Can Cornish Rocks Be Laying Hens

[KnoxvilleGirl]

A friend of mine swears that her parents have two Cornish Rocks who are excellent laying hens. She says they not only lay eggs several times each week for the past year, but that the eggs are almost always jumbo double yolks. I'm new to chickens but from what I've read, Cornish Rocks aren't event likely to live to maturity if they aren't butchered for meat by 12 weeks or so. So is it possible for this breed to be kept as good laying hens or is my friend probably mistaken about what kind of chickens her parents have?

 

[foreverlearning]

Yes they can live that long but they are poor layers of white eggs. I wouldn't rely on their eggs for breakfast every morning. Cornish rocks can life a long productive life without health issues if they are cared for properly. They are bred to eat non stop so if you want them to live without health issues they need to be free ranged and restricted feed. Best way to tell if they are cornish rocks (unless bred and hatched at home) is to put a feed bowl down, if they fight you to get to it and lick it clean then they are cornish rocks. She may have regular cornish. The regular cornish (not broilers or hybrids) lay quite a few eggs and don't have the eating disorder.

 

[lizanne]

I had one I kept around last year. She was a really good layer (for a while). She probably laid 5x a week, and laid big (often double yoked) eggs. She started laying around 20 weeks, and stopped laying at around 8 months old. We ate her for thanksgiving dinner. She was over 14 pounds (after processing).