Cornish Xs are causing me trouble - what other breed can I raise?

[mike67909]

Quote:
Its more expensive to raise the ranger's in my experience. They seemed to have eaten more and you raise them longer. They are very tender even though they move around more. They do not have the deep breast like the X's do but they are still large. My rooster FR's were ready at 10 weeks the hens will probably go till 12 weeks. They love to forage and eat alot of grass ( i have mine in a tractor)

They are great birds never lost one out of 26.

 

[dancingbear]

You might want to try red or black broilers, I forget who had the best price ob those, it might have been Ideal. They are slower than CX's, and not as big a breast, but still decent size in about 12 weeks. Cheaper than FR's, I think, but check and compare. They seem like a good compromise bird, reasonable growth, reasonable amount of meat, but healthy and active, you can even let them live to breed, if you want. Hybrids, of course, so they wouldn't all be just like the parents, but if you're just raising them for home use, and not to sell, so what?

 

[momdrinkstea]

We're raising Silver Cross Cornish Cockerels for meat, they're about 4 weeks and doing great!
Bought them from Hoffman Hatchery in Pennsylvania, got 100 cockerels (all males) for about $100 WITH shipping!
Only lost 1 in shipment. They're eating fine, foraging a bit, we're expanding their pen in about a week to allow
them to forage more. We butcher them locally, at a cost of $2, so our total cost per bird is about $5 to eat!
We butcher at 8-10 weeks for fryers, and then again at 12 weeks for roasting birds.
Raised the white Cornish cross earlier this year, butchered them at 8 weeks, as they stopped moving
around much. Like the silver cross better so far!
Hope this helps!

 

[TimG]

Quote:
You already seem to be keeping them a couple extra weeks! 7 or 8 weeks is typical for Cornish Crosses.

I believe that your experience with Cornish Crosses is atypical, while some losses are to be expected, you are describing extreme numbers. If I were you, I would consider the conditions under which they are being kept and try to figure out if there is something you should be doing differently.

I am just trying to learn more about some other types of meat breeds. I would love any info that you have!!

There are lots of threads and lots of information about the Freedom Rangers on this forum, I'd be shocked if there wasn't a thread about them on the first page and the search engine will turn up a lot more.

Short answers to your questions: Rangers eat more per pound of growth than Cornish Crosses; Rangers are similar (if not identical) to Cornish Crosses in texture; at least one study has shown that meat birds who are free to range burn more calories ranging than they consume from foraging -- if they have access to a feeder, they will use it; Rangers and Cornish Crosses (perhaps under some different names) are the only real meat birds out there, but there are dual purpose birds that can be raised for meat, just don't expect nearly the same growth rates or finish weights -- this is another topic addressed regularly in this forum.​

 

[Milliemay]

I am not an expert, I am only in my 2nd year with the cornish x's. We raised 54 last year, had to butcher one early due to leg issues, he still dressed out at 4lbs. This year we only have 20 of them, and freezer camp is this week. I butchered mine last year at 11 weeks, average weight dressed was 6 lbs., but I do not feed them as aggressively as some folks do. They are fed every evening fresh feed, and always have fresh water, and are moved often. This year we have had a hard time keeping breast feathers on them because of all the rain and mud we have had in Wisconsin. I ordered from 2 different hatcheries also, last year was Sunny Side in Beaver Dam Wisconsin, and this year McMurray, amd have had good luck both years. The flavor of the Cornish X in my opinion is yummo, the best! Good luck finding a different breed that works for you, for us it's the CornishX, or as my kids call them pigkens, because that's what they are, smelly, little pigs, but oh so tasty!