Cornish cross genetics

[call ducks]

All companys have there own cross. Tailored to there producers. Although they are all esstanlly the same

 

[SteeleFaithFarm]

I'm sure on an industrial scale, if a strain of bird can reach a market weight either with a but less feed or in less time I'm sure it increases profits. But for a backyard chicken guy like me, would it make any noticeable difference in the end? Would heritage breeds taste better?

 

[call ducks]

There would `difference yes. You would see those meat birds produced for less money. With the Mistral Gris you still get many benifits of heritage breed. Because all they are is a super improved barred rock. Heritage meat would have more muscle meat and be darker.

 

[enel 1]

http://www.hubbardbreeders.com/products.php?id=5

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I'm sure on an industrial scale, if a strain of bird can reach a market weight either with a but less feed or in less time I'm sure it increases profits. But for a backyard chicken guy like me, would it make any noticeable difference in the end? Would heritage breeds taste better?

Having butchered Cornish X and some Barred Rocks and Orpingtons, I'd go for the Cornish every single time. They take a lot less feed, they mature more quickly, they are easier to pluck because they hold their feathers more loosely and they are a LOT easier to get your hand inside to clean. The Rocks and Orpies were tough. The Cornish had a rich flavor (ours free-ranged) but weren't so chewy that you had to stew them. I had to stew my 13 week old Rocks, but my 8 week old Cornish X were delicious fried and roasted.

Also, be aware that producing meat birds is expensive compared to just buying them. We kept very careful records, and figured that our Cornish cost us $12/bird in the end.

 

[call ducks]

12/bird seems high! i grow 50+ cornish cross every year and the total cost comes to 4/bird with provincal inspected butcher it comes to 6/bird. And feed is 15+/bag.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

12/bird seems high! i grow 50+ cornish cross every year and the total cost comes to 4/bird with provincal inspected butcher it comes to 6/bird. And feed is 15+/bag.

Did you add in your water and electricity and the initial cost of the chick and shipping? I *wish* I could get them for $6/bird, dressed. They were the most delicious birds I've ever grown and I'd definitely do it again if I could get the cost down in the $6-7 range.

 

[call ducks]

Ok well, i never paid for shipping nor per chick. That is where i saved some. I was able to get cull eggs from a source that works in the grading station and incubated them. Power would have been 10 bucks to hatch all of them? Water was free.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

That makes a huge difference, when you're paying almost $3 per chick plus shipping right from the start. $10 for electricity still adds to the final cost. If you had to incubate eggs, you have an investment in the incubator and the electricity to run it and you need to figure in the electricity you use in the brooder, too. For us, it's very clear that running the lights for our brooder (which holds about 50 chicks) costs me about $20/month, since our barn is on a separate bill from our house and I can see every bit of power that I put into the chickens. And water is NEVER free, unless you're pulling buckets from a lake or something. Even if you have your own well, you need to add in the electricity costs to pump the water.

When I figured out costs per bird, I didn't let *anything* slide. I wanted it to be a true representation of the cost of the final product. You can spread capital investments like coops, feeders, etc. over several years and zero them out by year three, but those costs count, too. You also have to add in the costs of predation, so that if you start with 50 birds but only get to butcher 45, the cost to raise those 5 that fed the local wildlife raise what it cost you for the 45 that are left.