Wow Lot's of question's Ok I will try.
In my humble oppinion it really depends on the persons Knowledge of the breed when considering getting some DC's or any true standard Cornish variety. In other words let's look at it this way, and if you know me you know I don't mince my words. A few question's you must answer for yourself, like.... Have you ever seen real Cornish in person not in pic's ?, What have you seen... Hatchery stock or real Cornish ?, What do you plan to do with them or use them ?. Is all your info based on neglegible sources from people who aren't serious about Cornish ?. And probably the most important is does it really matter to you as to the quality of the bird.
WTS. Yes good Breeder stock is far superior to any Hatchery stock, but if you don't know the difference then what's the point. Let's put it this way True Cornish breeder stock is = like a Cadilac....... Hatchery stock is = a Yugo. If your plan's are to use it as a meat bird to incorporate into your flock to add diversity think again. these birds mature slowly, so if you are wanting fast results it ain't happening. These birds are not your typical Hairdo Foo-Foo birds that can live in an itty bitty little 4X4 pretty painted coop that the girls in your house can name and say are soooo cute, and run and range with the more frail breeds. They take some extra care & Knowledge to achieve good results, and it is best to keep them seperate from your other birds as they can be a little gamey cause they have plenty of Gamebird in their breeding so if your worried about the hair getting pulled out of your silkies get another breed. Feed is a little more costly for this breed if you want to raise good ones, so if cost is a factor pick another breed. and hatchery stock will lay Ok but breeder stock not so much, maybe 150-170 egg's a yr at best. Ok so I could really go on & on but you get the idea.
Good breeder stock can be hard to find, I am not talking about some guy who has hatchery stock and hatched a few and now is trying to buldoze somebody because his hatchery stock comes from his backyard. That same great breeder quality can also be expensive and they may ship Hatching egg's but getting chick's is risky. Some will ship adult or teen birds but shiping will kill you. Shipping adult birds only gives the breeder the opportunity to evaluate the bird at a later stage and then ship you the cull's. Now most serious Good Standard breeders do not normally do business with folks who are new to Cornish because they don't want to waste their stock to somebody who isn't knowledgable about the breed or currently doesn't own any. Sorry but this is really the deal. We as good breeders are having such a hard time keeping numbers up while still trying to improve our lines and show these birds, most of us just trade to each other in our inner circle so we know where are birds are and how they are doing, plus continue to swap and show any off spring.
I have known some guy's who wanted to get into good Cornish and after a few yr's of them learning their way to the point where they haven't given up and is really into them. Then I send egg's, birds and whatever else, but not until then.
So if you have a source for some good stock and have the set-up for them, don't mind spending a few $$ to get real birds, plus the addional cost$$ and effort to care well for them, I say go get em, if not perhaps getting some hatchery stock and get your feet wet first and see what you think before venturing into the relm with the big boy's. I don't do anything hatchery wise so I can't help with that I imagine it doesn't really make a difference which one you choose, pick one close by that will help.
I hope this has helped some and would like to see you get what you want, if I can help explain more feel free to PM me.
WTS: this post will most likely be followed by plenty of folks who feel differently in their limited capacity and that's fine, but I was PM'd to come over and offer a guide so I am doing so.
AL
