Crossing Cornish with others....

[Agape Builder]

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True, but they are one of the best broody setters and mothers, which is why I recommended that he use them to incubate the eggs from the barred rock hens.

 

[dancingbear]

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I have a similar background, and now have a small farm. For many years, I lived in big cities, and it was such a relief to finally be able to buy property out in the sticks. I'm out in the middle of nowhere, which is where I most feel at home!

My dad wasn't big on research about poultry and livestock, so I'm kind of in the same mind set as you, doing as much research ahead of time as I can, before jumping in and making big expensive mistakes. Not that I don't make my share, but I think I've avoided some biggies because of what I observed, growing up.

In my experience, Cornish and Cornish hybrids are very good brooders. I have 4 Dark Cornish hens, 3 of them are very strong brooders. The 4th has never gone broody at all, who knows why. These birds are hatchery stock, so maybe the "production layer" that hatcheries tend to breed in to increase egg production, is responsible for the 1 dud out of 4.

The chicks I hatched from these hens' eggs last year, crossed with Brahma, and Brahma/Australorp crosses, are strong, vigorous birds.

They grew slowly, my fault, I couldn't afford the higher protein feed to start them on. Then, when they were about 3 months old, I found out I could get distiller's grain cheap*, 25% protein, to mix with the feed, (mixed 50/50 with the 16% layer ration, average protein about 20.5%) and their growth exploded almost overnight. They nearly doubled in size in a 2-3 week period. I wouldn't have thought it was possible, as old as they already were, if I hadn't seen it myself. I butchered 4 cockerels, at about 4 1/2-5 months old. 2 dressed out to over 6 lbs., the other 2 dressed out bigger, over 7 lbs. Too old to be fryers, but they were a tasty treat cooked in the crock pot! They were very meaty, the breasts were not bony like most dual-purp hybrids. Not the huge breast of the Cornish X's, but not at all the scrawny DP roo I've usually had.

The pullets have grown into some very nice hens, not the best layers, but not bad. I only have a few of certain parentage, and one of them hatched out some chicks recently. Her first time, and she's a good mom. I've had 5 broodies this year, 2 of the dark Cornish, the dark Cornish/Brahma hybrid, a Brahma/Australorp (and maybe Cornish) cross, and 1 unknown mixed breed. The last one quit on me before she hatched anything, but she'd been brooding quite awhile before I gave her eggs. If she'd had eggs right away, I think she'd have hatched them.

My best broodies last year were that dark Cornish, and my light Brahmas. I think the broodiness is strong enough in the Cornish to come through in most of the hybrids. I don't think I'd want to use the regular Cornish X's as breeders, though, because the best mix is from using a Cornish roo over other hens, and the X's usually don't live long enough to breed, and if they do, live, can easily get too heavy to mate successfully. I've set my sights on acquiring some pure-bred Cornish, (not from hatchery stock) to use for this purpose. I'd rather start with good breeding stock, than try to change less suitable birds into good breeding stock.

I have some young Delawares I hatched from eggs I bought from Seriousbill. They're amazing birds, about 7 or 8 weeks old now, looks like I have 3 cockerels and 4 pullets. I want Cornish to cross with those, and some other breeds. I have Dorking eggs in the 'bator right now, for this experiment, cross your fingers and hope for a good hatch!

You could always keep a few hens of extreme-broody breeds, just for incubating eggs for you. I have small pen with an old dog house for a shelter, that I use to isolate hens I want eggs from, so I know who laid what, and can hatch eggs from the hens I choose. I free range my birds, so sometimes I stick the preferred hens in the "egg pen" at night when I close them up, and let them out after they've laid their eggs. They get less stressed that way, when they still get out to run with the rest of the flock.

Good luck to you, I hope your breeding goes well, and that you'll let us know how they turn out!

*I don't have storage for hundreds or thousands of lbs. of feed, so I'm buying 50lb bags. The 16% layer ration, (mash, not crumbles or pellets) is $7.50 a bag, the distillers grain is $6. So for $6.75 per 50 lbs., I can feed 20.5 percent protein. Beats the heck out of $14 or more per bag. They do great on this mix, and they love it. I add poultry vitamins powder to the water, 1/8 tsp. per quart (for new-hatched chicks) and before I start letting them out to range, when they get bigger, I've started giving apple cider vinegar, the kind with the mother, to prevent coccidiosis. New babies also get a little acidophilus powder mixed in the feed, just for a few days. Helps get the good intestinal flora established. You can also just give them some yogurt, as long as it has live, active cultures. If you use store-bought, make sure it doesn't have artificial sweeteners in it. Just plain yogurt is best, easier to avoid the garbage they mix in with it.

 

[Agape Builder]

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Wow, Jenny, what an EGGcellent post! I really enjoyed it. I hope to read many more like it describing your results. Where do you think the best Cornish would come from (reasonably priced though)?

Also, I am really interested in your feed mix. I am on a REALLY limited income right now and have to buy at least 150# of feed within the next few days to a week. I have one super sweet bantam Black Cochin hen that is about 7 months old, but laying, that someone gave to me about three days ago. I wanted to get her some laying feed since she is laying and also because I will have others laying in the future. Then, I have some (32) hungry juvenile birds that are growing like weeds on both free range and starter food. Then, I have twenty something White Silkies baby chicks coming within the week, plus I want to go get another 20 Barred Rock chicks on Monday.

So, my feed requirements are shooting up even though my income is not. I have a large (clean) concrete mixer that would work great for mixing feeds, so mixing different bags of feed is not too big a problem. I also store my feed in the chicken coops in a 55 gallon plastic drum that is watertight, so I can put the feed in there without the bags if necessary. Plus, I have additional barrels for dry storage as well.

The last 50# bag of starter feed I bought earlier this month (almost gone now) cost me $13.80 + tax, so if I could get those costs down to something like what you were talking about, that would be awesome! I could feed twice as many chickens for the same money! (Notice I did not say that I would cut my cost in half, just double my chickens... LOL... Not addicted yet, am I?)

The question that I have for you is this: If you bought 16% layer mash for $7.50 a bag, and distiller's grain for $6 a bag, how did you come up with a 20.5% protein mix for $6.75? If you mix equal measures of both bags, then you come up with that amount, but the distiller's grain would have to have 25% protein to get 20.5% in the 50/50 blended mix. (At least according to my calculations... I am getting a bit old for my age though. Maybe my math is off?) Does the distiller's grain have that much protein in it? What is in the distiller's grain? Why not just feed it to the chicks if it is that high in protein? Would it be robbing them of somethin else they needed? How is the distiller's grain ground?

Please excuse the ignorance of this newbie. I want to have a farm so bad, but alas! I am only working out of my little tiny suburban yard right now.

 

[TimG]

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In Maine, chicken feed is not taxed. I'm surprised that it is anywhere.

 

[Agape Builder]

I could have been wrong about the tax. I just bought a couple of bags today, and I do not think that it was taxed. 50 pounds of non-medicated starter crumbles cost me $12.99 today, and 50 pounds of layer pellets cost me $10.50. How does that compare with what the rest of you pay? (Maybe a good question for another topic as well?) I sure would like to find some cheaper feed that was just as good in quality, only costs less!

 

[Attack Chicken]

My friend crosseda silkie rooster with a cornish hen and it produced one of the cutest little chicks I've seen

 

[Agape Builder]

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I wonder what the skin and the meat was like? I am raising White Silkies starting later this week, some of which will be for meat. My Asian friends like them to eat, even though they are little. They are a delicacy in Asia. Another thread showed that they were selling them at an Asian market for $7.99 a pound. Locally, they sell them for $10 each, but they are also little. I would like to grow a silkie that the Asians would still like to buy (with the dark skin and meat) but that grew bigger, meatier, and faster as well.

Could you post pictures of those Cornish / Silkie hybrids? I would love to see them next to the regular silkies and Cornish, a sort of side by side comparison.

 

[dancingbear]

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I have a little covered platform attached to my coop, where I store feed. I have 3 galvanized garbage can, and 1 plastic one. They both have pros and cons. But not nearly enough space, I need to expand my platform!

Yes, the distiller's grain is 25% protein, at least the stuff I get here. That may vary from different distilleries. I'm in KY, so there's a lot here, LOL. What's your location? If you're anywhere near here, I can tell you where to get what I get.

The way I figure protein percentages is this: I add together the numbers from how many parts of what, for example, 1 part DG (25%), 1 part layer mash (16%) add 25 + 16 = 41, divide by 2 = 20.5

1 part DG, 2 parts layer, 25+16+16=57, divide by 3=19. And so on. The next works out to 18.5, which is what I like for my layers when they're molting.

I wouldn't feed straight DG, it's too high in protein, and high in fiber, (good, up to a point, beyond that, not so much) and they need the vitamins and minerals in the layer feed. I add the vitamins to the water, to help make up for that. The vitamins are cheap, it's something like $4 or $5 a bag, which lasts a long time. 1/8 tsp. per quart, in the chick waterers, or 1/2 tsp per gallon in the larger ones. My largest waterer is 5 gallons.

For treats, they get whole shell corn mixed with black oil sunflower seeds. Not a lot of the SS, because it's pricey, and it's very high protein, and they're already getting plenty from the feed. I just toss out a big coffee can full once or twice a day, split up between all the birds I have, none of them really get much more than a nibble. But the SS's seem to help with feather condition, and help them through molting a little faster. It's supposed to have a good mix of amino acids that help egg production and getting through molt faster. That's the time of year my egg demand is highest, and production the lowest, so I'm really hoping tp improve that a bit. Last fall was a lot better than the one before, I hope I have another big improvement this year. I'll be able to say more definitely after this fall's molt. And they get table and garden scraps, plus they forage.

Everybody starts somewhere. Reading and asking questions is how we get the info, it's how I get mine!

ETA: Before I started using the DG, I did some web searching and read a study on it. One interesting point I just remembered is you want lighter colored DG that doesn't smell burnt or smoky. The color can range from golden yellow to dark brown. The lighter the color, the less burnt, and the better it is for them. The darker stuff can actually slow growth and development. If you can only find smoky smelling DG, don't buy it. Go with some other way to boost your protein, like soy meal. Soy meal, (here, anyway) is about $9.50 per 50lb., but you use less, as it's a higher protein. So that's another way to go, if you can't find DG, or if it's poor quality.

 

[Agape Builder]

Hello, Jenny.

Well, yes, I had my math right. I just didn't want to sound to cock sure of myself in case I was missing something obvious.

So, if I understand your last post correctly, you are getting your distiller's grain directly from distilleries, like Jack Daniel's? LOL... not too many of those here in good ole' Pensacola, Florida.

In fact, since I live in town, I don't think that there is a grain elevator anywhere close, at least within a 30 to 45 minute drive from here. Maybe an hour away or so, but I really am not wanting to spend all of that time and gas money just to save a few cents on my feed.

I am driving about 45 minutes away to Milton to go to pick up 20 new baby Barred Rock chicks, some 50# bags of Diatomaceous Earth (that is the closest place that has large bags of true DE around here), some guinea eggs (one or two dozen), and hopefully, 7 California White roosters from one place, and 2 Americauna roosters from another place. Normally, I wouldn;t drive so far, but if I can consolidate a bunch of errands in the one trip like described above, then it makes it worth it.

I am going to raise the Barred Rocks with the intention of crossing some BR hens with Cornish roosters to see what I get for broiler material. I figure that I can't go wrong with the Barred Rocks. They are a good enough dual purpose bird on their own to keep.

I believe that my Asian friends will provide a good market for Guinea meat and eggs as well. Plus, I have never had any and want to try some myself. I have a friend on disability that has a little Hovabator and loves watching the egs and hand turning them, so she will probably love to hatch the guinea eggs for me. If not, I have a young bantam Black Cochin hen that is tryin to get broody that I will use to try to incubate a few of the guinea eggs. Later on, I will have my large cabinet incubator ready.

 

[dancingbear]

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No, I just meant that it's readily available in this area. I get it at my local feed dealer's, a small family owned and operated place. They get it from a feed mill about 25 miles from here. Having distilleries around here might be why it's easy to find, and cheap. It may or may not be as easy to find, or as cheap, elsewhere.



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My hens hatch guinea eggs for me, and I have some incubating in an LG right now, along with some turkey eggs, and some Dorkings.

Guinea eggs are fairly easy to hatch, they're tough little things. The keets are very delicate for about the first 48 hours, (I think it's because they're worn out from breaking through those concrete-hard shells) and susceptible to cold and damp until they start to feather out. After that, they're pretty hardy.