Creating Meat hybrids

[ABQ chicken keeper]

So do most game hens - offspring mature fast? Could I use my big roo that grew faster than my bared rock birds (all my bird that look like him grew slightly faster and bigger). and breed him with a game hen?

Ted,
What do you mean game hen, Cornish game hen?? Or some other type of Game chicken? Can you post a picture of your big roo?

 

[Terrible Ted]

Ted,
What do you mean game hen, Cornish game hen?? Or some other type of Game chicken? Can you post a picture of your big roo?

I see game hens for sale but never Cornish. I wonder what breeds grow fastest. My big Roo is a mix. He the product of a Easter Egger Roo that bread with isa Brown or Plymouth Rock Hen. I have not weighed him but feels heavy and he is looking good. I found all the bird that hatched out white with gray spots grew faster and are bigger than my Plymouth rock birds. Its a Barn yard mix that I am going to try to breed back together the hens and the Roo as I have 4 hens that match him. I have to take one (picture) All I know is they grew faster bigger than my reds and my rocks. I was looking to get green eggs birds; I got blue and green.

 

[cj2024]

I’m referenceing Cornish, as in Indian Game, not the commercial Cornish X. I’m patient, so I won’t need a super quick growth rate and I prefer going the more natural approach.

I think a standard white Cornish rooster over a New Hamshire hen, then the offspring Rooster to a flock of white Plymouth Rock hens might have good results.

• The standard Cornish has a really nice plump body but it takes up to a year to reach sexual maturity.
• The New Hamshire were specifically bred for faster maturity. They feather quickly, put on muscle earlier, and reach processing weight faster than comparable breeds.
• The Plymouth Rock has a large frame that adds length, internal capacity, leg structure, and skeletal width.

This cross gives you:

• Cornish: breast width + dense muscle
• New Hamshire: early maturity + vigor
• Rock: frame + egg production + uniformity

This is extremely close to the pre-Cornish-Cross commercial hybrids of the 1940s -50s.

Projected male growth rate for F2 CNH hybrid sons x White Rock hens:

• 6 weeks 3.59 to 4.60 lb
• 8 to 10 week 4.8 to 6.40 lb
• 12 to 14 weeks 6.40 to 8 lb

The disadvantage of growing your own hybrid meat birds is you need to keep 4 different breeding lines active. Standard Cornish line + New Hamshire line = F1 hybrid roosters no line, and White Plymouth Rock line.

If you want to simplify things, just control feeding and breed Jumbo Cornish X together by hand with a syringe.