Delaware roo X Cornish hen...will I get a decent meat bird?

[shelleyb1969]

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You're right, Shelly. The cornish hens aren't supposed to be good layers at all. I had considered that as well. As far as the broodiness, I've got silkies to do that job for me. I was just considering the cornish hens because I could just incorporate them into my Delaware flock and go from there. I really wasn't wanting to have another roo to deal with...but maybe I'll have to.

 

[dancingbear]

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You're partly right and partly wrong. Cornish aren't great layers, you got that right. But they are excellent brooders and wonderful moms. My dark Cornish and Light Brahmas are the best mom-hens I've got, even better than my 'Lorps.

I plan to cross Cornish Roo over hens of other breeds, to produce meat birds. But I want some better bloodline Cornish hens as well, so I can hatch some full-blood Cornish, not like my 4 little McMurray Cornish.

The benefit of getting another breed of hen is to get a faster growing chick, with hybrid vigor. For obtaining eggs for hatching, when I want to hatch pure Cornish, I'll just have to wait a few days extra to get the number of eggs I want. Not that big a deal, as I don't plan to try to produce them by the thousands or even hundreds. Just my own use, and maybe extra hatching eggs to sell, when folks want them and if I have extra.

 

[Cason]

I think it's a GREAT cross! Go for it! I have a huge Delaware rooster I'm going to cross on Cornish hens, giant Cochins, Wyandottes, Delawares, and barred Rocks. We'll see what happens

 

[Mahonri]

Other way around would probably work better but hey, do it anyway and document with pics for us... no?

 

[estpr13]

I have 16 Del roo x cornish hen chicks which are 5 weeks old today. I weighed six of them just now and their weights were from 13 oz. to 18 oz.. At this age they are about half the weight and size of cornish X's I raised. That is a little disappointing but they have their good points.

They have a nice disposition, they are not noisy or flighty. I can reach out and pick up practically any of them with just the minimum of protest. They do like to hop around. Several of them are starting to get the nice cornish breast look. I've been told the lighter ones are female and the darker ones are male, but so far there is no indication of male/female traits.

This is my first experience with them. I got them on Ebay just to check them out.

I raised some Del's to 6 months of age for my nephew who wanted some. Everyone on this thread who describes the Dels make an accurate description of my experience with them. The adult roos fought each other more than other breeds I have had experience with.

The Hope this helps some.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Thanks estpr13...I saw those hatching eggs on ebay and was VERY close to bidding on them. When I first saw them, I thought that would have to be a great cross. That's why I started this thread actually. Please keep us updated with your chicks progress, as I would definitely like to know how they grow out.

 

[estpr13]

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Will do shelleyb1969.

 

[dancingbear]

Please do keep us posted on how they turn out. I'm expecting to see a lot of posts about breeding results over the next year or two. Including my own, if all goes well.

Best of luck to you, hope you get some great birds!

 

[shelleyb1969]

Well, I'm going to pick up a trio of standard dark cornish on Saturday...2 hens and 1 roo. I haven't completely decided on what, if any, cross-breeding I'm going to do with them. But I've got until spring to figure that one out!

 

[dancingbear]

Hey, you'll have the roo, might as well try C. roo over Del hen, since you have both, then you'll know for sure which way works best.

Were you able to find out about the lineage of these Cornish? Even if they're hatchery stock, they could still be worth trying be worth trying, depending on how nice they are. Sometimes you can get lucky with a hatchery bird.