Cornish Cross

[skennedy]

Can any one tell me what breeds I need to produce Cornish Rock Crosses for meat production? Is it simply a White Rock and White Cornish? and which breed should be the roo and which for the hen?

 

[Vamp-A-Billy Princess]

you cant make them yourself. Its not just any cornish crossed with something.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
You can certainly make a Cornish Cross yourself. However, the caveat is that the broiler breeders have about 50 years of selective breeding under their belt wheras you do not. The parent strains of birds they use to create the cross little resemble either a Cornish or a Rock anymore; so the name is more an allusion to their heritage.

If you want to make your own, the Cornish should be the sire. You'll probably never find a white one, so most people use Dark Cornish. You can then use a White Rock if you like. However, you can use pretty much any laying breed to do your own homemade broilers.

Since your backyard stock has been selected for laying ability, your crosses will not grow as explosively as commercial broilers will. But, they will benefit from heterosis and will grow faster than any purebred chicken. There are some great crosses for Smallholdres to try out there... Cornish X Rock, Sussex, RIR, Dorking, etc. Any bird which isn't too big (like Brahmas, Cochins or Giants) since all their growth early on goes into skeleton rather than muscle.

 

[skennedy]

Thank you VERY much for the info. At least now I have a place to start.