Confession time

[KatyTheChickenLady]

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Read around the forum a bit, there is a wealth of knowledge on these topics... Katy has a thread that's 50 pages long on breeding your own meat breed.

Just keep in mind that the cornish x in the hatcheries are not white rocks x cornish any more. They were 60 years ago but it's been tweaked and modified for 6 decades... It's like apples and bananas now.

It takes generations to get what your after... at least 5-10 years to see decent results. But it is fun to mess around with, keeps me busy in my free time!

He is sure as heck right on the 5-10 years! When I started I thought I could get what I want in 1-2 years . . . HAH!

 

[Bossroo]

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I think you get me wrong. Just because I am making a compromise does not mean I am abandoning my principles on sustainable agriculture. These birds will still be raised on pasture, and I will still eat grass finished beef and pastured pork. I still think the CX is a Frankenbird and is unsustainable in the long term, but raising this bird my way is still preferable to factory farm chicken you buy in the grocery store. I see no reason why we can't eventually breed a bird that grows fast enough, gets big enough, and has enough breast meat that we can breed, raise, process, and sell directly off the farm.

Just we ain't there yet.

How wrong I was ... Here, I thaught we were evolving from where each farmer was the jack of all trades into a modern specialized model. But, alas, not so. Mia culpa !

 

[Minniechickmama]

So, I guess I am not the first one with the idea of developing a more sustainable, meaty bird

I was thinking "Oh, I will just get me a Cornish roo and put him over some Giants and Dels and I will have me a great meat bird." Yeah, then I realized that the Giants take FOR EV ER to grow. And then I realized, you have to have a really big breasted Cornish to get that trick played. So there is that idea. I haven't gotten Dels yet, but I am going to guess, they too are like the Giants. Okay, Dorkings were another breed I thought I would add to that mix. Now, I am trying to remember why.
So, the other day, I had to pick up this ratty looking Buff Cochin hen, who looks like hell from being jumped by a roo every 5 minutes all spring. She has been walking around with one eye closed and not very alert, but she eats, drinks and lays, just isn't the most active bird in the flock right now. anyway....I pick her up and she has more breast on her than any of the roos in the yard. So, my wheels start kicking into high gear, THIS is the bird to cross with my Dark Cornish! So, that is my next step. I hope it transfers to at least some of their offspring that they get his width, and her breast. He is hatchery stock, but the widest bird I have laid eyes on, and solid! about 12 or 13 pounds easy. Crazy as it sounds though, the best drumstick I have held was my Black Minorca cockerel last year that up and died on me last fall. Talk about turkey legs!
So, here I am raising, yet another, batch of CRX until I can get my own good eatin' bird worked out that will actually chase a bug, scratch the dirt, be curious and yet be edible before it is a year old. Heck, at this point, I would be happy just to have meat birds that would stir up their bedding a little instead of just pooping on top of it to make a layer of poop on good clean shavings.

 

[SteveH]

Good for you Buster! Best wishes for a finacial success.

There's nothing wrong, in my opinion, of raising CX for meat or choosing to breed your own sustainable flock................................ but lets face it, none of us are going to develope a sustainable chicken with the qualities of the CX that make them both acceptable to the majority of the consumers and as econimical to grow as the CX. If it were possible, the developers of the CX would have found and developed a straight breed in the past 60 years instead of going to the added trouble and expence of maintaining the 4 seperate parent lines needed to produce the terminal end we have available to buy as day olds. That's not to say we can't develope a better dual purpose breed or strain than currently and commonly available today; but in my opinion it will never equal the commercial meaty in anything other than sustainability.

 

[Oregon Blues]

If you hope to sell a product, you have to compete with others who sell the same product and there is a limit to how much the customers are willing to pay.

They will pay more for a better product, but if two people offer the same product of the same quality, they will not pay a huge amount more for one over the other.

Cornish X are a lot cheaper to raise, plus less work because you have them for a much shorter time period.

In my opinion, the dressed 2 month old table ready Cornish X is a better product than the dressed 8 month old Dual Purpose with the much smaller breast meat. The customer doesn't care how you feel about the personalities of the birds, and the Cornish X provides excellent meat.

A few customers will pay a premium price for free ranged well raised birds. But not many will pay much higher prices for that 8 month old tougher, smaller dual purpose when they can get the plump well raised Cornish X for less money.

If you raise for your own table it is different. If you raise to sell, you must be competitive.

 

[bigredfeather]

Have you gotten any CX chicks yet Buster?

 

[DanIndiana]

I was wondering if Brunty, or others have had significant results selling other than cornish x breeds. I've seen Mr. Brunty's site touting his Buckeyes, and wondered if they make up a meaningful chunk of his sales. Anyone else? Please tell me it's possible.

 

[Buster52]

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No, I waited too long and it is now way too hot. We are running 105 to 108 daily now, with an occasional spike to 110 degrees. This is one of the hottest summers on record. I'm having a hard enough time keeping my heritage birds alive. I ended up turning them all loose so they could find their own cool spots. Seems to be working okay so far.

We have decided to wait until fall to order.