Cornish Rock X or something else??

[btmilan]

So I decided to get some chickens this year. My brother-in-law is a grass-fed beef farmer, and he just got 25 Barred Rocks and 25 Brown Leghorns to help with grass management. I figured it would be overkill if I got layers, so I decided to try my hand at some meat chickens. I went out and picked up fifteen Cornish Rock Crosses from Tractor Supply (my first mistake). The birds were from mount healthy, which was good, but I'm thinking now, seven weeks later, that the staff may have messed up.

At first, he seemed a bit unsure about the breed of chicken he was getting, but then he said, "yeah, these are definitely the cornish rock cross."

So I brought them home and they grew, but they didn't grow nearly as fast as I thought they should (with the way everyone talks about them). Because of my lack of experience, I didn't really have anything to compare them to. So, I just figured they would grow when I got them outside.

Well, I had been planning to get a second batch of twenty birds when these others were six weeks, but I ordered them through a local feed and seed. They came in a couple of weeks early, when these others were four weeks.

After about two days, I realized that these new chicks were REALLY cornish rocks. They feel like little rocks when you pick them up, they're stout.

Anyway, here I am three weeks later, and my first batch is seven weeks old tomorrow. This is a picture from about a week ago:

http://instagr.am/p/KQokueCC7b/



As you can see, they're not very big.

Here is a picture from today with one of my older chickens and a few of the younger ones.
The older batch is seven weeks old. The younger batch is three.
Am I just crazy, or does it seem like the older batch are really small for being cornish rocks?

http://instagr.am/p/KsWSSxCCyg/


I guess I am just a little worried that they accidently gave me white leghorns or white rocks...

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Your first batch is not a Cornish-X. They'd be three times the size and near processing time.

 

[btmilan]

That's what I've been thinking. I just had to confirm. What are they? I'm thinking White Leghorns...

 

[donrae]

I'm thinking leghorns, also. They look too light bodied to be white rocks. So, you can keep them and have fantastic white egg layers, or sell them as started pullets and try to recoup some of your money.

You'll be amazed at how big the cornish cross get, and how fast. They'll be larger than your leghorns in two weeks.

 

[btmilan]

Well, my brother-in-law already has fifty layers, so I had been planning to take leftovers from him, but then again, that is depending on what he has left over and what he is willing to part with, so it may behoove me to keep three or four of these for myself and then maybe I'll sell the rest of them. How old do people usually sell/buy started pullets? And how can I be sure than they are actually pullets?

 

[donrae]

I"m not hugely familiar with leghorns but I know they grow large combs fast. At seven weeks, I'd say you could see a rooster by a larger, redder comb and maybe thicker legs.

Crowing is a good sign of a rooster, also lol.

Point of lay pullets are usually around four months, but I see folks locally selling all ages, they call them started once they're fully feathered out like your birds. Many people want layers but don't want to fuss with brooding, or they started with several chicks but lost some, or got the chicken bug and just decide they want to add more birds.

 

[btmilan]

Thanks for your help. I've got to get these things gone fast, they've already pecked two of the cornish rocks to death. I'm moving them in with my brother-in-law's barred rocks and brown leghorns today. His chickens are about three weeks older, so maybe they'll get a taste of their own medicine as far as pecking goes (but i'm thinking that they are a little more well-established and won't die like these cornish rocks).

I called Tractor Supply to ask about what they have had in terms of white chickens. The guy I spoke with was a manager, but didn't really have a clue. He did say that he was 99% sure that the only white chickens they had regularly were cornish rocks, but that they did have a straight-run of White Leghorns a couple of months ago (which would have been when I bought these). Anyway, the fact that they were a straight-run confuses me because they all pretty much look like that one in the up close picture, which makes me think that they are all pullets.

He said that there was some white rocks, but that they were some sort of mix with some black on their necks...

But, ultimately, they didn't really know.

So if it seems pretty certain that they are White Leghorns, I think that I lucked out with all pullets. Are White Rocks much different in terms of their shape and comb size and sexing and what not?

I need to get these sold, but I won't get much if they end up being half pullets and half cockerels

 

[donrae]

White rocks and white leghorns have the same leg color and both have straight combs but the rocks are a heavier build. Leghorns are light bodied, bred as layers to eat less and churn out eggs. Rocks are heavier, dual purpose, look at a barred rock they're the same breed as a white rock. The pic you showed looks like a light bodied leghorn.