CornishX vx. dark cornish...and what is flip?

[NakPakChick]

We are going to order some meat birds this year. But I'm not sure what kind. I'm liking the speed of the cornish, cornishX, but I'm thinking about dark cornish, and keeping a roo and some hens to just breed my own.

and this "flip" is new to me...what is it? how does it happen? how can I avoid it?

Share your experiences/preferences??

Thank you!!

 

[CARS]

Well, I guess there are 2 meanings to FLIP.

One is the Georgia State Bird's mascot name (quick google)

The other: http://www.scribd.com/doc/4881566/Sudden-Death-Syndrome-in-Broiler-Chicken

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Nothing beats the speed of the Cornish X. So if your looking for them to be in and out... I would go with them. Another thing to think about is the quality of meat that your going to get. Cornish x's are going to give you really nice everything... if you pasture them and raise them to about 10 weeks your going to have superb flavor and a lot of meat. Most birds will reach 6-8 lbs dressed weight in 10 weeks.

In comparison the Dark Cornish... unless you have great stock... they are going to be IMO garbage. Most Dark Cornish lines don't amount to much at 14-16 weeks and I've noticed that the best results are around 22-26 weeks. You actually get a decent carcass out of them at that age. They are very slow growers but do eventually fill out and have more weight than other DP breeds. However do keep in mind... the meat from a 22-26 week old hen or rooster is going to need special attention. I'm not a great cook by no means but it does take at least two hours to cook at a slow low heat. Even then the meat is stringy and somewhat dried out... taste more like turkey than anything. I would suggest using some gravy. Breast meat is nothing like the cornish x's and the taste is some what gamey if not cooked right.

Also too, and this is just preference... the black quills will leave a residue that you can see. Very hard to get out... white feathered birds have the same thing but it's clear not black. I don't know about you but that would freak me out every time I would take a bite out of the skin because I would think I'm eating feathers.

Honestly... and this is coming form someone that's processed thousands of birds both cornish x's and Dual Purpose... for the time that you put in, 22-26 weeks, it's not worth the amount of meat that you get in return. The quality is not that great... it's good... but not worth the time. Lastly to think about... they are much harder to process, the bones are a lot harder than the cornish x's making it difficult getting your hands in to eviscerate.

To avoid all commercial issues with cornish x's you want to do some research on them. They truly are a super chicken... and are quite different than the ones your used to raising... and need to be treated as such.

 

[Buster52]

Dark Cornish is my meat bird of choice, but which you chose depends on your goals. There are strengths and weaknesses to both. The CX grows fast and has great feed conversion rate, sometimes measuring three pounds feed to put on one pound of meat. But, they also have their problems which have been well documented. Some folks order them, raise them 6 to 8 weeks, process them, and they are done for the year. But, you have to import more birds every season.

Standard Dark Cornish are good birds for the person who wants a self-sufficient, sustainable flock. They are less fragile than the CX, at least it would appear so, since they don't require as much work to keep them healthy. They have good breast meat and I consider them to be nice birds to own. Mine have a good balanced broodiness. I process mine at 20 weeks and they are delicious. Some folks say the length of time they grow out adds to their taste, and friends who have raised a lot of both attest to that.

So, decide what your goals are and get the best bird for those goals.

 

[NakPakChick]

Brunty Farms, thankx for your input. I followed your post about the turkeys.
I went ahead and ordered 20 cornish. This is my first year with meat chickens. Hubby likes the in and out idea. We have plenty of room to pasture them.
From what I was reading I can avoid the Flip, or Sudden Chicken Death Syndrome, by controlling their feed? after the first week taking away their feed for about 12 hours at night? Anyone tried that?

Thankx for the help!

 

[NakPakChick]

Thankx Buster.
I was thinking to go the whole self-sufficient route, but don't have a coop for them. We ended up with a roo, brown leghorn, with the laying hens. So I was wanting to keep them separate, not let the leghorn roo get at any dark cornish hens I kept. I hope to have a place for them next year. This year we're going with the cornish, in and out.
Where did you get your dark cornish? Any hatchery you like over others?
Right now I'm ordering birds through my local feed store, and from what I remember they order from a hatchery in New Mexico. The catalog cover is yellow, if that helps, hahaha.

Alicia

 

[Illia]

The only reason most Dark Cornish are not good enough is the quality - in reality, they're just as meaty if not meatier than Cornish X, but that is if you don't get them from a hatchery. Hatchery Cornish are so close to the average laying hen. Now, of course, Cornish X grow so much faster which is what appeases most people - So it may just end with opinion. One thing that may work is crossing them, so that the health problems of the Cornish X will decrease - But I don't even know if you can actually do that, as Cornish X are in such horrible shape by the time they're of breeding age.

 

[DaKid]

I raise Cornish X-rock for the last 3 years and what I did was feed them 3 times a day -but I only feed for a certain amout of food per bird or for a certain amout of time at each feeding .


I have also keep a few hens that ended up living over a yrs old and was laying eggs and I was breeding them with a Male RIR Roo and also a male LT. Brahama .

I like the X-rock Cornish meat birds there very taste in the short amount of time you have to raise them


Alan

 

[CARS]

Quote:
I would wait 2 to 3 weeks (some say 5 weeks) before doing a 12 on/12 off feeding. And for exercise, since you have the room, move the feeder around. It will not only encourage them to roam around, but will also keep the poo from being too concentrated.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I purchased 25 dark cornish from a hatchery. I have culled down to 2 roos and 5 hens.

Just like any other breed you will have to cull, cull cull. I am going to continue and improve and cross with other breeds to see if I can find a good meat bird for my table.

I personally don't want 25 chickens in my freezer at one time. I like to keep things fresher. That is one reason I want to have a different meatie than the Cornish X.

BruntyFarms made some excellent points however, especially (for me) about being easy to eviscerate. Some of those birds are really hard to get your hands into. They don't stretch well!

Here is picture of a few of my favorite hens. I hope to get some decent chicks from them someday.