First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[JRNash]

 

[JRNash]

I'm going to let the one in the foreground continue to miss the Bus.... Haven't been able to get a good picture showing his build or stance. IF he has the growth rate of the saipan and continues to grow in the same manner he will be a Beautiful bird.

 

[JRNash]

I'm not as focused in my experiments as Ralph or Linda. They have magnificent birds. I keep looking and wondering what will pop out. I've had some real strange results,the genetics (crap shoot) boggle my mind. To date NONE of my experiments have tasted Bad.

 

[JRNash]

I'm focusing on more production egg layers right now. The reason for using the hybrids roosters is that a lot of people around here are wanting chicks from ME.Try to explain they would get better egg layers (maybe ) by buying from a hatchery. And they just don't listen. Same with the meat breeds. They refuse to understand the fickle nature of laying hens. They don't all lay at the same time. And broodies... like talking politics with the DW. So I'm making more hybrids with a definite bent towards the Dark Cornish. Chicken people are crazy.

 

[JRNash]

I got 5 doz today. The newest pullets are starting to lay. I get just as excited about the TINY eggs as I do about the monsters.

 

[Chaos18]

So I'm not there yet but I figured I would ask now so I don't forget later. Does it matter which breed is male and which is female? I'm making my own meat birds, after the first cross I want to cross back to cornish cross. Would I be better off keeping males from my first cross to put over cornish cross females or vice versa?

 

[jennyf]

So I'm not there yet but I figured I would ask now so I don't forget later. Does it matter which breed is male and which is female? I'm making my own meat birds, after the first cross I want to cross back to cornish cross. Would I be better off keeping males from my first cross to put over cornish cross females or vice versa?

This is an interesting question and I'm curious to see what others say. I am a total meat bird newbie, but in the horse world, some say the mare can have a greater impact on offspring than pure genetics would warrant, since there are factors during pregnancy (i.e. larger mare may give birth to larger foal) and also afterwards, in terms of the offspring learning behaviors from mare and her temperament shaping that of foal. I'm wondering if having a hen that's a more aggressive forager would result in offspring being more inclined, for example. Anyhow, fascinating topic!

 

[duluthralphie]

So I'm not there yet but I figured I would ask now so I don't forget later. Does it matter which breed is male and which is female? I'm making my own meat birds, after the first cross I want to cross back to cornish cross. Would I be better off keeping males from my first cross to put over cornish cross females or vice versa?

This is not going to sound very scientific...

You take whatever you can get. I do not think it makes a difference.

When growing out CX's to breeding age take whatever lives. You may not have much choice in the matter.

They are just so hard to keep alive. Remember to nearly starve the little guys and make them walk!

Either sex brings you the genetic material you want...


Now in a perfect world keep the large hens and use the smaller boys on top. The little hens could have trouble when the big guy crawls on top of them to do his thing.

Good luck,

 

[Chaos18]

This is not going to sound very scientific...

You take whatever you can get. I do not think it makes a difference.

When growing out CX's to breeding age take whatever lives. You may not have much choice in the matter.

They are just so hard to keep alive. Remember to nearly starve the little guys and make them walk!

Either sex brings you the genetic material you want...


Now in a perfect world keep the large hens and use the smaller boys on top. The little hens could have trouble when the big guy crawls on top of them to do his thing.

Good luck,

I can order them sexed though from hatchery. I was thinking that maybe using CX females would be better because maybe CX males are to big to be able to properly do what they are supposed to do.

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:
Another side of the coin though, is that it seems like it's a lot faster to get a male to breeding age than a female to laying age... So, you may have more luck keeping a cock alive long enough to breed him than you would with a flock of hens trying to get them to laying age.

Also, it seems like you get bigger (healthier?) chicks out of bigger eggs, so maybe a good laying breed with a hen that is already making decent sized eggs would be the better mom than a CX pullet who may be producing tiny eggs.