Doing a meat breed comparison, White Rocks and Cornish X

[jamband]

no thats great...def. didn't mean to come across mean if I did. One thing I wonder is the foraging of one vs the other. I mean obviously the CX will sit at the feeder all day if cooped...They seem to stay healthier when free ranged and allowed to be a chicken. I 'd be curious if you see a big difference in foraging.

 

[HEChicken]

Mine foraged but unfortunately it didn't seem to make a difference. I knew what I was doing when I got him but was curious how a Cornish X would do raised with layers. So from the day we brought him home, he got the same treatment as the layer chicks in the same batch - no special food, and no 12 on, 12 off of food either. When they transitioned to the outside chick run, so did he. And when I opened that door and allowed them all to start free-ranging with the big girls, he went along with that too. At about 8 weeks I noticed he started to slow down. Where the young, lithe layers could flit about from one end of the yard to the other, he would kind of trudge along, just barely keeping up. Poor thing - sometimes he would no sooner catch up than they'd flit off somewhere else and with a sigh he would trudge along after them again.

I *thought* the excercise and not sitting at the feeder all day would help him to grow up healthier and live longer but at 10 weeks I guess it got too much and he "flipped". RIP. He really was a special little guy and had a good life.

 

[bluere11e]

Mine foraged but unfortunately it didn't seem to make a difference. I knew what I was doing when I got him but was curious how a Cornish X would do raised with layers. So from the day we brought him home, he got the same treatment as the layer chicks in the same batch - no special food, and no 12 on, 12 off of food either. When they transitioned to the outside chick run, so did he. And when I opened that door and allowed them all to start free-ranging with the big girls, he went along with that too. At about 8 weeks I noticed he started to slow down. Where the young, lithe layers could flit about from one end of the yard to the other, he would kind of trudge along, just barely keeping up. Poor thing - sometimes he would no sooner catch up than they'd flit off somewhere else and with a sigh he would trudge along after them again.

I *thought* the excercise and not sitting at the feeder all day would help him to grow up healthier and live longer but at 10 weeks I guess it got too much and he "flipped". RIP. He really was a special little guy and had a good life.

I can hear his plea " I'm not fat, just big boned.. Hey! It's a glandular condition"! In his case.. It was genetics..lol

 

[cutechick2010]

Weigh in time! The chicks are now 24 days old. The weights are: Cornish Cross, 1lb 8oz. White Rock: 7.6 oz. They are also at that incredibly ugly stage, LOL. I believe both birds are cockerels, I picked out the largest birds of each breed to compare.

 

[JenellYB]

My one, and only, and will BE my only attempt to raise CornishXRocks was disasteorus...I tried them, got 50 CornishXRocks and 50 white rocks as the same time, instead od my usual just white rocks.

While the CornishX grew faster, my heavy losses of them removed any advantage that may have have. Basically, they grow so fast their skeleton and muscles don't develop properly, many were soon crippled, big swollen legs and joints, could only hobble and flop about, many became unable to even stand or walk..I had to stay right on them to keep the poor things within reach of food and water.
Then we had an early heat spell set in (SE Texas) they were not yet quite as big as I wanted for slaughter, but after, wished i had slaughtered early, before that heat spell or at least as soon as I realized it was hitting us. The losses to the heat were tremednous, even fans and plenty of shade and water couldn't save them. Meanwhile, the white rocks growth of course hit a stall in that heat, but they all surivived.
In addtion, the nasty mess they were always in disgusred me, since they couldn't even get up out of their own poop, and by slaughter, they had callouses on their keels, some on the fronts of their thight joints, from hobbling on them..I wound up skinning most of them because of that caloused nasty skins.
Never again!

 

[HEChicken]

I believe both birds are cockerels, I picked out the largest birds of each breed to compare.

I think you are correct on your guess of cockerels. That is a HUGE size difference!

In addtion, the nasty mess they were always in disgusred me, since they couldn't even get up out of their own poop, and by slaughter, they had callouses on their keels, some on the fronts of their thight joints, from hobbling on them..I wound up skinning most of them because of that caloused nasty skins.

I'm sorry to hear you had such an unpleasant experience. My one and only (single chick) was raised with layers and never did do the "sit at the feeder and eat" thing. He was up and running around with them the whole time, which also meant he didn't grow as fast. I wonder if a lower protein feed makes a difference in the "nastiness" and/or starting them earlier so you don't run into heat losses, would make a difference?

 

[JenellYB]

Those I raised had plenty of excercise area, and running with the very active white rocks. They didn't do the "just sit at the feeder and eat" thing until AFTER they went down, too crippled to get around or do anything else. The "nastiness" was simply becasue they couldn't even get up out of their own poop. they couldn't get UP to go poor, they just pooped where they lay! I was told at the time, after it they were so messed up, CornishXcrosses are just prone to that, my expeirence wasn't unusual. I've known now MANY other farmsteaders try them with the same problems. In the commercial industry, they don't care, they tighly cofine them anyway, keeping them inactive packs on more wt gain per lb of feed. I should have checked them out better before trying them.
As for the heat hitting, down here in SE texas, we have a VERY short and unreliable 'window' of moderate weather in spring and gain in fall. Spring here often goes from cold wet and sloppy to Bam! hottern all get outs. I don't raise meat birds at all like that anymore, I had a large family back then, am alone now. but I would never try them again. i wish you luck with the one you have, but ask around others who've experienced them before you decide to raise many of them. Seriously. Btw, they are usually a good bit bigger than your chick before they start going down, having obvious problems. Though from the picture you show, I'm looking at those huge feet, could be some puffiness already starting there. But with that 50 I had, and others, at whatever point it begins, many of them will go down in short order.

EDIT...oops, I'm sorry, i just noticed you are not the one posting the pics of the two chicks....

I think you are correct on your guess of cockerels. That is a HUGE size difference!

I'm sorry to hear you had such an unpleasant experience. My one and only (single chick) was raised with layers and never did do the "sit at the feeder and eat" thing. He was up and running around with them the whole time, which also meant he didn't grow as fast. I wonder if a lower protein feed makes a difference in the "nastiness" and/or starting them earlier so you don't run into heat losses, would make a difference?

 

[Bossroo]

The CornishX is not your average backyard chicken ! The problem is not the CornishX. They were selectively bred to be the most efficient converter of feed to meat in all of chickendom. The real issue is the feed management / husbandry issue... I have raised hundreds of the CornishX in the central valley high desert area of Cal. with a very minor mortality at arrival and only a couple with any minor leg issues. One has to raise them seperately from the other types of chickens in one's backyard since one has to limit their feed to: Sanitary housing is always a must. 12 hours of full feed and 12 hours off feed per day and water available at all times. Place feed and water at opposit sides of their enclosure to get them to move around. This slows down their rate of gain and allows their organs, muscles, skelletons to keep up with their rapid growth. The professional CornishX operators have the timing of amount of feed, housing, heat, cooling, ventilation, lighting, sanitation, biosecurity, and labor down to a science for the most efficient cost / benefit for their supermarket product and still make a profit. Otherwise , they wouldn't be in business for very long. Educate yourself first by going back to many a post in the archives here on how to raise these birds successfully in one's backyard , then follow the gleaned knowledge for a successful bounty in your freezer at minimal feed cost. Have fun!

 

[cutechick2010]

Did you limit their feed, the twelve hours on and twelve off like Bossroo posted? Bossroo gave some good advice, I have raised these birds before also, and had little to no problems. You do have to give them some special considerations, because of the way they grow, and basically MAKE them get some exercise, but it is possible. Mine are still in with my layers at this point, but I will need to separate them soon.

Those I raised had plenty of excercise area, and running with the very active white rocks. They didn't do the "just sit at the feeder and eat" thing until AFTER they went down, too crippled to get around or do anything else. The "nastiness" was simply becasue they couldn't even get up out of their own poop. they couldn't get UP to go poor, they just pooped where they lay! I was told at the time, after it they were so messed up, CornishXcrosses are just prone to that, my expeirence wasn't unusual. I've known now MANY other farmsteaders try them with the same problems. In the commercial industry, they don't care, they tighly cofine them anyway, keeping them inactive packs on more wt gain per lb of feed. I should have checked them out better before trying them.


EDIT...oops, I'm sorry, i just noticed you are not the one posting the pics of the two chicks....

 

[JenellYB]

That was some years ago, and no, i had no 'special instructions' as to caring for them any differently than the white rocks. That was pre-internet days, info wasn't at the tip of our fingers then. I didn't find any info on that until the problems had already started...THEN the feed store guy told me, well, sometimes you have to be careful feeding too much with those! They didn't mention it when I bought them, and I didn't ask because I didn't know to. I had never heard of them before that. I did ask how they compared to the white rocks, they just said they are supposed to grow bigger faster. Sounded good to me. I didn't even know I shouldn't try to keep any pullets...with the rocks, I alwyas bought straight run, butchered the cokcerals, kept the pullets for layers. I didn't know you couldn't do that with the cornish. As to limiting feed to 12/12, no, but then, I did not have any of them under lights, so they wouldn't have been eating 24 hrs, plus, I did not, even with the white rocks or any other chicks i raised, beyond the first several weeks, keep full feeders in front of them constantly. They eat their fill, start wasting it from that point. They were offerred what they would clean up in a reasonable time several times a day, like I did with any chicks. Specialized broiler raisers might have raising them down to a fine art. Maybe knowing more now, if I needed to raise meat as economically as possible, might try. I don't, so I won't, lol. i just chalked the whole mess off as a lesson learned. No more CornishX for me.

Did you limit their feed, the twelve hours on and twelve off like Bossroo posted? Bossroo gave some good advice, I have raised these birds before also, and had little to no problems. You do have to give them some special considerations, because of the way they grow, and basically MAKE them get some exercise, but it is possible. Mine are still in with my layers at this point, but I will need to separate them soon.