Dark Cornish and White Rock cross. (meat project)

[Jerry C]

OK guys and gals here are the offspring of my Dark Cornish Rooster, Big Boy and his White Rock and Amberlink ladies. I did the Dark Cornish with the White Rock to see if I can get a decent meat bird, I hope that they will mature in 4 to 6 months but only time will tell. I did the Dark Cornish and Amberlink cross because I like the very large dark brown eggs that the Amberlink lay, and yes I know that they are hybrids and there is no telling what I will get but I figured what the heck it wont hurt to see. Here is Big Boy and his ladies.



Here are the chicks, the yellow ones are off the Amberlink hens and the rest are off the White Rocks.



There are 29 in all, still 7 eggs in the incubator, I am still hopeful that they will hatch as it is day 21. I'll leave them in there untill day 23 then see what happens.

So tell me what ya'll think, I though that the ones that are off the Rocks would all turn out yellow so they would be white but I guess they took after their father more which will be good if they have the Dark Cornish meat characteristics.

 

[lazy gardener]

I think you're going to have some fine dinners in your future. I have 9 Pioneers, and several of my crossed birds (RIR x EE) are keeping up with them in size. I'd like to see more BYF doing their own crosses for meat birds. There's nothing magic about the CxR from the hatcheries. Home brewed crosses IMO will produce a bird that will perform better in the BYF free range situation, they will be more feed thrifty, and not as prone to the orthopedic and cardiac problems as the hatchery crosses. Just MO.

 

[LindaB220]

OK guys and gals here are the offspring of my Dark Cornish Rooster, Big Boy and his White Rock and Amberlink ladies. I did the Dark Cornish with the White Rock to see if I can get a decent meat bird, I hope that they will mature in 4 to 6 months but only time will tell. I did the Dark Cornish and Amberlink cross because I like the very large dark brown eggs that the Amberlink lay, and yes I know that they are hybrids and there is no telling what I will get but I figured what the heck it wont hurt to see. Here is Big Boy and his ladies.



Here are the chicks, the yellow ones are off the Amberlink hens and the rest are off the White Rocks.



There are 29 in all, still 7 eggs in the incubator, I am still hopeful that they will hatch as it is day 21. I'll leave them in there untill day 23 then see what happens.

So tell me what ya'll think, I though that the ones that are off the Rocks would all turn out yellow so they would be white but I guess they took after their father more which will be good if they have the Dark Cornish meat characteristics.

Fine job. Please stay in touch and keep us informed. Check out other sites also. We're a fun bunch.

 

[Jerry C]

I think you're going to have some fine dinners in your future. I have 9 Pioneers, and several of my crossed birds (RIR x EE) are keeping up with them in size. I'd like to see more BYF doing their own crosses for meat birds. There's nothing magic about the CxR from the hatcheries. Home brewed crosses IMO will produce a bird that will perform better in the BYF free range situation, they will be more feed thrifty, and not as prone to the orthopedic and cardiac problems as the hatchery crosses. Just MO.

I couldn't agree more although mine are not free range, to many predators around here for that. I want to have a self sustaining flock, call me crazy.

 

[lazy gardener]

Nothing crazy about a self sustaining flock, and it doesn't matter if they are free range, or penned for safety from predators. Good to be free of the frustrations associated with the hatcheries. I've dealt with hatchery chicks for the last 2 years, and the frustration of it is a bit much. I hope that in the next several years, I will be at a point that all of my stock will be hatched here. I am taking a huge chance by letting my girls free range during the day, but, it's a calculated risk that I'm willing to take for now. My dead end road is a favorite for all of the folks within a couple of miles to go walking, a lot of them with their dogs. Thankfully, all of them are leashed. Most of them are ankle biters, but there is one huge german shepherd. By now, all of the neighbors are aware that I have free range chickens, so they keep their dogs under control. One lady stopped in to admire my flowers... with her dog on a leash. It was actually funny to watch the dog watching the chickens. My lead hen took one look at that dog, and called the rest of the girls, and retreated to the coop.

 

[Jerry C]

Sounds like you live in a great place and that your neighbors are respectful of your flock. I feel your pain with the hatchery chicks, the cost of shipping is what kills me, i just don't want to deal with it anymore.

 

[Jerry C]

OK guys and gals my Dark Cornish and White Rock/ Amberlink cross chicks are 3 weeks old and I thought I would give you an update. I don't have scales to weigh them but I had my daughter hold some for comparison, I have not lost any of them, all though I had 2 that I had to keep in the house for the first week and give them scrambled eggs and some vitamins to help them get over the hump so to speak, they are smaller than the rest of them but they are doing fine and growing. So far I am happy as I think for the most part the growth rate is what I expected, most of them have the big legs of the Dark Cornish so I am hopeful they will have the double breast as well, time will tell. OK tell me what ya'll think, here are the pic's....



Pic # 1 All the light colored birds are the Dark Cornish and Amberlink Cross. Pic # 2 All the dark colored birds are the Dark Cornish and White Rock cross.

 

[SJ]

You got a sexlink cross Jerry, The Dark cornish roo carries "Gold"(s+) a ressesive gene to the "Silver"(S) gene which your white rock girls have. The chicks that are dark should be girls and the ones that are creamy are boys. The striped and reddish ones are out of your ambers and there is no telling. Cool chicks. I used a white laced red cornish over several dual purpose hens as well for similar reasons. You should see a marked improvement on the meatiness come slaughter time but the hens lay smaller eggs less often then their mama's do. Although this cross made some excellent broody hens that i still have and currently have eggs under.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information

 

[Jerry C]

Thanks SJ for the link interesting read, I am planning on keeping some of the hens as layers and may be one or two of the roo's the rest are going in the freezer. My Rock hens started out laying small eggs but now they are medium to large even getting some double yokers now, last week I got one that weighed 30 grams and one that weighed 50 grams

my wife said i need to go hold the hen and give her some TLC...lol

 

[Happy Chooks]

Very cool project. I look forward to your progress.