First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[abbevilleoz]

So cute!! I just love Cornish influenced chickens. This little block head is very cute. Are you saving any for a breeding program or are they all freezer fodder?

This is day #5:

I would love to do that! How?

 

[Martlet]

a lot of us feed them 2x a day all they can eat in 10 min.. they run and play almost like a normal chicken..kinda like a sumo wrestler though LOL.. I processed some at 12 wks 8lbs (12lb live) almost no fat....and still have one that started laying a couple of weeks ago... they were the sweetest birds and not disgusting as when you let them stuff themselves every waking minute.

I'm new to all this. A year ago I moved to the country and now I have bees, maple taps, 2 layer flocks, pigs, garden, broilers, etc. Nothing like jumping in with both feet, but I'm learning as I go.

I didn't want to take them longer because I have no experience. I'll go again in the spring and build on what I learned. I have multiple coops, so when I get rid of my older flock (purchased as adults last fall to get a jump start) I'm thinking of starting a dual purpose flock and trying to manage it for eggs and meet. We'll see how that works out.

 

[abbevilleoz]

a lot of us feed them 2x a day all they can eat in 10 min.. they run and play almost like a normal chicken..kinda like a sumo wrestler though LOL.. I processed some at 12 wks 8lbs (12lb live) almost no fat....and still have one that started laying a couple of weeks ago... they were the sweetest birds and not disgusting as when you let them stuff themselves every waking minute.

At what age do you cut back on the feed?

 

[JRNash]

I'm new to all this.  A year ago I moved to the country and now I have bees, maple taps, 2 layer flocks, pigs, garden, broilers, etc.  Nothing like jumping in with both feet, but I'm learning as I go.  

I didn't want to take them longer because I have no experience.  I'll go again in the spring and build on what I learned.  I have multiple coops, so when I get rid of my older flock (purchased as adults last fall to get a jump start) I'm thinking of starting a dual purpose flock and trying to manage it for eggs and meet.  We'll see how that works out.

I started out doing just that.
Now Im thinning out the herd and getting more production layers. Its easy to get off track trying to breed for size AND still have a good layer. At least I know it was for me.

 

[JRNash]

It's like building a better mousetrap.

 

[Molpet]

At what age do you cut back on the feed?

I cut back after a couple of weeks (I didn't read about cutting back until then LOL), but a lot of people cut back after a week.
I also feed fermented feed...https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[Molpet]

I'm new to all this. A year ago I moved to the country and now I have bees, maple taps, 2 layer flocks, pigs, garden, broilers, etc. Nothing like jumping in with both feet, but I'm learning as I go.

I didn't want to take them longer because I have no experience. I'll go again in the spring and build on what I learned. I have multiple coops, so when I get rid of my older flock (purchased as adults last fall to get a jump start) I'm thinking of starting a dual purpose flock and trying to manage it for eggs and meet. We'll see how that works out.

I just started back up (after a few decades of working), last fall with grown layers and roo. Just have a garden and poultry. This site has been a wealth of knowledge and helped tremendously. I forgot a lot of what I knew and other people share ways that have worked for me.

 

[duluthralphie]

I did. The last few weeks we took it up at night, but I honestly don't think that made any difference at all. They were sleeping.

It's amazing how fat and disgusting these birds are. It's made worse by the close quarters they're kept in.

You have stumbled upon my pet peeve, people calling CX's fat, disgusting, smell, lazy or anything else like that.

I have raised hundreds of beautiful healthy loving CX"s. My toads are descended from CX's.


I have found it is not the birds that are disgusting it is the manner in which they are raised. I mean no offence, most people raise them according to the hatchery instructions which make the birds appear disgusting.

I raised my first batch of CX's in the disgusting manner and I got disgusting looking birds. A bird is only a product of its environment and is at the mercy of it's owner.

Try them again and limit their feed, give them space to run and play. You will be amazed at what you get for birds. CX's are the most mellow friendliest birds out there. They are beautiful when allowed to grow up naturally.


Prepare for a photo bomb of old pictures of beautiful CX's, Tell me if you see one disgusting bird in the group. These are old pictures because I no longer raise CX's I now have improved larger birds which are not so fragile as the CX.

 

[Martlet]

You have stumbled upon my pet peeve, people calling CX's fat, disgusting, smell, lazy or anything else like that.

I have raised hundreds of beautiful healthy loving CX"s. My toads are descended from CX's.


I have found it is not the birds that are disgusting it is the manner in which they are raised. I mean no offence, most people raise them according to the hatchery instructions which make the birds appear disgusting.

I raised my first batch of CX's in the disgusting manner and I got disgusting looking birds. A bird is only a product of its environment and is at the mercy of it's owner.

Try them again and limit their feed, give them space to run and play. You will be amazed at what you get for birds. CX's are the most mellow friendliest birds out there. They are beautiful when allowed to grow up naturally.


Prepare for a photo bomb of old pictures of beautiful CX's, Tell me if you see one disgusting bird in the group. These are old pictures because I no longer raise CX's I now have improved larger birds which are not so fragile as the CX.

They were mellow and friendly, but they were also nasty. I also noted that it WAS the manner in which they were raised. I'm sure, if raised differently, that they'd be fine. That's not the result I was after, though. I was after large harvestable birds in a short time with an eye to mitigating cost per pound.

I ended up with 5.75 pounds per bird average in 8 weeks with a final cost per pound of $1.92. I'm happy with that as a first time go at this, particularly since that cost includes processing (I sent them out). I'm not sure I could have achieved those results in the same time period with the same amount of space another way.

I'm always willing to learn, though, and will try to improve on this in the spring.

 

[duluthralphie]

They were mellow and friendly, but they were also nasty. I also noted that it WAS the manner in which they were raised. I'm sure, if raised differently, that they'd be fine. That's not the result I was after, though. I was after large harvestable birds in a short time with an eye to mitigating cost per pound.

I ended up with 5.75 pounds per bird average in 8 weeks with a final cost per pound of $1.92. I'm happy with that as a first time go at this, particularly since that cost includes processing (I sent them out). I'm not sure I could have achieved those results in the same time period with the same amount of space another way.

I'm always willing to learn, though, and will try to improve on this in the spring.

I understand. Your time would be longer, but your cost per pound would come down, that is my experience. You have to clean or move the tractors pens a lot if they are confined, or it will get more than nasty.