First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[duluthralphie]

I have no idea what strain I get from Hoover. I know they get the eggs from somewhere in Arkansas.

I am interested in your slow grow JR. I might go for them next time around. I am trying to keep my toads going for now, I think they should be close to your slow grows.


I think I have 5 of them now! Bert Jr finally figured out his job. I am limiting their feed now.



Do you limit feed on the slow grows, or are you simply feeding the fermented feed so they puke it all back up because of acid reflux disease?

BTW I had no choice but to take a dig at Fermented feed again. The devil made me do it!

 

[JRNash]

Lol. Ralph I in no way shape or form restrict the feed. The slow grows to me are the perfect dual purpose bird. I cant wait to see how the f2 generation turns out. The broiler influence has made for a better build on my hatchery dark cornish as well as the barred rocks. The giant crosses look like they will take after the jersey side of the family,growing the frame then adding the muscle

 

[JRNash]

And they love the mash. I like it also,it has cut down on the wasted feed tremendously

 

[CuzChickens]

Good Luck with them!!! We tried Cornish Crosses once and had TERRIBLE luck. We have used Freedom rangers ever since with much better results. We started with 20 cornishes and by the time slaughter came around, we had 9. They die of heart attacks even at 7 weeks.

 

[duluthralphie]

Good Luck with them!!! We tried Cornish Crosses once and had TERRIBLE luck. We have used Freedom rangers ever since with much better results. We started with 20 cornishes and by the time slaughter came around, we had 9. They die of heart attacks even at 7 weeks.

I have had 4-5 batches of Cornish crosses, they are great, the problem is the way people raise them and not the chickens... If they died of heart attacks at 7 weeks you did not restrict the feed.

 

[Birdinhand]

Good Luck with them!!! We tried Cornish Crosses once and had TERRIBLE luck. We have used Freedom rangers ever since with much better results. We started with 20 cornishes and by the time slaughter came around, we had 9. They die of heart attacks even at 7 weeks.

any idea what strain/hatchery they were? how were you feeding them? the first strain I got from mt healthhy hatchery arrived on the week side, lost half within 3 days and then no problems. by slaughter at 6.5 weeks my first run of all cockerals were 4.5-5 lbs dressed. i fed them 12 hours on 12 hours off, 18% protein.

 

[duluthralphie]

any idea what strain/hatchery they were? how were you feeding them? the first strain I got from mt healthhy hatchery arrived on the week side, lost half within 3 days and then no problems. by slaughter at 6.5 weeks my first run of all cockerals were 4.5-5 lbs dressed. i fed them 12 hours on 12 hours off, 18% protein.

Even 12 hours on and 12 hours off is too much feed and not enough exercise to get giant healthy CX's.

I do the 12 hours for the first few days, after that 15-20 minutes a day, twice a day.. They will eat themselves to death if allowed to, but those of us on here know that.


That is where I am hoping my f3 toads will do better. They are bigger legged and hopefully eat less. I am excited to see how they do.

 

[Molpet]

any idea what strain/hatchery they were? how were you feeding them? the first strain I got from mt healthhy hatchery arrived on the week side, lost half within 3 days and then no problems. by slaughter at 6.5 weeks my first run of all cockerals were 4.5-5 lbs dressed. i fed them 12 hours on 12 hours off, 18% protein.

I do the same as Ralphie except I feed fermented feed (Ralphie's favorite

) mine were from townline hatchery in MI bought at Big R.
I turn mine out at daylight to free range. If I feed them then they will not go look for food and just lay around. 1st feeding is sometime between 9 and noon for 15-20 min.... if I know I need to lock them up to go somewhere I give them 5-10 at 9 am and another 5-10 mins when I want to lock them up (usually around 4 pm)...When I get back I turn them out again... Then about dusk I feed them 15-20 min. and its off to bed with fullish crops.

 

[Birdinhand]

Even 12 hours on and 12 hours off is too much feed and not enough exercise to get giant healthy CX's.

I do the 12 hours for the first few days, after that 15-20 minutes a day, twice a day.. They will eat themselves to death if allowed to, but those of us on here know that.


That is where I am hoping my f3 toads will do better. They are bigger legged and hopefully eat less. I am excited to see how they do.

point taken, perhaps it's a matter of personal preferences and local codes in the burbs vs unincorporated areas. for me to have more than 6 chickens and for any of them to be roosters, they have to be young enough not to crow and less than 6 months old (the point witch the city considers them adults) regardless of sex. for folks wanting slower growth and exceptional freshness and can get away with ongoing harvest beyond 6 months of age, slower is arguably better. given my constraints, rapid growth and harvesting all at once, assuming freezer storage, seems to me to be the only way to replace the 50 or so birds we've been eating a year from the store. my quest is to find the ideal strain that balances activity level/well being, grain conversion and short time to harvest. I'm hoping it's the COBB 500 but am open to all input.

 

[JRNash]

I have had 4-5 batches  of Cornish crosses, they are great, the problem is the way people raise them and not the chickens...  If they died of heart attacks at 7 weeks you did not restrict the feed.   

Im not restricting the feed on my "normal" Cx. I have reduced the protein content of the food. It seems to be having the desired effect. They also get plenty of exercise. Im in full agreement with you Ralph,it's not a problem with the Cx it's a problem with the way people raise them. If you restrict a persons ability to move and give them an unlimited high protein diet they will have heart attacks too.