Cornish X's are getting a bad rap.

[notaspringchicken]

Quote:
Really? I've had great luck with my Hubbards from Townline.

I have been wondering about the differences between the two types that Townline sells, "Vantress X Arbor (AA70) Cross" and "The Hubbard White Mountain Broiler." Their website doesn't really give a lot of information about choosing between the two. Can someone tell me what the differences are? Thanks!

 

[jaku]

Quote:
Really? I've had great luck with my Hubbards from Townline.

I have been wondering about the differences between the two types that Townline sells, "Vantress X Arbor (AA70) Cross" and "The Hubbard White Mountain Broiler." Their website doesn't really give a lot of information about choosing between the two. Can someone tell me what the differences are? Thanks!

I know that the Hubbards are Cornish X's, not sure what the Vantresses are.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
I have been wondering about the differences between the two types that Townline sells, "Vantress X Arbor (AA70) Cross" and "The Hubbard White Mountain Broiler." Their website doesn't really give a lot of information about choosing between the two. Can someone tell me what the differences are? Thanks!

I know that the Hubbards are Cornish X's, not sure what the Vantresses are.

They are both a broiler.... Hubbard is it's own company naming it's own line. This particular one is called the White Mountain.

Vantress x Arbor are another type of broiler but this line is tricky... "vantress" is a line coming form Cobb-Vantress Inc.... owned by.... TYSON... The Arbor part is coming from a complete different line.... these are from Arbor Arcres... owned by Aviagen.

It seems complicated but it's not. There are only a handful of players in the poultry industry and most have a hand in every hatchery we buy from.

Bottom line, they are both a fast growing broiler. I doubt townline even carries two lines... I would call them out on it... see what they have to say?

 

[UncleHoot]

I've raised a lot of Cornish X's. I'm currently raising Colored Rangers and loving it, but I will definitely raise Cornish X's again as well. They are different types of birds, and as someone stated, we all have different goals in mind.

I don't think anyone could argue that the Cornish X is not the fastest, most efficient meat bird available. I just ate another one this weekend, and they also taste great!

But, unlike the Rangers, the Cornish X's are slow, and while they do forage to some extent, they forage less. As my Rangers mature, they seem to be foraging less, and sitting around more, but they are still several times more active than a Cornish X, and engage in many more chicken activities.

Having raised a handful of the Rangers last year, we found them to be a bit more flavorful, though a lot of the flavor can be attributed to how it's prepared (i.e. A badly prepared Range will definitely be worse than a well-prepared CX). The legs of the Rangers are a bit stringier, but I really didn't notice any difference in the texture of the breast meat. These differences are mostly due to the age of the bird.

Cornish X's don't feather out on their breasts. OK, if raised in a pristine environment, I'm pretty sure they would, but in general practice, they don't. While that doesn't affect the taste (I hope!), it does make them look disgusting, especially when they start sitting around all day in their own feces, which build-up at an alarming rate.

Just some of my thoughts.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

We just butchered our first two Cornish X yesterday. Previously we've butchered extra Barred Rock and EE roosters. There is absolutely no comparison.

We had decided that we wouldn't do our own meat birds again after the BR and EE roos. Too messy, too hard to pluck (I got so frustrated I skinned 'em) and so small my husband had a hard time getting inside to clean them. Then they were tough and stringy, although tasty.

Just to see, I added two Cornish X to my last layer order. They were raised outside in a movable pen. They were kind of gross--they would just lay in their food dish instead of dig through the grass--but that's OK. They didn't stink and weren't too dirty, probably because I moved them onto new grass every day. They ate a TON, but that's also OK since they were about 5x the size of the laying pullets. They were fed once a day, same as my layers, so they took less care, since I didn't have to collect eggs from them or clean nest boxes.

And then yesterday, they were a dream to butcher. Huge, meaty, easy to pluck, easy to clean--my husband's comment was that "the difference between these birds and the others is that these are made of meat!" They looked good enough to eat when we were done, LOL!

I am fully expecting them to taste as good as they look. And if they do, we'll raise more next year. They were a completely different experience than the barred rocks. And they were a better experience all around.

Anyway, that's just my experience. Take it for what it's worth!

Erika

 

[little_giant]

i agree that they do smell bad.
but i dont agree that they need more attention.
i give the same amount of attention to my leghorn and the Cronish Xs are still healthy.