Cornish Hens?

[SallyJo]

New member to Back Yard Chickens! I love the information and pictures on this site. Question... Earlier in the spring, my husband and I purchased some Cornish hen chicks from the local Tractor Supply with intent to start raising foe future food supply. As they have gotten older, they are HUGE. Not the small Cornish size we thought. All of them are sparkling pure white with deep red combs. They are beautiful. What do we have? Here is a pic.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

New member to Back Yard Chickens! I love the information and pictures on this site. Question... Earlier in the spring, my husband and I purchased some Cornish hen chicks from the local Tractor Supply with intent to start raising foe future food supply. As they have gotten older, they are HUGE. Not the small Cornish size we thought. All of them are sparkling pure white with deep red combs. They are beautiful. What do we have? Here is a pic.

If by "small cornish size" you are referring to the size of birds sold as "cornish rock hens" in the grocery store the reason those birds are so small is that they are Cornish Cross meat birds processed at about 4 -6 weeks of age (when they are about 2.5 pounds live weight).
That being said - a little more information would help to properly ID your birds - how old are they in this photo What have they been fed and how have they been managed? These birds don't really scream "Cornish Rock" - their build is a bit sight. Depending on age and if they have been raised in a "pastured" management approach that would account for less bulk and better overall appearance from Cornish X raised in a more traditional way.

 

[SallyJo]

They are about 6 months old and we have been feeding them chick starter. Recently we let them out to free range on our farm and giving veggies from the garden.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Ol Grey Mare X2 You may have been thinking of Cornish Game Hens. The birds you have are the chicken version of Cornish. They are going to be much larger. Cornish Game Hens are a bit bigger than a Quail.

Happy eating and welcome to our flock!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I don't think these are cornish cross - I would suspect they might be White Rocks. The combs of the hens are hard to make out, are they single combed like the cock?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Ol Grey Mare X2 You may have been thinking of Cornish Game Hens. The birds you have are the chicken version of Cornish. They are going to be much larger. Cornish Game Hens are a bit bigger than a Quail.

Happy eating and welcome to our flock!

Most of the "cornish rock" that are sold in stores today are not the game type - in fact most labeling reflects this when you notice that the "game" has been dropped from the packaging - they are, in fact, just very young cornish cross that have been processed at the right size vs. allowed to grow another 4-6 weeks to the broiler size before being processed.

 

[TwoCrows]

Quote: Good to know! I had no idea.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

They don't look like Cornish x in the photo maybe because you have them raised in a healthier manner, less feed, more exercise etc. Usually they look bloated and pitiful.