It comes down to dollars. Let's beat-up on Murray McMurray again. They're selling Dark Cornish. They're getting them from some farm somewhere in the midwest who sells them hatching eggs. The customers complain to MM that the dark cornish hardly lay anything and they'd never buy them again. The hatchery then squeezes the breeder who has to develop birds that "look" true to type, but perform better for people in the backyard. 99% of people buying day old chicks probably couldn't tell if the birds were true to type, since most of us only recognize the plumage pattern/color, rather than the carriage shape and the more critical factors for breed typing.
This could all be my imagination, too... but, seriously, I got a whole batch of Dark Cornish all of which had tails like they were Phoenix's or something. I only bred the tight feathered ones after being just brutalized by the judge at my Fair where I unknowlingly showed them.
You learn a lot showing birds. Not all is ego-boosting, either.
p.s. If I haven't mentioned it, if I were forced to pick and keep only 1 breed of chicken, it would be teh Dark Cornish. They are the best mothers and seem rather feral in nature. I could probably never feed any of them and they'd do just fine on their own. Plus, they are just stunningly pretty, like little falcons or hawks.
p.s.s. Colored Range Broilers would really be my first 'breed', Cornish 2nd.
This could all be my imagination, too... but, seriously, I got a whole batch of Dark Cornish all of which had tails like they were Phoenix's or something. I only bred the tight feathered ones after being just brutalized by the judge at my Fair where I unknowlingly showed them.
You learn a lot showing birds. Not all is ego-boosting, either.
p.s. If I haven't mentioned it, if I were forced to pick and keep only 1 breed of chicken, it would be teh Dark Cornish. They are the best mothers and seem rather feral in nature. I could probably never feed any of them and they'd do just fine on their own. Plus, they are just stunningly pretty, like little falcons or hawks.
p.s.s. Colored Range Broilers would really be my first 'breed', Cornish 2nd.