game bird hens?

[soap&eggs]

groc stores sell cornish game hens frozen..very tiny. are these bantie cornish ? ordered 50 jumbo cornish X pullets...dreading the work involved..from day 1 to clean up after processing... hatchery didnt have the c.game hens..read you only raise them until 3?? - 4 ?? wks instead of the reg. 8 wks....is that true ?? next time think i will order the smaller birds instead.

 

[Ariel301]

A "cornish game hen" from the store is a female Cornish Cross butchered at around 4 weeks old to make a smaller size carcass. It's not a separate breed, or a bantam, though there are bantam regular Cornish, sometimes called Cornish games. I suppose if you butchered those, you could call them Cornish game hens. They are not the same thing as Cornish cross, and don't grow as quickly.

 

[Bossroo]

The Cornish Game Hen that one sees on the grocery store are the Cornish X, both male and female, birds that are processed at 35 days of age that average 2 lbs. I buy straight run Cornish X chicks, then process between 30 -37 days and get between 1 1/2- 3 lb game hens. I roast whole birds or I cut them in half lengthwise then BBQ them as single servings. YUM !

 

[Denninmi]

Has anyone ever figured out the economics of slaughtering as cornish game hens versus letting them go the full 8 weeks? The cost per bird is fixed, but I understand the amount they eat increases dramatically as they grow. Just wondering if it almost wouldn't be better to harvest them young?

 

[Bossroo]

With the increase in the cost of feed, fuel, etc. ... As chairman of the board of our Foul Enterprise, I voted myself a raise in pay, lighten my work load, and 3 weeks off work , and lay off for 3 weeks the emergency medical personel, as well as the overexuberant, but alas lazy sanitation employees by axing the overachieving but with couchpotato tendencies with ravenous table manners Cornish Xs at 30-37 days of age. Now I can party till I drop! Or at least untill there is a vacant freezer camp, and the Director of Culinary Works sends an urgent message to replenish the cashe cycle.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
That's a very descriptive way to put it Bossman. LOL One of these days I'm going to do the same if feed prices keep climbing. One can't beat the FCR on game hens.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

They are just processed younger than 8 weeks. We process around 4 weeks for Cornish game birds. But I'm cheap and refuse to buy them for that, so we only do it when TSC is getting rid of unsold meaties in the summer.

 

[soap&eggs]

thank you everyone for great info & a good laugh.......question then on feeding.....normally i would feed the cornish x a broiler starter for 4 wks..then a broiler finisher for another 4 wks..(( also i feed cracked corn starting around day 4, plus table scraps )).... would i just feed these cornish x regular starter then butcher ? or divide time with finisher ?...and does it make a difference that these are the jumbos , bigger then the regular cornish x ?

 

[madamwlf]

I started my cornish game birds right off with Flock Raiser. They have 2 weeks left.

 

[soap&eggs]

i do not know what "flock raiser"..actually is....we have farm store & small coops that only sell broiler starter and broiler finisher.