cornish rock cross lay eggs?

[mom of silkies]

I am sorry to hear that she died. I have ten Cornish Rock Cross hens and I restrict their feed so they don't get so big. They are doing well they run almost normally and are much smaller. I call them "Fattie Fatties!"

They are so sweet and trusting!

 

[CrazyTalk]

Honestly, I would not buy them as egg birds. I would buy a bird that is catagorized as an egg bird for this. These are raised for meat. Most are butchered before or around 12 weeks of age.

Not only this, but their performance is going to be entirely dependent on which specific cross you get. A Ross CX is going to be different than an Aviagen one, etc. Most people don't know exactly which ones they have. These birds are the product of a planned cross between several different lines that have been linebred for decades. The cross is set up to produce specific meat qualities - what you get from the birds as far as egglaying and breeding performance goes is going to be a random assortment of the traits in the parent lines.

 

[mom of silkies]

I think it also depends on the chicken.

 

[mom of silkies]

I am keeping my cornish crosses to try to breed my black austrolorp roster too.

 

[ebeagle35]

Did this work for you? I am planning on doing the same thing in the near future.

 

[mom of silkies]

Yes!!!! It work VERY well! I hatched out around 65 cornish rock cross/black Australorp crosses! They grow faster than normal chickens, slower then normal cornish rock crosses, and got really big like the cornishs!

 

[enola]

I crossed cornish hens with Marans roosters, I got white chicks that grew plenty quickly enough to make me happy. They were very active, foraging for whatever they could find. I fed them fermented feed twice a day. The only thing I did was watch very carefully what the hens ate to make sure they did not get too heavy.

 

[mom of silkies]

I bred cornish rock cross/black Australorp crosses, they turned out sex-link in color, the girls are splashed and the boys are pure white-they are very large! I feed mine Laymour hen crumble once a day mixed with corn and barley. The Cornish Rock Hens I keep for breeding are in with two cornish rock cross/black Australorp cross roosters at the moment, fingers crossed they will breed! Bsut other then restricting the cornish rock cross hens that I have for breeders, the cornish rock cross/black Australorp cross babies free-range with the rest of my flock, and get fed normally. And I have found that this cross is very effective as a meat bird, they grow fast, and are huge,but they are also healthier than regular cornish rock crosses.

 

[ebeagle35]

I am getting my chicks in the mail today. How many did you set aside. I will be croasing them with a buff orpington roster, but i have thought about keeping a cornish cross roo as well, but i want to avoid any fights.

 

[duluthralphie]

Hi,

Interesting thread, I stumbled on.

I raise my CX's to a very large size. I dressed out my last batch (straight run) at between 8-13 pounds.

I kept a rooster and 3 hens for breeding, however, something got one hen and the other two died over winter. The rooster lived until just last Sunday. I am guessing he was over 25 pounds. Think short stubby turkey. The picture on my avatar is him. He was a sweet heart.

I bred him to "Dixie Rainbow" which is the same as a red Ranger from what I understand. The chicks I got are amazing, they came out white with some off colored feathers, or barred (actually more striped than barred if you look real close). I call them Toads.

I am hoping to breed the toads and see what I get, I want a larger thighed big breasted birds, I think I am getting that. I will eat a few of the toad boys but will try to keep most for breeding.


As someone else here said you have to really restrict the feed to keep them alive, I feed mine 15-20 minutes morning and night then pull the feed. I allow them to free range. I processed at 13 weeks. I am getting 70 on Tuesday I will raise them all to over 10 lbs if possible. These larger CX's are excellent eating. My DIL liked them so well she wants 20 of them, her mother another 10.

Here are some pictures of the toads:
I have no idea what "cross" I have as crazytalk mentions. I know I get mine from Hoover hatcheries and love them.