens to heritage breeds. So far we have 12 Laying hens, three of which are lavender.We got the lavender ones from a large poultry farm that raises Cornish cross and there were three lavender in the batch. They lay really good because we customize their diet. We managed to get five batches of chicks from them using a very large black Naked neck rooster.
The offspring come out with very similar color patterns as yours.

 

[JRNash]

Keep posting the pictures,they are truly inspiring

 

[kfacres]

My hatchery stock (Privett) NH roosters got BIG pretty fast. I can only assume they've been less bastardized over the years than other breeds, given that people generally default to Rhode Islands.

big and meaty are 2 completely different things. I've seen plenty of fast growing BIG cochin and brahma cockerels, yet they never did mature out to have any meat on their bones.

 

[JRNash]

sorry it took so long