Cornish Thread

[Minniechickmama]

You have some nice DC. I'm afraid I did think you might be referring to hatchery "Cornish" when you mentioned the laying. My bad, and I apologize to you for using an excerpt from your post to point out some of the more elemental differences between Cornish and other birds sold as Cornish..

There have been many pictures or mention of Cornish here on this thread that just were not real Cornish, and with the lack of breeders of quality Cornish posting pictures of their birds here regularly, they have few to see and compare. I've been contacted by a few wanting Cornish after seeing pictures of mine. I think interest in the breed is growing, though that might be wishful thinking. LOL Most seemed to think that those from a hatchery were pure Cornish but liked the quality of mine pictured here more, and I seem to be one of a very few willing to sell hatching eggs from quality Cornish when I have extra, or willing to sell a young pair with potential to the new person. Too few others even post pictures of their quality birds, and I wish they would,even though they have none to sell..One person that contacted me was wanting to buy White Cornish chicks from me for their kids to raise and show in the 4H broiler class, so figured we are falling short to help those new to Cornish or chickens in general to be informed about the breed. I know from reading awhile on threads for the other breeds that it might not do much good to explain some of the most simple differences here, and someone will probably appear on the next page that has never looked at this page, but I wanted to try and to do it without being insulting or talking down to them.

That is an easy thing to think on this site. You get all kinds of people thinking they have the best quality stuff, and when you see it you just want to do a face palm because they look nothing like they should. My favorite is all the folks with those green egg layers they call Ameraucanas!

I know most of my Cornish are hatchery quality that I have had, and I would love to take some credit for the pen of REAL DCs, but I bought them from someone who has done all the work. I just intend to carry on in the same tradition.
I have this guy too that I am going to play with over one of the hens from the good pen:

This isn't the best angle, and he isn't one I bred either. He came from Eugene Imwalles project pen last summer.
His 'sister' has the ugliest head on her of any bird I own! I have a few chicks from her and the Black Laced that dressed out nicely at 6-pounds last month.
I am thinking I may have to put those all in the freezer because there is a bad comb issue there. That is okay, because I will take a 6-pounder in my freezer from a naturally grown bird.

 

[kfacres]

I've been contacted by a few wanting Cornish after seeing pictures of mine. I think interest in the breed is growing, though that might be wishful thinking. LOL Most seemed to think that those from a hatchery were pure Cornish but liked the quality of mine pictured here more, and I seem to be one of a very few willing to sell hatching eggs from quality Cornish when I have extra, or willing to sell a young pair with potential to the new person.

Nearly impossble to sell hatching eggs when you can't raise breeder birds for a full year, or young breeding stock when you can't keep chicks alive for more than a couple of months.

 

[al6517]

Quote:

Steve : I have to say if you were wanting to educate them you would have told them that these pure Cornish are not what 4H classifies as a broiler, they show only X's in that category. Then knowingly selling rare white cornish eggs to children seems like a waste that is surely a going nowhere deal for the breed, unless your selling them as those other crosses you have. I have to say with all due respect I think your idealism is rooting more in trying to make a $ buck $ from the uneducated more than preserving the breed, I would hope that you would raise and breed and cull more of your pure whites, until you actually had enough to sell to more derserving breeders, and keeping enough actual adult pure breeders on the ground and safe from predetors ( according to your own accounts ) is something you have been struggling with these past years, I just wanted to see where you were headed with that. Truely preserving the breed starts with a distribution to those who really know how to work with the breed first and will do a better job overall hence increasing the numbers of better quality birds nation wide.

 

[Cedarknob]

Al, you must have missed my post about having ran an electric fence around my pens and that it it is doing the job. I did explain the difference to the person wanting chicks for the 4H show about the difference, and also that I saw white Plymouth Rock cockerels being exhibited by 4Hers over in the junior section of an APA.sanctioned event that I guessed must be the same type class.

It's OK with me if you disagree with my policy of selling or even giving a promising Cornish to a person new to the breed occasionally; when I can and feel like it I will.

 

[big medicine]

That is an easy thing to think on this site. You get all kinds of people thinking they have the best quality stuff, and when you see it you just want to do a face palm because they look nothing like they should. My favorite is all the folks with those green egg layers they call Ameraucanas!

I know most of my Cornish are hatchery quality that I have had, and I would love to take some credit for the pen of REAL DCs, but I bought them from someone who has done all the work. I just intend to carry on in the same tradition.
I have this guy too that I am going to play with over one of the hens from the good pen:

This isn't the best angle, and he isn't one I bred either. He came from Eugene Imwalles project pen last summer.
His 'sister' has the ugliest head on her of any bird I own! I have a few chicks from her and the Black Laced that dressed out nicely at 6-pounds last month.
I am thinking I may have to put those all in the freezer because there is a bad comb issue there. That is okay, because I will take a 6-pounder in my freezer from a naturally grown bird.

The off combs are likely the result of the Wyandotte rose comb in their not too distant past. Keep breeding the better pea combs and that should pass. How's the egg size holding up for you ?

I have all the colored bird projects here now, leaving Dad with just his true whites to look after. There seems to be some variance in egg size and color with most being much larger, darker, and more frequent than the eggs the whites they decended from laid.

That splash male over your dark hens should produce some interesting blue laced birds, improved type, harder feather, patterns somewhere between single and double laced. Should be able to go in either, or both directions, if space, and desire allows. And as you say, the culls seem to fit nicely in the freezer.

If that is a recent photo, I am envious of your green grass, we are about to crumble and blow away here.

 

[Minniechickmama]

That was about 2 weeks ago before this current heat wave. Luckily, the several inches of rain we had just before has helped keep thing from getting too crispy.
This one you can see just shows a little of the roundness of the Wyandotte blood in him. You had told me before that was where the cushion comb came from on the fellow who resides in the freezer now. The pullet has a combo comb, half pea/half cushion. But I am going to work with her. I am hoping the two strains compliment each other, but if the crossing fails, I still have the good Darks to carry on with. I have some chicks out of the pullet and the cockerel I butchered, but they are still too young to start evaluating.

Okay, time to go back out and cook for a while. #1 son didn't fill all the waters full again this morning and some need my attention again.

 

[spangledcornish]

Minniechickmama glad to hear the pullets are laying well for you, ours were laying well until they decided they wanted to sit, and unfortunately did not get out as many this year. Here are a few pics of some of our birds.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Adam, did you realize the birds are posted are those I got from you this Spring? I didn't know if you made that connection, and I didn't think I had used your name.

I am loving them! I like to show them to people too so they can see what real Cornish look like. I hope to one day be able to share some stock with a few people who can appreciate them and work with them. Until that happens and after I have a good base of my own stock to use, the extras will be freezer bound. But yes, the girls are laying better than I could have expected. All the eggs go in the bator too. Those birds probably have the best digs in the compound too, open to the south, and enough shade and air flow so they don't get too stuffy. I just wish the girls would use their nest boxes instead of always laying on the ground! I have only lost about 2 or 3 chicks along the way, and they hatch pretty well.

But Gary, I do have quite a few of those project pullets eggs that the chicks seem to get too big before they hatch. The eggs themselves, I meant to mention last time and forgot, are big! For a pullet, they are pretty darn big, I am looking forward to seeing how big they are when she is in full lay mode! I had to put her in a cage for a while since she got a bit pecked up and need reprieve. She stopped laying and hasn't resumed. She is in with the flock now, so I expect to see one of her eggs in a nest when this heat breaks. I can tell hers easy enough, she has a distinctive shaped egg! Not bad, weird, just distinctive.

 

[Cedarknob]

Thanks for posting the pictures Spangled.

Minniechick, I would love to see how the chicks turn out from that splash lashed cockerel over a DC. You're sure not the only person suffering in the heat today. I feel a little sick, but the birds sure enjoyed me dumping their water and refilling them with cool water when the temps peaked this afternoon.. Many were panting, but otherwise seemed OK and liked the cool water. I had left the hose lay after watering this morning, and think I could have scalded feathers with it until after it ran awhile, but sure didn't feel like butchering today. LOL

 

[Minniechickmama]

I am sure you can see some of the parents from the Splash on here. I got the eggs from Big Medicine last summer from his dad's project pen. I am sure that they will be similar in color at the very least and not far from the rest of the structure.

I leave the hose lay for 5 minutes between filling pails and waterers and it is hot already. I am going to run out in my undies tomorrow night if it really gets down below 70 like they are forecasting. I may have a bottle of my favorite brew in hand too!

My kids will be scarred for life, but someone has to do it.