Cornish Thread

[sambat]

Hello big medicine, no I feed them a variety of food now, I gave them the starter at first, then mixed starter with sunflower and multigrain food for a while. Now Im giving them corn usually in morning and layer in afternoon with some veggie scraps here and there. They eat anything I dig some dandelions and other plants they love to eat on and throw it in there for them...Im playing it by what I have Im new at this. Any suggestions?

 

[JRNash]

They look great.

 

[sambat]

Thanks, Im wanting to put a light bulb on them to start hatching out some more. Im hoping to hatch some raise them and hatch some from those....is it possible to do so this year?

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Hello big medicine, no I feed them a variety of food now, I gave them the starter at first, then mixed starter with sunflower and multigrain food for a while. Now Im giving them corn usually in morning and layer in afternoon with some veggie scraps here and there. They eat anything I dig some dandelions and other plants they love to eat on and throw it in there for them...Im playing it by what I have Im new at this. Any suggestions?

JMO I think that corn doesn't have enough protein as a stand alone feed and it's not a complete protein. The veggie scraps would lower the total protein content too. It's tough to build muscle without adequate protein. Sunflower seed has lots of protein and fat, but it's deficient in lysine, as is the corn; if you added sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and lamb's quarters to their diet that might help balance the amino acid profile of what you're feeding (or feed meat). Dandelion greens of course are an excellent supplement too.
I feed my dark Cornish the same way I feed my Buckeyes- lots of protein including animal protein. Started them off as chicks with turkey starter instead of chick starter. Corn is great for extra energy but IMO these chunky meat birds need animal protein. I feed my dogs raw, and I can get beef "bone dust" from my supplier- it's the stuff that is left over when they cut up meat with a saw, like sawdust but made of meat and bone. All my chickens love it but surprisingly the layers like it the most.
I would also give the white rock cornish cross meat protein if I had them, but I would restrict their total amount of feed. Sometimes I wonder if some of these growth issues in the cornish cross (leg problems) could be addressed by giving smaller amounts of higher quality feed - lower carb, more protein. One day I'll do that trial.

I am still very much in the experimenting stage, next year I plan to be more scientific about it and take some weights and plot production qualities like rate of growth, and because I like the Cornish for eggs too I will be taking notes on that too.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

If you are looking for an alternative to Cornish X game hens try raising out some btms, the bantams mature out faster than the stds and will have a lot more meat on them at the size you desire.

That's very interesting! I didn't know that.

 

[big medicine]

Hello big medicine, no I feed them a variety of food now, I gave them the starter at first, then mixed starter with sunflower and multigrain food for a while. Now Im giving them corn usually in morning and layer in afternoon with some veggie scraps here and there. They eat anything I dig some dandelions and other plants they love to eat on and throw it in there for them...Im playing it by what I have Im new at this. Any suggestions?

I think CanadianBuckeye covered it pretty good.

 

[big medicine]

If you are looking for an alternative to Cornish X game hens try raising out some btms, the bantams mature out faster than the stds and will have a lot more meat on them at the size you desire.

Agree that a bantam Cornish would have a much better meat to bone ratio than that young of a standard at that size. Plus might have a little more of the flavor that your looking for, being somewhat older.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Spangledcornish and Big Medicine, now you've got me thinking about Bantam cornish!

 

[sambat]

Is turkey starter the 24% or is there higher....and wow you guys are going hardcore

 

[sambat]

I was thinking the joint problems and ascites broilers have was due to a high protein intake like a sort of gout...hmm not sure where I can get high protein or sesame seed, what about cooked meats like left overs from a buffet?