Cornish Game Bantams?

[itsy]

Are these really intended for meat? I was at my LFS and they got in a huge shipment of these little things.

I tried looking them up online. They seem tiny. Are they delicious or something?

I couldn't imagine them being worth the trouble, otherwise.

 

[Whiskey Bay]

Quote:
The cornish bantams aren't the ones generally used for meat.It's the standard cornish for meat purposes.I'm sure someone out there has processed bantams,but not many.

 

[itsy]

So what the heck did they get so many in for? Pets?

 

[Tiffrz-N-Kidz]

I dunno what people DO with them, but there were tons of them at Stock Show. They're kindof cute with their buggy eyeballs.

 

[CarriageStone]

Quote:
The cornish bantams aren't the ones generally used for meat.It's the standard cornish for meat purposes.I'm sure someone out there has processed bantams,but not many.

Wouldn't they have to process many....to make a full meal?

 

[Whiskey Bay]

hahaha...smarty pants...

meant not too many people...lol...and no,not neccesarily,look at the quail ... peeps only eat a couple of them....lol

 

[lonesomerider]

FWIW; a couple of years ago I got half a dozen bantam white Cornish hatching eggs off eBay and ended up with 2 roosters and 0 pullets. Kept them around for a while. They were over a year old when I processed them and was surprised at the amount of meat on their carcasses. My birds all free range on 2 1/2 acres of shrubby woodland, so they were well developed in both leg quarters and breasts. It was a struggle that they never seemed to tire of, but they were also able to breed some of my smaller standard hens....Delaware, RLW Cornish, etc.

Keep in mind that the Cornish standard for bantams calls for the live roosters to weigh 44 ounces....almost twice the size of some other bantam breeds. At one time I had a few Blue/Black/Splash Cochins, too; using them for any kind of meat source was a total exercise in futility unless you wanted to just throw the whole bird in a pan of water for making stock. They did lay pretty good though. The Cornish meat had a really good flavor and the bird roasted up tender and juicy.

Because of the now obscene price of feed, I am in the process of butchering all my standard breeds and switching to Bantam Cornish. For one or two people, they provide a good (and cheaper) source of meat, and are good at scrounging. Don't know how they do on laying though, but I don't use many eggs anyway. My standard RLW Cornish hens are reasonable layers....at 3 years of age, with only two hens left, I get at least one egg a day (usually two) during the spring, summer and fall months. The eggs are small and almost white. You'd probably not want them if you were selling eating eggs. Mine are hatchery birds from Ideal.

Plain Cornish birds....standard or bantam....are (IMHO) very underrated as backyard chickens. Their big "wart" is their slow growth. I like rotissary chicken, but by the time they are big enough to use that way, they'd be pretty tough. Have never tried marinating though; don't know if that would help tenderize them or not.

Sorry this is so long; I tend to ramble. Have a good day.

 

[FarmerGrant011]

I think it is for people who have less room to raise as many chickens as other people. And plus they look really cute!

 

[MobyQuail]