good meat chicken

[Minniechickmama]

Quote:

White Cornish X or White Rock crosses are probably the same. They are CRX Cornish Rock Crosses. They are your freakishly fast growing, heavy meat birds. Some can get up to 10-pounds in 8 or 9 weeks. That is half the time of a purebred. I don't like the CRXs because they do not even act like a chicken any more, they are more like market pigs who eat as long as there is food in front of them.
Good luck with the chicken addiction.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Good luck with your BO's! I have heard good things about them. I am raising Cornish right now, but will be trying some Freedom Rangers in the spring. I'm interested in your live and processing weights and how many weeks old they are before processing.

 

[Lotsapaints]

I process lots of culls and have a meat cross that I'm trying on my own. I raise dual purpose chickens and some of the Marans are quick to reach a great weight I have one now at 16 weeks weighs over 7 1/2 lbs live and same with my Delawares. They both dress out well and I have thought about crossing them when I have less culls. The Partridge Rocks were a little smaller but had a nice finish all of their flesh is firmer than a Cornish X but if you age them and cook them properly the taste is fabulous. I think with some selective breeding I can have birds ready to butcher at 12 to 14 weeks.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Wow those are great processing times! I've heard as bad as 6 months!

 

[Jared77]

Did you breed that rate of growth and size into your Marans?

 

[Lotsapaints]

No somebody else did but I'm going to use him for that trait I have another the same age dif color and he's that big too so some of the Marans carry that speed and size of growth. My Dels came from a breeder who raises broilers with the excess roos you can tell they are big and burley early they process them @ 16 weeks. My take is that for the last 20 or 30 years most of the heritage breeds were not selectively bred for growth traits no market for it but those genes are in there hiding you just have to wake them up again by using sound breeding practices. Dels and Rocks and New Hampshires were the Broiler breeds before the cornish X's. In France Marans are for eating too it just needs to be selected for in your breeding program.

 

[cassie]

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What do you mean they kept smashing each other? I have lost a few Cornish X but not from smashing each other. The only reason I can think of that they were smashing each other is if they were piling up on each other because they were cold. Sometimes if they are not used to the dark they will pile up on each other. A small light will prevent this. But these behaviors are not limited to the Cornish X.

I raise my Cornish X 25 at a time in a well ventilated 12 X 12 box stall bedded in shavings. I add shavings as necessary and I do not clean out the stall until after the birds are gone. I do not have trouble with odors or dirty birds with this system. Personally, I love the Cornish X. I get a lot of meat in a short period of time with a minimum of labor and I do not find them difficult to process.

 

[PuckPuckPuck]

First I want to thank everyone for their input and knownledge.

Like i said before I am new to this but I am learning. What I have decided to do is to try a batch of White Rock X (25 of them) and also keeping my BO till they mature. My flock will be larger but that will be fine because I will have the room for them. I am building a coop 25'x20'. (my plans have been changing every day) nothing is in concrete yet till spring.

 

[hunterblu123]

Quote:
What do you mean they kept smashing each other? I have lost a few Cornish X but not from smashing each other. The only reason I can think of that they were smashing each other is if they were piling up on each other because they were cold. Sometimes if they are not used to the dark they will pile up on each other. A small light will prevent this. But these behaviors are not limited to the Cornish X.

I raise my Cornish X 25 at a time in a well ventilated 12 X 12 box stall bedded in shavings. I add shavings as necessary and I do not clean out the stall until after the birds are gone. I do not have trouble with odors or dirty birds with this system. Personally, I love the Cornish X. I get a lot of meat in a short period of time with a minimum of labor and I do not find them difficult to process.

The only thing I can think of is they are laying on each other. They weren't cold, I had two heat lamps on them and with the heat lamp they had light. Where do you get your Cornish? We put them outside a few day's ago when it was still warm and they would not move around much like the other chicken's. There's nothing wrong with them I don't think they are that bright.

 

[speedy2020]

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The bird at 7.5lbs in 16weeks is big. I'm sure many of us want your stock bird.