Can a pair of Cornish X actually breed?

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Yes we did butcher them when they started ripping open the backs of our egg laying hens when breeding with them. They were truly HUGE. Like midget white turkeys.
And they still tried to FLY at that weight! Wanna see something bazzar!

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

There are some crosses and breeds of birds that are literally unable to mate or are steril. But the Cornish Cross isn't one of them.
Broad breasted turkeys for example, designed for commercial meat production, cannot mate naturally, the tom cannot "perform" with his broad breast.

 

[raroo]

Quote:
Truly a touching story. However, what they did is turned a meat producing animal into a pet. You just as well raise a dog to eat it. The thing to remember about cornish x is they are supposed to grow fast, get big and be slaughtered at about 8 weeks. That's their job. You are really better off just to go buy the chics for each new batch than to try and breed them and hatch. BTW to answer your main question- no cornish x on cornish x does not produce a cornish x. It's a hybrid. Cornish sire plus plymouth rock hen equals cornish x. But what you also have to remember is- the hatcheries pay TONS of money for good breeding stock to produce these chics. Cornish x chics come from many many generations of careful selective breeding. IMHO if you want eggs and meat and to be self sustaining try some rhode island reds or buff orpingtons. Neither grow very fast but both are great layers and the extra roo's you hatch make great fryers. Best of luck with whatever you choose.

AGREED... and to go even further the hen I just recently opened up the heart was almost 1/3 dead. This bird was suffering, for how long I do not know. If a pet is what you want, do not use Cornish X they are not bred for it. But Standard Cornish have some of the features and survive well. They are a heavy bird for their size. They can be aggressive though. RIR is a good choice.

Just to clarify, I didn't go out and get two cornish cross on purpose with the intent of raising them as pets. I did explain the circumstances of how I got them in my thread.
The bird with the 1/3 dead heart may not be typical, as most people raise their "pet" cornish cross with a regular flock, so their feed can't be regulated properly. My birds aren't obese and I don't believe they are suffering.

 

[Judy]

I hope you will update us on how this works out. I'd really be interested, especially if it gets to the point that you have chickens produced by two Cornish X's. You obviously have the information you need to attempt this; I hope things work out, despite what you are up against.

There is a thread on here somewhere about a fellow with an absolutely huge Cornish X roo, like turkey sized. I believe there was some discussion of his possibly going into Guinness. But I have searched with all the terms I can think of and cannot come up with it. I feel certain you would at least find it interesting, if not useful.

Maybe someone else can come up with the thread.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

It would look like two balling balls mating.

 

[Judy]

Heck, if you can keep them healthy for any length of time, and get them reproducing, and have records of how you fed them, etc., you might start something!

 

[greatestgrammie]

I don't know that I am really interested in raising and breeding Cornish X birds but having spoken to someone about the possibility of doing so they told me that it could not be done as the birds were sterile.
This friend has a couple of Cornish and says that his hen has not laid any eggs and swears that if she did she would have to be laying them on the ground as she will not walk up the ramp to his henhouse to go to the nesting boxes. So I am assuming this helped to buffer the thought that they were sterile.
I have been raising chickens for over 5yrs and am pretty knowledgeable about chickens in general so this idea of them being sterile seemed quite odd.
Thanks to those of you who finally answered my question.

 

[greatestgrammie]

Oh BTW. My hens are different breeds and generally my rooster is too so the fact that I might breed and raise Cornish and won't get a true breed doesn't bother me in the least.(I call my chicks from the mixing of varied breeds my Barnyard Mix.)
My chickens are my hobby and my joy regardless of breed or size.
I'll raise these Cornish for the great fried chicken I remember Grandma making and if one or two of them seem to be doing alright weight wise I may just add them to the birds I already have. . . . time will tell.

 

[dbjay417]

I had a Cornish X hen that I raised to sexual maturity, she laid eggs and I even had another hen hatch them, but her roo was not a cornish x anyway, so I didn't expect identical offspring, but the two hens that matured from the eggs are monster hens, and good layers. The size and growth was not abnormal like the cornish x but they are wide set heavy chickens, that I'd eat in a heartbeat, if they weren't such excellent layers.

Her beau was a large turken that i recently had to cull due to his many fractured and swollen and deformed toes.

 

[greatestgrammie]

I might be more inclined to keep a pullet out of the bunch of Cornish X that I purchased at Tractor Supply but because I would have to intergret any Cornish X rooster with the other 2 roosters (Black Giant Jersey and Dominque)that I already have I am afraid that the "pecking order" deal might be more than a Cornish X rooster could deal with whereas a Cornish X pullet would fair much more easily.
In all I have read about the Cornish X I understand that as these birds get older they are heavy,slow moving and dosile birds but right now this 2wk chicks are the most skiddish and hyper birds I have ever seen and can't wait to get them feathered out,butcher the ones I want/need and get the rest out in the pens with my regular birds.
As I previously stated. . . as far as breeding/mating goes,I'll just wait and see.IF I can control diet and can maintain reasonably sized birds I might think about allowing the mating/breeding of a pair of Cornish X but that is going to be a few weeks down the road.
I'll try to keep everyone posted on the matter.