Cornish Cross sexual maturity and can they breed?

[OneMountainAcres]

@Sara Ranch, mine were started off in a kiddie pool as a brooder it worked well foot a couple weeks but then they were moved outside in a chicken tractor (made from an old frame pool frame, 14' diameter). I kept water on one side, food on the other so they had to walk back and forth between them. I moved the tractor every morning for fresh grass. They stayed there until 9 weeks old when we were ready to butcher. By that point, I was giving them 3 bowls of food a day, regardless of how fast it was gone, they only got it at those specific times. On butcher morning, I looked through them and picked the 6 best looking girls (most sturdy with legs under them) and moved them from the big tractor to the free range layer flock. It didn't take them long to blend in to the group and learn to forage. They actualy wander further than most of my layer girls! They do need carried in to the run at night since they won't go back in on their own. I don't bother putting them in the coop since I don't want them to hurt their legs trying to get out. They get out of the run in the mornings just fine though.

As far as incubating, it depends. I personally don't trust my hens as much as my incubator and the babies are too valuable to risk letting a hen raise them but that's just me.

When it comes to mating, Cap'n started chasing the girls by about 4 months old. The only ones he really seemed to be able to catch though were the CX girls and the ducks lol. Now at 7 months old, I never see him even try anymore but he used to be rather quick for his size. I don't know if he was ever successful at fertilizing any eggs or not. I'm starting to doubt that he was the father of the babies I have now. I definitely think that success will come better through breeding from the hens, not the roos.

I did take some pictures of Cap'n, Big Betty, and a couple of the younger girls. I took a picture of the babies too, now 10 days old. I'll post them in a little bit since I'm on mobile right now. I realy wish I had a scale to weigh them and track their growth. Something I may have to pick up this weekend.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Cap'n and Big Betty in front and one of the younger pullets in the back. This is a large dog crate (they were separated for processing) Big Betty was mom to the babies.

These are the babies. Only 10 days old and growing VERY fast. Don't mind the messy brooder.

 

[Sara Ranch]

You said you didn't think Capt was the daddy. Who do you suspect? Breed?

I love that my guys and gals are so much more mellow now than they were in the beginning.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

You said you didn't think Capt was the daddy. Who do you suspect? Breed?

I love that my guys and gals are so much more mellow now than they were in the beginning.

As silly as it sounds, I think possibly cream crested legbar was dad lol. They're starting the get these little tufts above their beaks....starts to a crest maybe?

 

[Sara Ranch]

Lol - do a paternity test! But really, who cares? If this combo works, invite the cream legbar to hang out with the girls.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Lol - do a paternity test! But really, who cares? If this combo works, invite the cream legbar to hang out with the girls.

That's a combo I never would've expected to work. Legbars grow so slowly lol. I'm anxious to see how the fill out.

 

[Bridget-Louisiana]

And are the males of these girls Cornish X's too? I was worried hte males might be too heavy to get up and do thier thing. Like the heavy breed turkeys are.
I do know not all make it very long. So far my (what I think is male) is doing well. No physical problems. But as large as he is at this young age, I suppose that could change.
I was going to butcher him soon if there was no chance of him being able to breed.

YES, you can cross breed the Cornish Cross. I kept 4 of my hens and cross bred them w/a Buff Orpington rooster. I think you need a rooster mature, BIG ENOUGH, to mount these girls. They are BIG! So we went out and purchased an incubator and our first hatchling was on Wed. We name him/her UNO, which on day three is starting to show dad's color. We are calling them Cornish-Orps. We also hatched one of our RIR eggs to compare to the chicks as they grow. Our newbie mistake was not saving the eggs and placing in the incubator at once. We placed them in 3 to 4 daily and now, we're getting staggered hatching. We had 2 hatch yesterday and 3 today and it will be like that for the next 30+ eggs to go. I am selling some of the fertilized eggs.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

These are my first outside babies all grown up. Dad was CCL (that was not planned lol). The hens are beefier than the roo and lay beautiful blueish eggs. Here are Gloria, Freckles, and Blanco. They are all healthy, energetic, and very friendly!

These ones are my second group. They're still young and growing. Their dad was crele orpington. They've got a lot of growing too do still so I'm anxious to see how they turn out.

 

[Bridget-Louisiana]

In order to get a CX to breeding age and condition you'll need to literally starve it. If I were to consider trying to outcross a CX I would look at finding a restricted feeding plan that includes items that can help with the breed's endless hunger. Chard is very low in calories and high in bulk for example. People have crossed CX to Delaware to create the Corndel at one time. Too bad that didn't continue.

Personally I'm giving the Label Rouge Redbro breed a try. They claim to only be a week or two different than the CX and they live to breed just fine.

I fed my C.C. hens a reg. diet and didn't expect them to live long enough to lay. And they DID. So we mated my 4 C.C. girls w/a BUFF ORP. ROOSTER and had beautiful babies. They are about a month old now. Here's a pic of UNO, our first CC/BO cross hatchling, 19 days old.

 

[Poultrybreeder]

I fed my C.C. hens a reg. diet and didn't expect them to live long enough to lay. And they DID. So we mated my 4 C.C. girls w/a BUFF ORP. ROOSTER and had beautiful babies. They are about a month old now. Here's a pic of UNO, our first CC/BO cross hatchling, 19 days old.

I am going to do the same cross you did. Are they growing faster than a normal buff orp? Have a great afternoon and God Bless!