cornish

[fowlsessed]

How well do dark cornish forage. I'll be getting them from cackle hatchery.

 

[fowlsessed]

No one has an answer? Any experiances raising them on forage?

 

[galanie]

Mine seems to forage just fine. In fact, she's better at getting to the buggies than my others are I think.

 

[fowlsessed]

Thanks, were did you get them from.

 

[Lee]

I have one dark Cornish hen that I got as a rescue and told she was from McMurray.
Of any of the hatcheries that sell the dark Cornish I like McMurray's description of them the best.
But, anyway, she is a very good forager and quite smart.

 

[fowlsessed]

I agree, there description of them is what sealed the deal with me wanting some. lol. Some other ones say they don't do well.That is why I was wondering.
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[Lee]

Yes, I guess McMurray has their own "strain"?

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[GardenState38]

Galanie, what percent of your Cornish' diet is forage? Do they subsist on that alone?

I'm no expert on the breed, but everything I've ever read about Cornish says they aren't generally the best foragers--certainly can't rely on foraging for the mainstay of their diet. They are big, heavy birds that aren't very active and yet require a good deal of nourishment. Not the best breed to be turned loose and left to take care of themselves.

I wouldn't rely solely on hatchery breed descriptions...they want to make every breed sound like the one you need.
I'd also be suspect if one description was different than others you may have read.

 

[Tricorn]

Quote:
We have Dark Cornish for meat birds. Hatchery stock, from Ideal.

They get perhaps 10 lbs of feed per week split between them and our turkeys. They have 10 acres to free range on. I've found with the cornish they're as active as they have to be. We raise them on practically nothing and they are very lean, look almost like oriental birds. The last two weeks before processing we keep them in the run and stuff them with feed. The gain weight quite nicely. Good muscle and a nice layer of fat.

You do have to wait longer for them to mature. We process at 26-30 weeks. Very narrow birds in the beginning! Then they hit maturity and *poof* They're twice as wide. Well worth the wait.

 

[fowlsessed]

That is good info. Thanks