Cornish Cross sexual maturity and can they breed?

[CHICKENBOY 1]

they can and will mature and mate and they can and will lay eggs and they can and wqill hatch the eggs and the chicks will be like the adults but not as fast growers roosters may not mature due to weight they have there reproductive orgens get crushed and constricted so try to liment the feed to keep the weight low on your breeders.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
My oldest CX are just past 10 months. The cockeral has never produced a chick; but with spring approaching, has renewed his efforts and improoved his technique [ he now staddles the smaller hens, keeping both feet on the ground] and I'm guardedly optimistic about getting some crosses from him.

The pullets have produced several crosses from Ameraucana males; the chicks are more than twice the size of Ameraucanas.

They should be kept on restricted diets to insure breedability, and its a hassle trying to keep them from gaining too much weight while feeding the other breeds enough. I've not done CX to CX matings; it just isn't worth the time, money, and trouble to me to try and produce another CX with the same inherent problems and probable lower efficiencies for feeding to process weights.

A couple of threads where some have used the CX to breed:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316007&p=1
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=301996&p=1

 

[Thuy Nguyen]

I bought 8 of them this Spring. I have 4 left, 3 hens and 1 rooter. Sice last week, the rooter has legs problem. He could not walk anymore. I saw my Rhode Island red jumped on my crnish hens. Let see what come out.

 

[csr326]

My suggestion,

Breed a Cornish X with a large slower breed e.g. ( White Jersey Giant, White Rock, White Brahma) The rapid growing genes will still have an influence, but with the slower growing genes of another will give a pretty good free range bird that can grow at a decent pace. It will have to be ready to be processed in 9-12 weeks, any longer than that and its not cost effective. I would go with a White Jersey Giant Rooster and Cornish X females to keep the big breast in the genes, the Jersey Giant should have better movement to mount the Cornish X Females.

But I agree with people on here you have to not feed them much, keep them as skinny as possible to allow better growth and movement. I would try feeding them just plane chicken scratch I believe most of the chicken scartch in the market are around 7% protien and throw in a good mixture of calcium to get stronger and healthier eggs.

 

[scooteroo]

We had 25 cornish x rocks. The "Exotic Bird" they sent along with the 25 chick is a Dark Cornish. He remained so small in comparison that we called him Pip — short for Pipsqueak.

At 9½ weeks I couldn't take watching the crosses struggle to stand for more than a few minutes (or seconds) and walk a few steps and then plop themselves back down only to defecate where they lay. 9-and-one-half-weeks!

I brought them over to our local processor and had them slaughtered. They all dressed out in the 8-10 lb range. The taste is indeed excellent. But I can still see engineered food so American can get cheap meat.

These birds were not built for breeding — period. As with any hybrid, plant or animal, you will never get the same result from progeny of a hybrid. For the price of Cornish x Rocks chicks (anywhere from $1 to $2 each), it's simply more humane to buy new ones. (That's a word I haven't seen in this thread but I haven't ready every post.)

Pip is now taller than all but our Buff Brahmas. He's also remarkably friendly. We will be setting him and our White Rocks out in a separate coop this Spring to see what results we get. Dark Cornish (or any Cornish male) x White Rock is pretty close to the cross we're talking about. We'll see what happens to what I would expect to be gorgeous birds. We'll let them live a somewhat normal life and do without so much engineered food.

I can live with that. Raising more Cornish x Rocks no. I have a conscience. I want animals that aren't a distortion of nature just to provide the maximum meat for Americans who pay more for potatoes chips than chicken. I will treat the new progengy humanely and give them dignity because they provide us sustenance.

 

[Boichik86]

I've heard people claim that cornish/rock x are not true hybrids because by their definition, a hybrid is a cross of two separate species. Truth be told, cornish and plymouth rock do have different parental lineage; cornish, and just about all other oriental game chickens, have more Saipan jungle fowl mixed in, whereas plymouth rock have more red and grey jungle fowl genes. Another hybrid trait, is that they do not breed true, like a pure breed would. To breed a CRX to another CRX would result in a wide variety of offspring; Some large and fast growing, some small, some slow growing, some big, but bony, some compact and meaty. You would get more consistent results if you were to breed a CRX to a good pure bred dual purpose bird. According to wikipedia a hybrid is:
Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word is derived from Latin hybrida, meaning the "offspring of an tame sow and a wild boar", "child of a freeman and slave", etc.[4] The term entered into popular use in English in the 19th century, though examples of its use have been found from the early 17th century.[5]

[edit]​

Types of hybrids

Depending on the parents, there are a number of different types of hybrids;[6]

• Single cross hybrids — result from the cross between two true breeding organisms and produces an F1 generation called an F1 hybrid (F1 is short for Filial 1, meaning "first offspring"). The cross between two different homozygous lines produces an F1 hybrid that is heterozygous; having two alleles, one contributed by each parent and typically one is dominant and the other recessive. The F1 generation is alsophenotypically homogeneous, producing offspring that are all similar to each other.
• Double cross hybrids — result from the cross between two different F1 hybrids.[7]
• Three-way cross hybrids — result from the cross between one parent that is an F1 hybrid and the other is from an inbred line.[8]
• Triple cross hybrids — result from the crossing of two different three-way cross hybrids.
• Population hybrids — result from the crossing of plants or animals in a population with another population. These include crosses between organisms such as interspecific hybrids or crosses between different races.
• Hybrid species - results from hybrid populations evolving reproductive barriers against their parent species through hybrid speciation.[9]

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I realize that this is a VERY old thread but I wanted to share some of the babies hatched from one of my Cornish cross hens. I'm guessing that dad is also my Cornish cross roo. I kept back 1 roo and 2 hens from my first group of CX from early spring. Only 1 hen was able to remain strong, healthy and mobile. The other, I had to put down the day before she would've laid her first egg as she suffered a serious wound from mating. Here are the babies!

These pictures are from Sunday (they hatched Saturday night-Sunday morning). They are growing rapidly and are already double their hatch size. I'm hatching any egg I get from Big Betty to work on a self sustaining meat flock though I will be incorporating other breeds. I have 6 more pullets from the group of CX I got in May. Those girls range far and wide every day. I have high hopes for them! Unfortunately, Big Betty and Cap'n are nearing the end of their time. Cap'n can no longer get out of the run on his own and has started limping. Big Betty is doing ok still for now but has already dramatically slowed down on laying.

 

[Sara Ranch]

I've been debating about whether to hold back a few hens and a roo from the Cornish Rocks to see about breeding them.

I'm already disgusted with how HUGE they are at such a young age! I have been alternating my feed schedule with them, trying to find that right balance that will allow to grow without the butt plopping every minute cuz they can't carry their own weight!

It's a struggle. I have read positive and negative things about trying to breed Cornish hens. Most of it negative. (So grateful that many of you shared your thoughts and your experiences!)

If the hens and roo were more on the slender side, they'd be less likely to have leg problems (and other health problems)....doable to keep and to breed?

I have plenty of roo's around here. I could conceivable give one of the adopted boys a few Cornish Rock hens to be his flock for cross breeding....

The end goal is to produce meat birds for harvesting. (I don't harvest my adoptees.)

What do you think?

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I've been debating about whether to hold back a few hens and a roo from the Cornish Rocks to see about breeding them.

I'm already disgusted with how HUGE they are at such a young age! I have been alternating my feed schedule with them, trying to find that right balance that will allow to grow without the butt plopping every minute cuz they can't carry their own weight!

It's a struggle. I have read positive and negative things about trying to breed Cornish hens. Most of it negative. (So grateful that many of you shared your thoughts and your experiences!)

If the hens and roo were more on the slender side, they'd be less likely to have leg problems (and other health problems)....doable to keep and to breed?

I have plenty of roo's around here. I could conceivable give one of the adopted boys a few Cornish Rock hens to be his flock for cross breeding....

The end goal is to produce meat birds for harvesting. (I don't harvest my adoptees.)

What do you think?

That's what I'm doing but you need to be picky about which girls you hold back to use. You need to pick ladies that have their legs more under them, less out to the side and more balanced weight distribution. They also need to be willing to move around. I kept back a total of 8 pullets this year. 2 from the first group and 6 from me 2nd group. Only 1 from my first group made it long enough to start laying. The other recieved a terrible breeding wound and had to be put down (looked like the day before she would've laid her first egg). The girl that did make it long enough to lay is massive! Unfortunately, Big Betty is heading to the freezer today. She laid great for the first week or so then it dropped down to MAYBE 2 eggs a week, at most, and most eggs are infertile. I do have 4 chicks from her, growing rapidly (I'll get new picks today) and 1 more egg in the incubator developing and due this weekend. Of the second group of girls, they free range daily and range far and wide. I was lucky about who I selected to stay but still, one will be heading to freezer camp today since she started limping and 1 other is being watched close. I'm hoping that at least the 4 that look good will make it long enough. 1 did keep back 1 roo from the first group too and even though he was VERY active and healthy for a while, he's developed bumblefoot that I can't operate on, it's just too big. He's 7 months old and huge but he's at his limit. They're though to keep long enough but it is possible.

 

[Sara Ranch]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely be looking at their legs and their mobility.

I started off with the recommended feeding schedule (24 hours, then 12 on, 12 off.) I couldn't stand how the chickens looked, acted, and grew. So I reduced it to 10 hours a day. Now I have them eating three times a day. They are fine about it and not pigging out like they use to. They are up and moving around a lot more and talking too.

I am working on how to get them outside. I so prefer the free ranging with feed supplement over the room service option.

They get along fine with the baby turkeys...so thinking maybe putting them in the turkey house, in a partitioned off area and let them go in a separate run. The chicken houses that have room aren't safe for these guys (they'd get trampled and need to be carried in and out.)

Do you recommend incubating the eggs or letting the hens hatch them out?

What age were the boys when you found that they were success in fertilizing the eggs?

I hope it works for you! Please continue to share your story with me (either here or via private message).

Thank you!