Considering Cornish Hybrids

[aclee]

Hi-
First post here, and I'm interested in doing a very small flock for my first year, of meat birds only. I was interested in the Cornish crosses I've read about that are ready to process in 6-8 weeks. I was hoping for feedback (I have read they are dumb

) on if this might be a good starter chicken, and if anyone can recommend somewhere I could order them.

Thanks so much

 

[houndit]

I usually get mine from Hoover's. Many hatcheries have them including Ideal, Cackle, etc. I find them to be extremely dumb. They are very fast growers because the are hybrids. That is what we usually raise, and is the most common breed. I think they are a little more prone to health problems than heritage breeds. They work fairly well though. We are hoping to get heritage breeds soon.

 

[Baybrio]

Check out the meat birds forum, plenty of info there.

 

[Illia]

Yeah I don't know of any hatchery that doesn't sell cornish broilers, but I really do think people should go for heritage breeds instead. They're normal chickens that can live out healthy, long, intelligent lives and are often actually pretty to look at and can actually walk without trouble after a couple weeks.

There are plenty dual purpose and meat breeds out there that aren't cornish x.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

True, but for those of us that want to be able to process a decently sized bird within 6-8 weeks, Cornish X are perfect.

I would not order from Ideal. Their birds, I have had SEVERAL of them, have bad hocks. The legs are the first thing to go. They are also more prone to ascites than say McMurray. I have not ordered from MPC so I could not give feedback on that one.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
Go to the meat bird forum... you will get better feedback with hands on experience with these birds. Hands down, they produce the most meat without killing you financially. I raise both, heritage and cornish rocks... I sell the hybrids 100 to 1 over the heritage. Bottom line there is more meat for the money.... with times the way they are it's much easier to sell a $10.00 bird compared to one that is the same size for twice as much.

 

[aclee]

Didn't see the meat forum before! Thanks

Heading over there now...