Buckeye X Cornish X breeding project. Third generation pics pg. 20

[speedy2020]

Is the rooster Dark Cornish game fowl?

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

enjoyed the update jeff! would love to see some pics once you have them seperated.
I know you are free ranging a lot, but curious what you're feeding to these project birds.
you said 2 hens and a rooster . . . I thought you had more than three birds from this cross, or am I just reading it wrong?

 

[SteveH]

Been wondering about your project , but know you've benn busy for awhile . It'll be nice to see how they grew out .

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
I have 5 hens total but the two hens and roo are 22 weeks... so they should be getting close to breeding age. They may have buckeye breeding genes, which I have seen pullets take about 30 weeks to lay an egg. I guess that may be something I will have to work on.

They have been free ranging since they were about 5 weeks.... they had 20% grower until 10 weeks and then just standard layer for the last 12 weeks. Mainly due to my lack of time to finish off my pens. However I will get there, just takes time.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
Buckeye rooster...

 

[gritsar]

Jeff, I haven't read through this whole thread yet. I just wanted to give you my heartfelt thanks for sharing your experience with the rest of us.

I am raising 9 cornish Xs that were culled from a commercial house (had 18 but culled all but one cockerel). They will be 15 weeks old tomorrow. Most of their care has been common sense for me - treating them like layer chicks, getting them out free ranging early - but your info. will prove to be invaluable to me I'm sure.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Sorry for taking so long.... Man I get busy all of a sudden and really don't have much time to take pictures. However I just finished up the chores for the night and took the camera with me. So here they are. The first few pictures are just of the flock, the last ones are a buckeye rooster and the project rooster of the same age.... they were born on the same hatch. Notice how much wider that the breast is. The next picture of the comparison is with the hens and you can see how much bigger the project hen is which is 24 weeks compared to her mother. This is just one generation haven't worked on the the male line yet of the commercial broiler. I just have worked with the hens.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

That last picture is of the oldest hen.... she is laying. However the rooster is not interested, he hasn't crowed or even attempted to mount the hens. Seems like he's bit of a sissy, because the females beat up on him all the time.

 

[bigredfeather]

Awesome Jeff! Amazing how much bigger the back girth is on the project birds. I am surprised the Buckeye pea comb was passed on. I always thought it was recessive. If you can keep them alive, you may have something next year. Congrats!

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I thought it was dominant, but I'm not too sure? I'm not really good at the whole genetic thing but I'm learning as I go. The birds are way bigger than the buckeyes.... you can really tell when you hold them as they are so compact, however they are extremely healthy. They have no characteristics of the broiler except for the width of the breast and their eating habits, the rest they get from the buckeye. They are already laying so I'm going to start setting eggs here in a couple of weeks.