Cornish x's vs Heavy Breed Cockerels Any suggestions
- Thread starter chiknlady
- Start date
Heavy Breed Cockrels do not make economic sense. They also are a time sink when you could be doing custom bred broilers in half the time. So, my short answers are:
1) Go with Cornish Crosses.
2) If you calculate the time and $$$ you put into heavy breed cockrels, you're better off going to Whole Foods for organic, free range, manicured, massaged chickens on a $/lb basis.
3) If you end up hating Cornish Crosses, look to alternative broilers like the Red Bros.
1) Go with Cornish Crosses.
2) If you calculate the time and $$$ you put into heavy breed cockrels, you're better off going to Whole Foods for organic, free range, manicured, massaged chickens on a $/lb basis.
3) If you end up hating Cornish Crosses, look to alternative broilers like the Red Bros.
Hi Greyfields! I don't know if you have any specific person or persons in mind, or if you're just posting in general, here's my reasoning.
I understand what you're saying, but I'm not talking about raising heavy breed cockerels. I want to find a good cross between 2 or more breeds, that will produce something similar to the red bros, (and I'll probably raise some red bros while I'm trying to breed up something different) but that I can breed myself, and not have to forever and ever depend on being able to buy chicks from somebody else.
Being able to hatch and raise my own chicks from my own chickens, is important to me. I have no problem with hatcheries, or people buying hatchery chicks, but I've decided I want to be my own hatchery.
If I were wanting to raise them for sale, as you do, I'd probably go with the red bros. But this is for my own household only. Quick turn-around isn't a really consideration. The coop, pasture, and enclosed runs are already there, whether I'm raising meat birds or not.
On feed costs, I gather from reading other people's comments that the red bros and other meat breeds all take about the same amount of feed from hatch to hatchet, the Cornish X's just go through it faster.
On the time it takes to raise them, well, I'm tending my regular flock anyway. I feed and water them all at the same time, so there's not a lot of additional time involved beyond what I do every single day anyway. Once they're out of the brooder, anyway. I feed, I water, I do whatever clean-up or maintenance needs to be done, I go back to the house or garden or whatever, and the birds run around all by themselves and be chickens. When I raised X's, it was a pain because they stay inside mostly and eat and poop, so there is a lot of extra work, just in cleaning the coop all the time. I want birds who will go out and forage, and spend their daytime pooping hours mostly pooping outside, while eating bugs and grass and weeds. I have a LOT of bugs and grass and weeds.
I really don't want to raise Cornish X's anymore, though I will be using purebred dark Cornish roos as initial breeders in my experimentation.
I don't live anywhere near a Whole Foods, it's 150 mile round trip to the nearest one. Besides, since I'm going to keep chickens in any case, (I haven't been without them in about 15 years) I may as well try breeding something more suitable for my own needs than I've found so far.
My birds don't get massaged or manicured, (do people really do that?) but they do free-range. I can't call them 100% organic, because I don't buy organic feed, (I haven't even seen organic feed around here) just non-medicated feed.
I understand what you're saying, but I'm not talking about raising heavy breed cockerels. I want to find a good cross between 2 or more breeds, that will produce something similar to the red bros, (and I'll probably raise some red bros while I'm trying to breed up something different) but that I can breed myself, and not have to forever and ever depend on being able to buy chicks from somebody else.
Being able to hatch and raise my own chicks from my own chickens, is important to me. I have no problem with hatcheries, or people buying hatchery chicks, but I've decided I want to be my own hatchery.
If I were wanting to raise them for sale, as you do, I'd probably go with the red bros. But this is for my own household only. Quick turn-around isn't a really consideration. The coop, pasture, and enclosed runs are already there, whether I'm raising meat birds or not.
On feed costs, I gather from reading other people's comments that the red bros and other meat breeds all take about the same amount of feed from hatch to hatchet, the Cornish X's just go through it faster.
On the time it takes to raise them, well, I'm tending my regular flock anyway. I feed and water them all at the same time, so there's not a lot of additional time involved beyond what I do every single day anyway. Once they're out of the brooder, anyway. I feed, I water, I do whatever clean-up or maintenance needs to be done, I go back to the house or garden or whatever, and the birds run around all by themselves and be chickens. When I raised X's, it was a pain because they stay inside mostly and eat and poop, so there is a lot of extra work, just in cleaning the coop all the time. I want birds who will go out and forage, and spend their daytime pooping hours mostly pooping outside, while eating bugs and grass and weeds. I have a LOT of bugs and grass and weeds.
I really don't want to raise Cornish X's anymore, though I will be using purebred dark Cornish roos as initial breeders in my experimentation.
I don't live anywhere near a Whole Foods, it's 150 mile round trip to the nearest one. Besides, since I'm going to keep chickens in any case, (I haven't been without them in about 15 years) I may as well try breeding something more suitable for my own needs than I've found so far.
My birds don't get massaged or manicured, (do people really do that?) but they do free-range. I can't call them 100% organic, because I don't buy organic feed, (I haven't even seen organic feed around here) just non-medicated feed.
Heck, I'm all for those who do what they want and need. And experimenting with breeding your own livestock is how any breed came into being anyway.
I think it just makes sense. How else are you going to find out?
Good luck with it. I'll be toying with the ones I can get that are cornish Xs that someone else has already done the initial work on. AKA they can free range and breed already. I'm hoping they work out, if not I may experiment with my own as well.
I think it just makes sense. How else are you going to find out?
Good luck with it. I'll be toying with the ones I can get that are cornish Xs that someone else has already done the initial work on. AKA they can free range and breed already. I'm hoping they work out, if not I may experiment with my own as well.
Walkswithdog, I don't think those Cornish X's can breed naturally, I know they won't breed true, even if they do. Keeping them alive long enough to breed is a challenge, too. Unless you're talking about those from the site that are actual Cornish and Rock crosses. Those still wouldn't breed true, being 1st generation x's.
I hope you post your results, whatever you decide to try. It's always good to find out what others are doing, and what worked, and just as important, what doesn't work.
I hope you post your results, whatever you decide to try. It's always good to find out what others are doing, and what worked, and just as important, what doesn't work.
- Mar 3, 2008
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Quote:
Same here.
Same here.
- Thread starter
- #47
- Thread starter
- #48
Quote:
I know it's a strange bit of an experiment, and yes I'm familiar with f1 mutts not breeding true. This is an actual group of f2/f3 cornish and rock crosses. F4 maybe by the time I get them. It just interests me and saves me a few steps. I want to dink around with meaties, fail or succeed - it's all food. I put it off for awhile because she is still establishing her flock and I can get dorkings and dark cornish to work with just to see how they turn out in between. And I won't fuss nearly as much if while I'm finding out what predators are here, that I lose a few meat bred birds.
I will fuss about the Rocks and the Cochins likely if it happens.
Records and personal experience is generally how I like to learn. So, I'm just pressing on. Ordered an incubator, got folks set up for eggs. Doing it as a ground up thing with the meaties. Also won't fuss nearly as much if I botch hatching meat breeds.
I'll save kicking for when I botch SQ eggs.
Practice, records, learning. Off we go.
Somebody kick usps in the pants for me, they owe me a bator already.
I know it's a strange bit of an experiment, and yes I'm familiar with f1 mutts not breeding true. This is an actual group of f2/f3 cornish and rock crosses. F4 maybe by the time I get them. It just interests me and saves me a few steps. I want to dink around with meaties, fail or succeed - it's all food. I put it off for awhile because she is still establishing her flock and I can get dorkings and dark cornish to work with just to see how they turn out in between. And I won't fuss nearly as much if while I'm finding out what predators are here, that I lose a few meat bred birds.
I will fuss about the Rocks and the Cochins likely if it happens.
Records and personal experience is generally how I like to learn. So, I'm just pressing on. Ordered an incubator, got folks set up for eggs. Doing it as a ground up thing with the meaties. Also won't fuss nearly as much if I botch hatching meat breeds.
I'll save kicking for when I botch SQ eggs.
Practice, records, learning. Off we go.
Somebody kick usps in the pants for me, they owe me a bator already.
Quote:
Yeah, I definitely hear you on that. I had Dorking eggs shipped, and badly handled. The lady I bought them from kindly offed replacements for shipping costs only, though it wasn't her fault. I'll wait for cooler weather, and some other issues to resolve before I have her send them. I got ONE chick from that hatch, my $21 dollar chicken.
Sounds like we're doing similar things, except for the X's. It'll be interesting to compare results later, something I'm looking forward to! I always like to compare results on this sort of thing.
Yeah, I definitely hear you on that. I had Dorking eggs shipped, and badly handled. The lady I bought them from kindly offed replacements for shipping costs only, though it wasn't her fault. I'll wait for cooler weather, and some other issues to resolve before I have her send them. I got ONE chick from that hatch, my $21 dollar chicken.
Sounds like we're doing similar things, except for the X's. It'll be interesting to compare results later, something I'm looking forward to! I always like to compare results on this sort of thing.
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