Cornish Thread

[wyndotte lover]

Meat birds

 

[moomoodiddy]

The reasons I do enjoy raising the CRX for my freezer is that they are done in 8-9 weeks (depending on how big I want them to get) and that is it for raising them. Also, my family enjoys the tenderness of them and the amount of white meat they produce. I have plenty of pure birds, but I have a market for them to sell at 4-6 months that relieves me from feeding them out longer to reach the size I would want them to be. I do can some of the pure birds though so that their meat is tender and they make for quick meals when I am short on time, the flavor is amazing and the meat is so tender it falls apart.

The biggest question here is whether the artificial selection of this new type of bird affects the consumers.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Don't fool yourself. Unless you get a feral flock, they are all artificially selected.

Also, I wouldn't call the CRX new. They have been around for 70 years or more. There are pure breeds that have been around much less time than that. All the breeds and strains we know today are human selected mating, whether it is by a big hatchery, a show breeder or a backyard flock owner who picks out the rooster they are going to use with their hens.

 

[moomoodiddy]

I know that, but such a concentrated line of breeding for the sole purpose of slaughtering at 6-10 weeks of age makes you wonder.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Why? If they are being selectively bred, then they really are no different in their genetic composition than any other chicken. They are still a chicken.
Now, if you are talking about GM, then that is different. If you are talking hormone fed, that is also a different story.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I have had a number of breeders advise me that if I want bigger birds, use bigger females. If I was to influence the color, find a better colored male or one with better egg color if that is what I am looking for. Size and type come from the girls and color comes from the boys. In comparing that rule of thumb to what I have produced, I must agree that it works more that way. We would think that bigger males would be key, but it is not from what I have found.

That's a very interesting point- I assume this is true for pure breeds as well. In that case, my take on this is, if I wanted larger birds it's more important that the male be more correct than large, and a large hen will hopefully result in large, correct offspring. I'm not going to worry as much now if my roosters might be a bit on the small side then, if all else is good.

 

[sambat]

Hmmm might have to try both to see what I get. I dont think they use AI for the broilers. I had a friend that told me he used to work at a chicken house that had the parents for the broilers and that both looked the same except that the hens were shorter. According to him they looked just like the Cornish X but werent as big

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I wonder if they are headed that way though, the chicken carcasses at the store look freakier all the time- basically all breast, tiny wings and legs. I predict that pretty soon the parent stock will end up like the turkeys- artificial insemination. I'm pretty determined to breed my Cornish to the 1910 standard. They really do need legs IMO to be a viable free range bird.

 

[hellbender]

I wonder if they are headed that way though, the chicken carcasses at the store look freakier all the time- basically all breast, tiny wings and legs. I predict that pretty soon the parent stock will end up like the turkeys- artificial insemination. I'm pretty determined to breed my Cornish to the 1910 standard. They really do need legs IMO to be a viable free range bird.

Also to breed naturally.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I see some of the Cornish out at shows and I don't like the excessiveness that I am seeing. If mine can't breed naturally, they are going to have to go in the pot. I am not messing around with that. Why would anyone want to. With any species, why breed them to the point where they must have human intervention to even be able to breed?