Cornish Thread

[Cedarknob]

A couple of LF WC chicks.







A couple of the "paint" chicks.






For a color comparison to the paints, these two cross breds are also carrying only one copy of dominant white, but show little to no bleed. They have no Cornish blood, other than the distant ancestors of their Cornish Rock mothers. [Sired by Ameraucanas.]

 

[aviangems]

That first paint chick is a cockerel and will be a keeper.

 

[Cedarknob]

That first paint chick is a cockerel and will be a keeper.

Thank you. On average, the paint chicks are better than those showing pure white feathering. The black chicks are all getting red in their wings, so breeding pure blacks from them will be difficult.

I put the three white pullets under a dark cockerel and have hatched only one chick from that cross so far. Its down is partridge patterned, not the wheaten based color of my DC chicks, so my white pullets do have some outside blood as you said. However, some of their chicks from the cock you sold me are showing promise as having both good type plus likely more size than him. The partridge patterned chick was far larger than most of the other Cornish at hatch, and will be carrying a copy of recessive white, so I'm anxious to see how it grows out.

 

[Cedarknob]

A couple of the nearly black Cornish chicks. Their beaks, skin, and shanks were black until they started feathering. I doubt that their shanks will be a clean yellow, but they're getting more yellow as they grow, and also developing red in their feathers.

 

[aviangems]

Those blacks have your darks written all over them.

 

[Cedarknob]

Those blacks have your darks written all over them.

Thank you. They sure hatch ugly; tiny little bitty spindly things that shed the sparse down off their bodies long before starting to grow feathers. I had several that had become my favorites in the pen by the time the predators got into it. They only left three of the white CX crosses and a tall, narrow, black Ameraucana crossbred that will be a cull. Now I only have these two and one younger than them.

I don't know yet how bad of an obstacle the black pigment on their shanks is going to be, but will keep them for their wider bodies and superior shank girth. They should throw a percentage of white chicks because they should carry one copy of recessive white. I would think that eventually I should get a better black colored one also.

Edited to add that I do not understand the black pigment so heavy on the shanks of the "paints" and even more so on the blacks. Those feathered pure white that hatched with gray down hatched with green or dusky shanks and still have a color problem there, those hatched with white down are yellow shanked. My darks occasionally get a small speck of dark on their lower shanks or feet as juveniles, but have always lost it as they grew and ended up with very nice dark yellow shanks. The one partridge patterned chick from the DC X WC breeding also hatched with clean yellow shanks.

 

[Cedarknob]

So far I only have these two dark chicks that are old enough to be feathered, or at least mostly so. LOL [I had one I really liked in the pen when the predators dug in.]



The older chick, on the right, will probably be too leggy for me, but has good width across the shoulders and chest and the promise of a good, big head. Since what I consider my three best Darks were under the White, I'm happy with quality of the DC chicks so far. I just wish I had a lot more of them hatched.

 

[aviangems]

I think the blacks are better than the darks and that the leggy dark will be a MUCH better than the other.

I hope you didnt lose the blacks.

 

[Cedarknob]

I think the blacks are better than the darks and that the leggy dark will be a MUCH better than the other.

I hope you didnt lose the blacks.

No, I haven't lost any chicks since the one big loss, except for two killed in a rabbit hutch made of 1" mesh sides and 1/4" mesh floor.that I thought was predator proof, and would have been if the chicks had stayed inside the enclosed box at night. Something reached through the 1"mesh and pulled a leg off one and pulled the other to where it could chew the beak off. It must have been a raccoon or feral cat that avoided a box trap that was under the hutch and a leg hold trap on one side. I quit using the hutch. I added two strands of electric wire to my grow out pen and no more predator losses from it since.

You may be right about the two dark chicks, but the younger one is already as wide over the shoulders and chest, and more space between its shanks, though its at a poor angle to see it. I put the best DCs back under a DC because I don't want to let their numbers and quality drop while trying to get a white line started. I figured to get some more paints or blacks from them for the next two or three weeks after moving them, but have not hatched one since. However I plan to let him have a pen of them the next time around, and may try him on his largest daughter, regardless of color or how she looks otherwise. .

I keep saying I will set no more eggs until fall or maybe next year, and only set four broodies and none in the incubator last week. However the DCs had nearly stopped laying in the warm weather, and decided to start up again late this week, so going to set some tomorrow. LOL

 

[SD_Paulo]

Cedar,

I may not w
Always agree with AVianGems but I am going to agree with AvianGems on this one. That dark that you are calling "leggy" is probably a cockerel. As you stated, at this stage he has other better qualities than just his height. If so he would make a good breeder.