Cornish VS Heritage Breed or Turken Cockerels

[Turkenqueen]

Other than yield, what's the difference?
How is taste and texture compared?
Is there a price difference at all between raising?

Cornish X are bred to be butchered at 6 to 8 weeks. They are most efficient if butchered when they are ready, 6 to 8 weeks. This is if you are buying all they eat. If you restrict feed they grow slower but your costs probably go up some. If you pasture them or grow a lot of their feed your costs may drop a little. Different ways to go about it but the Cornish X are the most efficient.

Rangers are somewhat similar but are slower to grow and handle pasture better. Less efficient than the Cornish X but not bad.

Dual purpose grow a lot slower. They cost more to feed unless you rely on them foraging a lot. If you butcher them at the same age as the others the taste and texture will be pretty close but there will be almost no meat there. They are not going to develop the health issues the others can if you delay butchering so you can butcher when you want to, not when you have to. If freezer space is tight or you have schedule problems that could b a factor.

The age you butcher them has a lot to do with flavor and texture. When the hormones hit the cockerels quickly develop flavor. Some people like that flavor, some don't. Those hormones also cause cockerels to develop texture. That means the age you butcher has a lot to do with how you cook them. You can fry or grill a young bird. Different people have different preferences and tolerances but usually around 14 weeks for most people they get too old to fry or grill. You need to use a different method to cook them, usually something slower and moister. You could write a book on that.

Pullets also develop flavor and texture as they age but do that a lot slower than cockerels in puberty.

What are your reasons for choosing your option?

My goals. I like to play with genetics, which means dual purpose chickens. Mine forage for a lot of their food or I grow it so costs aren't exorbitant. Size isn't that important to me. There are only two of us so I can get two meals out of a small pullet. The second meal is soup that I can from stuff I grow. A large cockerel just means I get chicken for lunch a time or two. Dual purpose suit my lifestyle.

Thank you! I'm thinking I'm going to have to go with doing cockerels for a meat source a majority of the year for several reasons.

I forgot to mention that I am moving to Tennessee and it gets extremely hot most of the year where I'll be. So Cornish will be a very bad idea.

Freezer space will be a little tight right now (our freezer just went out and not sure when we'll be getting another) so by going with the cockerels I don't have to worry about keeping a perfect schedule to butcher as you mentioned like the Cornish.

I can hatch from my laying flock at any time and have chicks. Cornish will have to be shipped to me and that adds up quickly doing 25+ every 6 weeks.

I have 50 acres of pasture that I'm going to section a portion just for the cockerels to run on and be closed up at night.

I also play with genetics a lot so over time I can create a line that will benefit my needs a little better.

 

[Turkenqueen]

Thank you everyone!

 

[Etorb1]

Other than yield, what's the difference?
How is taste and texture compared?
Is there a price difference at all between raising?

Cornish X are bred to be butchered at 6 to 8 weeks. They are most efficient if butchered when they are ready, 6 to 8 weeks. This is if you are buying all they eat. If you restrict feed they grow slower but your costs probably go up some. If you pasture them or grow a lot of their feed your costs may drop a little. Different ways to go about it but the Cornish X are the most efficient.

Rangers are somewhat similar but are slower to grow and handle pasture better. Less efficient than the Cornish X but not bad.

Dual purpose grow a lot slower. They cost more to feed unless you rely on them foraging a lot. If you butcher them at the same age as the others the taste and texture will be pretty close but there will be almost no meat there. They are not going to develop the health issues the others can if you delay butchering so you can butcher when you want to, not when you have to. If freezer space is tight or you have schedule problems that could b a factor.

The age you butcher them has a lot to do with flavor and texture. When the hormones hit the cockerels quickly develop flavor. Some people like that flavor, some don't. Those hormones also cause cockerels to develop texture. That means the age you butcher has a lot to do with how you cook them. You can fry or grill a young bird. Different people have different preferences and tolerances but usually around 14 weeks for most people they get too old to fry or grill. You need to use a different method to cook them, usually something slower and moister. You could write a book on that.

Pullets also develop flavor and texture as they age but do that a lot slower than cockerels in puberty.

What are your reasons for choosing your option?

My goals. I like to play with genetics, which means dual purpose chickens. Mine forage for a lot of their food or I grow it so costs aren't exorbitant. Size isn't that important to me. There are only two of us so I can get two meals out of a small pullet. The second meal is soup that I can from stuff I grow. A large cockerel just means I get chicken for lunch a time or two. Dual purpose suit my lifestyle.

When would you say the cockerels hit puberty? Does it depend on the breed? I am raising come CornishX now, and some are definitely males. They are about 5 weeks. If you wait to 10 weeks to butch would these hormone already start having their effect on the males?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Going to jump in w/ a few comments.

1.) I'm in North FL, and used to backpack the mountains in TN when I was much younger, so am familiar with that climate. Its fine - easily managed -for the Cornish Cross. Don't let that be the deciding factor.

2.) The ratio of white meat/dark meat is MUCH higher in the Cornish Cross than most other birds - so if you really like white meat, you should lean that way. If you are a leg and thigh man (sorry, couldn't resist), then you probably want to look elsewhere - unless the feed efficiency of the CornishX is so much greater than your other options (and it may be, they are Frankenchickens) that you can get the legs and thighs you want from the Cornish, plus the breast you don't, at the same cost as a different breed.

With 50 A, your limiting factor is really your freezer, and your ability to process efficiently - if butchering two birds a week, every Monday is your routine because that's all the chill chest space you have, then you are going to have to be replacing birds with equal frequency, which means a breed program, which means no Cornish Cross. If you have the space to process and store 25-30 birds at a time, then buying in bulk from a commercial hatchery a couple times a year, raising, and slaughtering at prime age is going to be a much more attractive option.

Cornish don't stop eating when they reach prime weight - every week they go beyond optimum, that feed bill increases, starts closing the gap between them and a slower growing, less efficient, better free-ranging bird.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When would you say the cockerels hit puberty? Does it depend on the breed? I am raising come CornishX now, and some are definitely males. They are about 5 weeks. If you wait to 10 weeks to butch would these hormone already start having their effect on the males?

I don't raise CornishX, I have dual purpose, so I don't have the experience to answer that.

From what I've seen breed isn't that important. It depends more on the individual than the breed. For example, I raised 18 Buff Rock cockerels. By their actions and appearance some seemed to hit puberty around 12 weeks. Some had not when I butchered them around 20 weeks. The size of the testicles when you butcher is a pretty good indication of how advanced they are.

Personally I would not worry about them hitting puberty at ten weeks, but that is a feeling not based on experience with them. Also, my feeling is I'd worry about them having health problems by then. Hopefully others with more experience with CX will chime in.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

A guy did a study of a few heritage hatchery breeds https://projects.sare.org/project-reports/fnc12-866/

Thank you @Molpet for this study - was a good read. The narrative was, I suspect, useful for many who might see a chart and think "that's not much difference", because they've not multiplied it out by the weeks of raising and number of birds to see how the differences accumulate from hatch to harvest to make significant final differences in cost with only minor changes in /bird /week inputs. I know I personally am trying to find ways to bring my feed costs down - partially by free-ranging, since I have the space and grazing variety - but I am also seeking ways to better my pre-made feed pricing. #40 and 50# bags from TSC aren't a great option for more than a couple birds, but my flock is too small to warrant commercial quantities, as I risk losing stored feed to spoilage - my birds only consume 40-50# weekly.

Still seeking alternate sourcing in the area.

 

[Molpet]

Thank you @Molpet for this study - was a good read. The narrative was, I suspect, useful for many who might see a chart and think "that's not much difference", because they've not multiplied it out by the weeks of raising and number of birds to see how the differences accumulate from hatch to harvest to make significant final differences in cost with only minor changes in /bird /week inputs. I know I personally am trying to find ways to bring my feed costs down - partially by free-ranging, since I have the space and grazing variety - but I am also seeking ways to better my pre-made feed pricing. #40 and 50# bags from TSC aren't a great option for more than a couple birds, but my flock is too small to warrant commercial quantities, as I risk losing stored feed to spoilage - my birds only consume 40-50# weekly.

Still seeking alternate sourcing in the area.

Have you tried ferment feed? https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Have you tried ferment feed? https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

I have, thank you. My birds largely didn't care for it - tried it for a month - and it became impractical to maintain, had two 5 gallon buckets running at all times. Will try again this winter, when they have less choice available to them, and they might be more amenable to the idea.

 

[Molpet]

When would you say the cockerels hit puberty? Does it depend on the breed?

. The size of the testicles when you butcher is a pretty good indication of how advanced they are.

I have birds with a CX background. Some are white and mature faster with large testicles.
Some are barred or black. Those mature slower and come late fall the testicles shrink and discolor...they are less randy then.

 

[Parront]

I don't raise CornishX, I have dual purpose, so I don't have the experience to answer that.

From what I've seen breed isn't that important. It depends more on the individual than the breed. For example, I raised 18 Buff Rock cockerels. By their actions and appearance some seemed to hit puberty around 12 weeks. Some had not when I butchered them around 20 weeks. The size of the testicles when you butcher is a pretty good indication of how advanced they are.

Personally I would not worry about them hitting puberty at ten weeks, but that is a feeling not based on experience with them. Also, my feeling is I'd worry about them having health problems by then. Hopefully others with more experience with CX will chime in.

I have raised the CX for 10-12 weeks. Like you mentioned a lot could depend on the line or strain of the birds. I used to order the Murray McMurray "roaster" -- it was in the late 80's and early 90's -- and they never matured enough to crow by that age. You could tell the males by comb, size and extra thick legs very well. They are more uniform than a bird like the Orpingtons which I raised along with them. The layer breeds are only selected by the hatcheries based on laying production, I would say. That might cause the best laying breeds to have a very early maturity. Leghorns crow pretty early. I have some Barred Hollands now and they are beginning to crow, some were crowing @ 8 weeks and all are crowing now, @ 10 weeks, about like the Brown Leghorns I used to raise.