Cornish Thread

[QueenMisha]

The two cocks are those I lost this winter. Here are some of the Darks. I don't have good pictures of all of them yet, but hopefully when the weather warms a little I will be able to get them together. I must say I have been impressed with the number of eggs I have gotten from them since mid-December. The light blew the other day over a couple of pens so they have dropped, but I have seen more of them than any other year at this time. The fertility is all over the place, but there is no rhyme or reason to it. I had one cock who was fertile in January and February and then nothing in March and April. I see activity in the two younger pens from last year's hatch, but I haven't stuck any eggs in the incubator yet, I want to see some bigger eggs from them before I try because they are still pullet eggs I am getting for the most part. Older group (2-4 yrs) (2014 hatched) (2015 hatched) These two cockerels are the single laced. The one on the left is a definite cull, doesn't meet size depth at all. The other is a very wide bird with good depth, but he has the most awful wedge-shaped comb. However, he will be the one going over the WLR females this year. He was hatched later in the season, around late May or June, so still growing and filling out. As you can tell from the ghost pullet in the one picture these are some nervous birds and I don't handle them a whole lot to calm them unless they are going to show. I missed out showing for the National in Hutchinson, WI along with all the other Cornish breeders in 2015. I just hope that the AI stuff gets handled and doesn't effect the shows any more this year than it has already.

Oh boy... your mentioned of your WLR losses struck a note with me, I just lost my WLR (bantam) boy, also due to fighting and then getting chilled. He wasn't the greatest quality of bird but he was a little guy with a lot of attitude. Sorry about your losses. I don't think I've seen LF WLR ever before. They must be rare. A shame, because the color is definitely stunning... I love the look of your Dark hens. What gorgeous birds. The only dark hens I have are MMH stock so their purity is beyond dubious... well, and Piper, who seems to be breeder stock/quality, but who I don't think has laid an egg in quite some time. Maybe I will pick some up at the big show near here next week.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I did see some WLRs at Ohio National in 2014. I did notice that color is not precise for others either. Otherwise the only LF WLR I have seen were hatchery stock birds. I had 3 hens I got with some eggs a few years ago. No males, so the only option for breeding was to use the Darks I got off spangledcornish, which were really nice birds. I know there are still things to work on like the wings are too long on some of them, but the color is the main thing I see that needs fixing. The males I have produced have had better color, but not always the best for type. I was really bummed when the darker of the two males started going downhill, because he had a much more compact body and more Cornish type and density to him. It is not easy to keep this breeding going in the heat of summer then the frigid winter, but the strongest survive and make for better offspring.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Minniechickmama your Cornish are lovely.

 

[big medicine]

Minnichickmomma you should be fine with the single laced dark male. The worst you should do is 50% black laced chicks if your hens carry a single copy of dominant white. If your females carry two copies you should get 100% WLR chicks.

As to the comb, keep pickling the better combed birds for the next generation breeders and you should be able get it whittled down some eventually..

 

[Minniechickmama]

Minnichickmomma you should be fine with the single laced dark male. The worst you should do is 50% black laced chicks if your hens carry a single copy of dominant white. If your females carry two copies you should get 100% WLR chicks.

As to the comb, keep pickling the better combed birds for the next generation breeders and you should be able get it whittled down some eventually..

Thanks, Gary.
I don't know what happened with those danged combs this year, I haven't had them anywhere near this bad in the past, so I will do just what you said, whittle it down. I know that isn't a major problem and it is one that can be worked with. I have to get a lot more chicks out this year though. I didn't get much out this last season and when the AI stuff hit, I pretty much shut down just so I could offload all the birds I did have hatched of other breeds.

As for who is carrying the white, we will see this year. I think a couple of the holder hens must be carrying one of each for me to see the single laced ones from this last year. Those two hens are probably going to be going this year though too, but I will see how they lay this time around. I know I get those black flecks in their white too when the two varieties are crossed, but that can be worked out too. I love the clean lacing on that lightest hen, but she is still so light that the contrast is lost, but still a nice looking bird to keep working with.

If breeding these were easy, everyone would be doing it, and I would probably have lost interest a long time ago. I like the challenge, plus, they were the breed I wanted instantly when I started thinking about raising chickens. The great thing about them is if I hatch a ton more than I need, they make such a nice meal it is worth it.

 

[big medicine]

You know I have never been able to get as nice tight pea combs on my Cornish project birds as I can on the Brahma project birds, and both carry a lot of the same blood. Might be some kind of genetic linkage with the high pea comb and muscle mass, something like with blue egg laying and pea combs.

 

[Minniechickmama]

My Darks have always been good sized birds with decent sized combs. Maybe just that I am line breeding that a big comb is being enhanced through it? We will see what this year's crop of them look like.

So Gary, do you still have any of the BLRs that were from your dad's flock/line?

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

It's strange, but the combs/wattles on my Cornish hens are almost non existent. The Cornish roosters however had bigger combs than the Buckeye roosters.

 

[big medicine]

My Darks have always been good sized birds with decent sized combs. Maybe just that I am line breeding that a big comb is being enhanced through it? We will see what this year's crop of them look like.

So Gary, do you still have any of the BLRs that were from your dad's flock/line?

Yeah, line breeding can be used to concentrate and enhance any number of features/traits. Depending on the skill of the breeder, and sometimes luck, they can either good, or not so good traits..

I still keep a pen of the Cornish project birds, some of which are BLR.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Yeah, line breeding can be used to concentrate and enhance any number of features/traits. Depending on the skill of the breeder, and sometimes luck, they can either good, or not so good traits..

I still keep a pen of the Cornish project birds, some of which are BLR.

This is my sixth year breeding chickens. I have heard/read things about hitting the 5-year mark and then starting to see some things that weren't there before. Well, I think that might be happening. But, I am learning and seeing what is here. That means this year I have to breed lots and cull hard. I am going to pare down what I have even further in the next couple of weeks and concentrate on smaller breeding groups. I know some pens have more than I need to be using. I also think I am just going to let the younger Cornish keep growing and not bother trying to breed with them until they have more development on them, maybe even after they reach the 1-year mark. I have enough full-grown adults to breed from that I am not pressed to use the younger stock just yet.