Dark Cornish Meat Birds

[biologynerd]

Is there anyone in the Greenville SC area that breeds Dark Cornish?

To answer some questions-

Yes show quality roosters have have issues breeding not necessarily due to build but, heavy build with the combo of short thick legs.
Breeders will use artificial insemination in this case to breed.

This is not my experience to be common - many Cornish are more on the leggy side than the squatty size in my area.

They take MUCH longer to mature, and are more expensive to maintain, breed and eat than a Cornish cross.

8weeks with a cross versus 8 months with purebred to mature to roasting size.

Cornish cross due to being so soo young are more tender in my opinion

Cornish are more tender than a red broiler at the same age and have more breast meat.

Older chickens are tougher than younger ones in my opinion, Cornish included. They have a stronger chicken flavor.

They eat like crazy and so I am not making any money (in fact there is no market so I can't even sell chicks) or saving any money by having them. You will not get less than $2/lb on these...
I breed and raise them for my family and also because I love the LF Cornish and don't want them going extinct via cross breeding.

 

[speedy2020]

To answer some questions-

Yes show quality roosters have have issues breeding not necessarily due to build but, heavy build with the combo of short thick legs.
Breeders will use artificial insemination in this case to breed.

This is not my experience to be common - many Cornish are more on the leggy side than the squatty size in my area.

They take MUCH longer to mature, and are more expensive to maintain, breed and eat than a Cornish cross.

8weeks with a cross versus 8 months with purebred to mature to roasting size.

Cornish cross due to being so soo young are more tender in my opinion

Cornish are more tender than a red broiler at the same age and have more breast meat.

Older chickens are tougher than younger ones in my opinion, Cornish included. They have a stronger chicken flavor.

They eat like crazy and so I am not making any money (in fact there is no market so I can't even sell chicks) or saving any money by having them. You will not get less than $2/lb on these...
I breed and raise them for my family and also because I love the LF Cornish and don't want them going extinct via cross breeding.

There are a lot of folks looking for these bloodline. It is not easy to find. I hope you put ads on Craigslist or Ebay to sell them before the breed become so rare or extinct. I purchased 2 DC chicks a weeks ago. The seller told me from the breeder, but when I pick them up not so sure. Will see how they turn out.

 

[kuther]

I have been reading some of the post, because we are thinking about getting the DC. Can anyone tell me what is the best meat / egg layers. Any help wound be great.

 

[Bill Matthews]

There is no one "Best" egg layer or meat bird.....If you want really quick results with the minimum amount of cost and time, get Commercial White Cornish for meat and a hybrid such as Red Sex Links or White Leghorn for eggs......If you want something in between Freedom Rangers or Kosher KIngs for meat and Production Reds for eggs......If you want an older purebreed go with New Hampshires or White Rocks for both meat and eggs or Black Australorps and Easter Eggers for eggs.....There are many breeds and crosses that will work equally welll......Go online or read some hatchery catalogs for a start.....If you want true oldtime heritage chickens, look up individual breeders ......Hatchery stock is often of questionable pedigree and conformity to breed guidelines......Learn as much or as little as you wish......Remember that raising chickens is really easy and anyone can do it; never let the details intimidate you.....

 

[kuther]

Thanks for all the info. We do have Wyandottes. Was just wondering about a more dual bird

 

[CLSranch]

I was looking for a DC thread. Found it. Not to many people bragging on them here. I like them as a 4 way purpose bird. Eat, lay, self sustaining, and they reproduce well. The last 2 are important to me because of predators and long work hours. They hatch their own and feed themselves. After being grown. I got mine from Murray and they are heavier at 10 wks than I've read every1 elses post of them at 20 wks. Is there a thread on here for Dark Cornish that is still active?

 

[frenchblackcopper]

I have both dark and white LF Cornish birds.You will find locating true non-hatchery stock,or "pure" cornish birds is very hard,and expensive.I plan to obtain 2 more color varieties in the LF cornish but my main reason for getting them is to increase their numbers first and foremost. Many breeders only have a few select birds in their flocks. Many of these breeders now has less than 30 breeding birds. I know of one such breeder who had 2 equal groups each having around 15 LF White cornish,and within one night,one flock was dessimated by a varmit,,now he only has 1 flock of 14 birds and is deperately trying to get his numbers back up as well.
There are several Cornish Chicken fb groups. Looking to obtain quality birds from these people is expensive but they have a lot of time and feed expense in raising them. I'm not interested in fast growth ,,rather a bird that is meaty framed and will forage besides living at the feeder all day,,and cornish forage very well. .

 

[CLSranch]

If mine are grown and laying or hatching the next time I go up that way, maybe I can help with the darks.

 

[artblueggwanter]

I have 1 new hamshire , big heavy girl an egg almost every day from her ,her and my white leghorn good layers .if I was hungry and needed a good meal new hamshire all the way. good egglayer and meaty

 

[ducks4you]

I know that this is an old thread--I've missed it because I was a BYC member when it was first posted--but I bought DC rooster chicks back in September. After butchering, I kept 5 of them (now 20 weeks old), and put them in with 5 EE hens and 2 Silver Laced Wyandotte (they were gifted) hens. I was told that breeding them would produce poor egg layers, which sounded disappointing. But, from what I am reading HERE, it may not be the case.
I have had to intervene and close them all in the coop (which is supposed to house 15 birds) when the wind chills have been -10 below F, and the hens have kicked them out, but it seems like that have figured out how to tolerate each other.
I won't feel too sorry for my biddies when my boys have their way with them this Spring!
I'll be incubating then, so I'll be sure to post pictures.
Interesting what the chicks will look like.
OH, yeah--their meat is fantastic. I didn't use a scale, but my 4mo roosters dressed out as heavy as adult RR's and adult EE's did, and fed 4 of us dinner.
If you have a problem with their feathers, don't butcher when it's cold out. The skin tries hard to hold onto them, and you spend a great deal of time with a small pliers pulling them out!
Btw, I ordered them from McMurray. They didn't say anything about them being hard to find.
ALSO, one of the DC roosters that I butchered had two testicle sacks. 'O' NOBODY can tell me if this has happened to them with any roosters, so IF you have any insight, like inbreeding, I'd be interested. =b