Dwarf Cornish Cross, Breeding experiment

[Vantic]

Somehow I ended up (volunteered to) raising CornishX for a friend of mine. She got them from McMurray, where I normally get mine from Meyers (producer direct). My chickens are all almost done for the year, but that is irrelevant.

Her set of 51 birds have three dwarfs. One cockerel and two pullets. I've been interested in breeding my own CornishX and had just decided not to do it when these little buggers came into my life.

Here is the thought, if anyone can validate my sanity in the test I'd appreciate it.

I want to raise the dwarves, I'm assuming they will not get to a size that will kill them before they lay eggs or get hormones (for the boy). I'd like the boy to breed with my white rock hens, the girls to breed with the boys, the girls to breed with my Light Dorking, LIght Sussex and White Rocks.

I'm assuming, the dwarf is still non-dominate. So if I can breed them (which is a big if), I may see rapid growth in a heritage cross with the Cornish or a double CornishX. Is this dumb because they are double dwarf, so now it is dominant? or is there a chance it could work.

I don't like throwing away feed. Thanks for your opinions.

 

[Molpet]

I read in the CX mix are dwarf hens .. somewhere.. maybe the grandparents.
People have kept the regular CX pullets, feed 2x a day for 20 minutes making them get exercise free-range with the layer chicks. Keeping the ones that range the farthest...Breeding to Heritage or ranger roos. Usually the CX Roo's chest is too big to mate.
The CX pullet I kept lived a year. Most of my flock is out of her sons. F3 Cockerels dress out 5 to 7 lbs at 16 weeks.
So it's not cost effective but I can harvest a few at a time. So far the oldest mix hen is 3, but they start dieing at 18 months, for me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The dwarfing gene is not only recessive but it is sex linked. That means a hen will give it to her sons but not her daughters. If you breed a dwarf CX hen to a DP rooster the offspring will all be regular size. The pullets will not have the dwarfing gene at all, the cockerels will be split with the recessive dwarfing and dominant not-dwarf.

For a CX cockerel to be a dwarf he has to be pure for that dwarfing gene. If you cross him with a DP hen all the pullets will be dwarf. The cockerels will all be split dwarf-not dwarf and regular sized.

Hopefully that will help with your breeding. The gene being sex linked should help. Where I cannot help you is in how to keep them alive long enough to breed. With them being smaller feed costs will go down, but I'd think you could still have issues of them getting too big too fast. I just don't know.

 

[Vantic]

The dwarfing gene is not only recessive but it is sex linked. That means a hen will give it to her sons but not her daughters. If you breed a dwarf CX hen to a DP rooster the offspring will all be regular size. The pullets will not have the dwarfing gene at all, the cockerels will be split with the recessive dwarfing and dominant not-dwarf.

For a CX cockerel to be a dwarf he has to be pure for that dwarfing gene. If you cross him with a DP hen all the pullets will be dwarf. The cockerels will all be split dwarf-not dwarf and regular sized.

Hopefully that will help with your breeding. The gene being sex linked should help. Where I cannot help you is in how to keep them alive long enough to breed. With them being smaller feed costs will go down, but I'd think you could still have issues of them getting too big too fast. I just don't know.

Thanks for the input. Keeping them alive is key. Right now they look like normal five week old heritage breeds that look like the cross. There brother and sisters look like CX at 5 weeks. I am hoping whatever caused this (assumed dwarf Gene) helps them survive to breed. Time will tell on that one. Good thing is the siblings are moving to pasture, so I can regulate the feed of the dwarves.

 

[Molpet]

Thanks for the input. Keeping them alive is key. Right now they look like normal five week old heritage breeds that look like the cross. There brother and sisters look like CX at 5 weeks. I am hoping whatever caused this (assumed dwarf Gene) helps them survive to breed. Time will tell on that one. Good thing is the siblings are moving to pasture, so I can regulate the feed of the dwarves.

Diet and exercise

 

[Compost King]

Guess I am kinda late to the party here, but I would like to see this thread keep going or start up a new one with details of the breeding experiment. If a Dwarf Cornish X puts on meat as a fast as a full sized Cornish X then it might be a great meat bird for people with limited space. Its not the size of the bird that makes it a great meat bird, its how fast it can put on meat.

 

[Torinik]

I can't help with the dwarf gene. I've tried but can't get my head around the different genes and what the outcomes will be.

I mentioned somewhere else how I got my CX to live to breeding age. Not only did I limit feed but also protein in the feed. I gave them mixed grains with about 11% protein in it. This kept them hungry and they foraged and moved around well in search for extra food and protein. Still, the one pullet I had was very wide and plumpy and died at 4 months. The boys turned out big and very strong birds with a difference in type, despite the food and protein restriction. One was smaller and higher on his legs, this one bred well and is the (great-grand)father of all my chickens. The other didn't fertilize a single egg, which is a shame because I put my best hens with him, he had a square build and his chest was probably in the way. Catching and butchering that last one at 6 months wasn't a walk in the park either, so I'm ok with the offspring being a bit smaller and slower growing.
It's not just about keeping them alive, but they have to be capable of mounting a hen properly when they get to that age. So, you will have to watch them and if they're build like a ship chances are they won't be able to fertilize, even though they'll be mounting as much as any other rooster.
Maybe A.I. is an option if you want to go as big and meaty as possible, but I wouldn't know how to do that either.

 

[Compost King]

here is a short video clip from my trail cam of 2 of my ration fed CX females. At 11 weeks they were running around. This was in a flock of 4 birds, 3 CX and one regular chicken who came from a line of great foragers. The Buddy bird would go straight to foraging and the CX's followed eventually. It got to a point that even when I put out feed in the evening the CX would keep foraging the compost piles before they got around to eating the food and some days there would be feed left over after they all went to roost for the night.

 

[Vantic]

Guess I am kinda late to the party here, but I would like to see this thread keep going or start up a new one with details of the breeding experiment. If a Dwarf Cornish X puts on meat as a fast as a full sized Cornish X then it might be a great meat bird for people with limited space. Its not the size of the bird that makes it a great meat bird, its how fast it can put on meat.

The thread is not dead. The dwarves are still alive, but they are young. Some of the other small birds in this year's batches have grown, but the three dwarves look just like a cornish cross and are tiny (compared to their cousins). I will continue to report here as the finding some in.

 

[Vantic]

I can't help with the dwarf gene. I've tried but can't get my head around the different genes and what the outcomes will be.

I mentioned somewhere else how I got my CX to live to breeding age. Not only did I limit feed but also protein in the feed. I gave them mixed grains with about 11% protein in it. This kept them hungry and they foraged and moved around well in search for extra food and protein. Still, the one pullet I had was very wide and plumpy and died at 4 months. The boys turned out big and very strong birds with a difference in type, despite the food and protein restriction. One was smaller and higher on his legs, this one bred well and is the (great-grand)father of all my chickens. The other didn't fertilize a single egg, which is a shame because I put my best hens with him, he had a square build and his chest was probably in the way. Catching and butchering that last one at 6 months wasn't a walk in the park either, so I'm ok with the offspring being a bit smaller and slower growing.
It's not just about keeping them alive, but they have to be capable of mounting a hen properly when they get to that age. So, you will have to watch them and if they're build like a ship chances are they won't be able to fertilize, even though they'll be mounting as much as any other rooster.
Maybe A.I. is an option if you want to go as big and meaty as possible, but I wouldn't know how to do that either.

Thanks for your thoughts. Right now they are still with the cousins, but soon they will be added to the layer flock and will learn to hunt food like the rest.