Cornish Thread

[Minniechickmama]

Can't seem to find the Cornish Cross thread, and was thinking about getting some cheap from Schlect's hatchery. The only way I could have them is if the free ranged with limited access to feed.

I have done a cross of DCs with Buckeyes and they are wonderful! Great foragers and good meat on them. The girls have come out mostly looking like Buckeyes, but I have one hen that is almost a gold laced and just lovely. I am not breeding that strain yet, but will be later in the season when I want to get a few meat birds going for myself.

 

[Minniechickmama]

This is a red laced black Cornish bantam that I got out of my birds. She isn't great type but hope to breed her in the future to improve it.

I LOVE it! Very nice contrast with that double lacing still in there.

Can't seem to find the Cornish Cross thread, and was thinking about getting some cheap from Schlect's hatchery. The only way I could have them is if the free ranged with limited access to feed.

I have done a cross of DCs with Buckeyes and they are wonderful! Great foragers and good meat on them. The girls have come out mostly looking like Buckeyes, but I have one hen that is almost a gold laced and just lovely. I am not breeding that strain yet, but will be later in the season when I want to get a few meat birds going for myself.

 

[Bulldogma]

Here to introduce myself and learn all I can about this breed - I just picked up 5 Dark Cornish LF today. The roo and 3 hens are hatchery stock, and the other hen has apparently been in shows in the past.






You can sure see the difference between the hatchery girl on the left and the girl with decent breeding on the right! The SQ girl is molting right now, so don't mind her "bad hair day."




The roo is hatchery stock, but so far I like his personality. He's pretty laid back and seems to have respect for humans. (I intend to keep him that way.) He hasn't had his own hens before, and today he was already calling them over for treats he found. So far he has been good with the girls, and surprisingly hasn't tried to grab them to breed. Keeping my fingers crossed he turns out to be a mannerly boy who is good with the ladies.

If that's the case, he'll be around for a while.

 

[galanie]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LF cornish. They are the "bulldogs of the chicken world" yet usually not aggressive to humans. Rough, tough, solid blocks of muscle. And just.. I love them. Glad to see you have some now Bulldogma. Only one I have now is a hatchery hen. But I dont' have room for more. Unless I pen them up in small pens. And I refuse to do that.

Your "apparently shown' girl looks pretty nice. The boy? Well, I just hope you can get a better one. He's OK, but nothing like the quality of that girl in the second picture.

 

[Bulldogma]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LF cornish. They are the "bulldogs of the chicken world" yet usually not aggressive to humans. Rough, tough, solid blocks of muscle. And just.. I love them. Glad to see you have some now Bulldogma. Only one I have now is a hatchery hen. But I dont' have room for more. Unless I pen them up in small pens. And I refuse to do that.

Your "apparently shown' girl looks pretty nice. The boy? Well, I just hope you can get a better one. He's OK, but nothing like the quality of that girl in the second picture.

LOL - I tend to gravitate to the burly critters - just ask my bulldog! I started researching the Cornish a couple months ago and loved the way they looked! Finding this group was a happy accident.

I'd love to get a better quality roo some day. This group is my "starter" group, but perhaps I'll upgrade the roo when I can find a better one. The hatchery hens look positively petite nest to Big Bertha. I'll see what happens and hopefully improve my breeding stock as I go.

Nice to see a familiar face on this thread!

 

[galanie]

Careful with these dudes, the boys are incredibly aggressive to other boys. Just not to poeple. You might contact a couple that have posted regularly here. They might have some eggs in the spring that are at least partly exhibition quality cornish. You already, hopefully, see the difference in width between the hatchery dude and the nice girl. The boys are the same. They are bulldogs though. hehe. You have to treat them as such.

The story I read about someone seeing a coyote running and 40 LF Cornish chasing it, I don't doubt ONE BIT. As that fella said, "what a chicken!" - They are. The hens wont' start a fight with other breeds, but brother, if the others start one, they'll sure finish it!

 

[gootziecat]

How aggressive are the bantam Cornish roos toward other roos? Are they on the same aggressive level as the LF or more mellow in that department?
Thanks.

 

[Bulldogma]

Careful with these dudes, the boys are incredibly aggressive to other boys. Just not to poeple. You might contact a couple that have posted regularly here. They might have some eggs in the spring that are at least partly exhibition quality cornish. You already, hopefully, see the difference in width between the hatchery dude and the nice girl. The boys are the same. They are bulldogs though. hehe. You have to treat them as such.

The story I read about someone seeing a coyote running and 40 LF Cornish chasing it, I don't doubt ONE BIT. As that fella said, "what a chicken!" - They are. The hens wont' start a fight with other breeds, but brother, if the others start one, they'll sure finish it!

That's good information to have. No plans of letting this boy mix it up with any of my other boys... ever. LOL. Yeah - the chicken addiction could lead me to search for a better quality boy. Gah! The more I learn, the better chickens I want. LOL!

 

[tileman@prodigBird Raiser]

The bantam males if raised together barely fight at all. If they do its for fun. If you mix 2 older males that have been separate they will fight for 5 minutes or so bleed a little then be fine. They just need to reastablish the pecking order once a new bird is added.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Some of it depends on the temperament of your birds in the first place. I have some boys of various breeds, and my Ameraucana roo is the worst with beating up on the other roos. I don't dare mix my DC roo in with anyone just for fear that he would get hurt and I would lose him and I can't afford to lose him.
I have never had one come at me except my hatchery roo that I had to put down last spring when I got fed up with his attitude.