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

[knjinnm]

Quote:
I believe the purpose here is to get bird that will have the rapid growth that is achieved with the CRX, but have new breeds mixed in to increase its ability to forage/free range? That is the quality that most CRX lack. If he were to start with something other than CRX hens, it would take numerous generations to achieve what has already been accomplished with the CRX. Why remake the wheel? Some of us are trying, but it will take years.

In addition to Minniechickmama's comments adding the ability to lay a regular supply of eggs for consumption and hatching. Cornish X's, not great layers, have a tendency to lay double yolk'ers which is great for cooking but not hatching.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
I believe the purpose here is to get bird that will have the rapid growth that is achieved with the CRX, but have new breeds mixed in to increase its ability to forage/free range? That is the quality that most CRX lack. If he were to start with something other than CRX hens, it would take numerous generations to achieve what has already been accomplished with the CRX. Why remake the wheel? Some of us are trying, but it will take years.

In addition to Minniechickmama's comments adding the ability to lay a regular supply of eggs for consumption and hatching. Cornish X's, not great layers, have a tendency to lay double yolk'ers which is great for cooking but not hatching.

Of the 4 CX pullets I kept to beeding age, only one sometimes layed a double yolker............................ in fact, their eggs were only a bit larger than a commercially graded "large". I can't speak for Jeff, but the reason I'm useing them to cross is that there's simply no other line of birds that carry the genes for large, meaty bodies combined with rapid growth that the CX are capable of adding. As for egg production; I would surmize that the female lines used to breed the CX chicks have to be good layers of single yolked eggs, otherwize it would not be economically feasable to produce the CX chicks we purchase at lower prices than most "breeds" offered by hatcheries. Certainly the crossbred offspring of CX are going to break down into a mix of the CX's four parent lines, plus those of the breed you cross them with............................ laying ability is one of the traits that those of us going all mad scientist will have to choose from amoung the best combination of qualities.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

for me it is the faster growth but also the almost "double" muscling, I just can't match that breast with anything else, at least not in the under 20 weeks time frame. My full grown CX's did lay HUGE eggs with a lot of double yolkers.

 

[prijicrw]

Hi all. I don't follow the forums here very often, but I just stumbled across this thread. I've been down this road myself and actually ended up finding a successful solution. I originally tried keeping some Cornish/Rocks until breeding age, but the females were very poor layers and the resulting chicks were even less healthy than the parents, not to mention the enormous amount of feed the parents consumed, even on a controlled diet, so I had to scrap that project. However, I found another system that works, and I now breed broilers on a small-scale basis for local chick sales. Here's what I do.

I order day-old Cornish/Rock cockerels and White Rock pullets. I typically order about 15 to 20 cockerels and carefully monitor feed and watch them as they grow, looking for which 4 are going to be my potential breeding roos. They actually sort of weed themselves out, and you can select the healthiest males simply by seeing who is still alive and looking healthy and walking normally once they reach adult size. I typically keep 4 -- 2 to use as breeders and 2 spares. I keep 2 breeding pens with 1 roo and 8 to 10 hens each. Their feed has to be carefully controlled, and the hens MUST have saddles (I use a special kind of duct tape). The resulting chicks are technically Cornish/Rock/Rock, so the Cornish is just a little more diluted. They grow just a little bit slower than typical hatchery broilers, but it's not really a big noticeable difference - maybe an extra week to butchering weight. Personally, I believe they are a bit healthier though. I don't seem to get as many leg or heart problems with them.

I use Hoffman Hatchery, but I would assume you can use any hatchery broilers that are relatively healthy, and any large White Rocks. The duct tape I use for the saddles is Nashua 357, and I have to special order it. Anything else just doesn't stick for very long. This stuff usually stays put for at least several weeks.

I've been breeding them this way for 2 years now, getting new breeding stock each year, and it's working well.

That's awesome!! Are you still breeding this way? Thanks for sharing : ))