I understand the business analysis, but man cornish x feel wrong!

[Two Creeks Farm]

Quote:
For some, there are more important things than money.

I fully agree, but you cant support all sides of an arguement with out getting dizzy LOL!

 

[bigredfeather]

And you guys think I get riled up easily............

 

[Lee]

Quote:
These parent lines are available world wide... it would have to be the end of the world for the CX to completely "disappear". Poultry diseases aren't specific and wouldn't wipe out just one breed... that's like saying all white people could die all at once because of skin cancer from the sun.... and it doesn't touch any other race. It just doesn't work like that... fun to think about but reality is a little different than the movies.

The other what ifs are ridiculous and I sense a bit of sarcasm

Any how, with all this said... we don't live in the 1800's anymore. Keeping a sustainable chicken is kind of like keeping a horse and buggy. It's like banning vehicles because they aren't sustainable. Which in all honesty cars are not sustainable in the long run... they run off of oil just like so many things in the world. So it's kind of hypocritical to say I'm not going to raise a chicken because it's not sustainable but I'm going to drive a car.

I mean if you want to get yourself a horse and buggy and raise solely DP birds then I would understand. 70 years from now things will change just like they did 70 years ago, the point is you go with evolution and adapt. If the CX no longer becomes the viable option or for if some reason they are $10.00 per chick things will change and our way of life will change with it.

BUT... in the meantime... I'm going to enjoy my life and not worry about little things that I really can't control. Frankly I don't even want to try, if I have to at some point I know that I can. I have DP breeds too... so I can put the eggs in the incubator and would fare just well with the end of the CX world. But currently the CX fit the bill, wether you raise them or not you probably support them. Any chicken product outside your home is CX. Either at the grocery, if you eat out, or the local butcher shop. I find it hard to believe that all you eat is DP birds 100%.

To each their own but I think people are just stubborn.... Not so much you but people in general.

okay, seriously though, i don't understand why everyone is trying to convince me that what i want is stupid. you may not have said the actual word "stupid" but that's what's implied. i've already said: i LIKE chickens, i like having them around, i use them for more than just meat, i'm not a commercial grower, so i want a breeding flock, and i'm not dissing CXs. why do i need to be told over and over that this is dumb?

i know poultry diseases aren't breed specific. i'm not dumb. i don't need an analogy about how skin cancer doesn't just kill white people. however, diseases spread much more rapidly in giant overcrowded population centers, such as CX growing facilities. show me a giant facility filled with non-CX meat birds, and i'll be concerned about them too, but they don't exist. i'm not as concerned about the laying facilities because any bird can lay an egg, but no birds other than CXs make the kind of meat we're all used to having in great supply now. if one hatchery gets a virus or whatever, i know that wouldn't wipe out the entire population worldwide, but it WOULD cause a scare and make the price of the decreased supply jump. and i just like having a backup, because, hey, why not be prepared, even if the emergency may never happen.

if you don't want to worry about things you can't control, that's fine, but please let me raise my personal flock without judgement. what works for you isn't my ideal, and vice versa, and that's fine. i'm not some survivalist nut, i don't believe the world is ending quite yet and i'm not trying to convince you to give up your CX. but, for example, when florida experiences bad weather, the price of tomatoes jumps even though they're grown all around the world. if i'm already keeping chickens, then it just makes sense to me to have them as a backup meat source in case chickens are the new tomatoes. with the huge commercial farms, you never know what might happen. i also have a garden (which people have been doing since way before the 1800s!) because i like it, and it's nice to have a backup. should i get rid of my garden because it's antiquated, and there's a nice modern grocery store in town?

and actually, i don't drive a car. i work from home. mainly because i'm young and college educated, which translates to no job opportunities, and after a decade of retail jobs, i couldn't find any work at all after the last time i moved. but that's another ramble for another day

but the point is, now, i made my own job, but it doesn't pay very well. so i try my very very hardest to reduce my need for money, because i simply don't have much of it. i live extremely frugally, and i'm NOT complaining about that fact, but it isn't entirely by choice. so yes, i'm concerned about the price of food. i'm not against evolution and modern science. i just want a flock that breeds. that's all. jeez.

i'm gonna politely step aside now on this subject, i've said my bit and it's not my desire to offend or be offended.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
These parent lines are available world wide... it would have to be the end of the world for the CX to completely "disappear". Poultry diseases aren't specific and wouldn't wipe out just one breed... that's like saying all white people could die all at once because of skin cancer from the sun.... and it doesn't touch any other race. It just doesn't work like that... fun to think about but reality is a little different than the movies.

The other what ifs are ridiculous and I sense a bit of sarcasm

Any how, with all this said... we don't live in the 1800's anymore. Keeping a sustainable chicken is kind of like keeping a horse and buggy. It's like banning vehicles because they aren't sustainable. Which in all honesty cars are not sustainable in the long run... they run off of oil just like so many things in the world. So it's kind of hypocritical to say I'm not going to raise a chicken because it's not sustainable but I'm going to drive a car.

I mean if you want to get yourself a horse and buggy and raise solely DP birds then I would understand. 70 years from now things will change just like they did 70 years ago, the point is you go with evolution and adapt. If the CX no longer becomes the viable option or for if some reason they are $10.00 per chick things will change and our way of life will change with it.

BUT... in the meantime... I'm going to enjoy my life and not worry about little things that I really can't control. Frankly I don't even want to try, if I have to at some point I know that I can. I have DP breeds too... so I can put the eggs in the incubator and would fare just well with the end of the CX world. But currently the CX fit the bill, wether you raise them or not you probably support them. Any chicken product outside your home is CX. Either at the grocery, if you eat out, or the local butcher shop. I find it hard to believe that all you eat is DP birds 100%.

To each their own but I think people are just stubborn.... Not so much you but people in general.

okay, seriously though, i don't understand why everyone is trying to convince me that what i want is stupid. you may not have said the actual word "stupid" but that's what's implied. i've already said: i LIKE chickens, i like having them around, i use them for more than just meat, i'm not a commercial grower, so i want a breeding flock, and i'm not dissing CXs. why do i need to be told over and over that this is dumb?

i know poultry diseases aren't breed specific. i'm not dumb. i don't need an analogy about how skin cancer doesn't just kill white people. however, diseases spread much more rapidly in giant overcrowded population centers, such as CX growing facilities. show me a giant facility filled with non-CX meat birds, and i'll be concerned about them too, but they don't exist. i'm not as concerned about the laying facilities because any bird can lay an egg, but no birds other than CXs make the kind of meat we're all used to having in great supply now. if one hatchery gets a virus or whatever, i know that wouldn't wipe out the entire population worldwide, but it WOULD cause a scare and make the price of the decreased supply jump. and i just like having a backup, because, hey, why not be prepared, even if the emergency may never happen.

if you don't want to worry about things you can't control, that's fine, but please let me raise my personal flock without judgement. what works for you isn't my ideal, and vice versa, and that's fine. i'm not some survivalist nut, i don't believe the world is ending quite yet and i'm not trying to convince you to give up your CX. but, for example, when florida experiences bad weather, the price of tomatoes jumps even though they're grown all around the world. if i'm already keeping chickens, then it just makes sense to me to have them as a backup meat source in case chickens are the new tomatoes. with the huge commercial farms, you never know what might happen. i also have a garden (which people have been doing since way before the 1800s!) because i like it, and it's nice to have a backup. should i get rid of my garden because it's antiquated, and there's a nice modern grocery store in town?

and actually, i don't drive a car. i work from home. mainly because i'm young and college educated, which translates to no job opportunities, and after a decade of retail jobs, i couldn't find any work at all after the last time i moved. but that's another ramble for another day

but the point is, now, i made my own job, but it doesn't pay very well. so i try my very very hardest to reduce my need for money, because i simply don't have much of it. i live extremely frugally, and i'm NOT complaining about that fact, but it isn't entirely by choice. so yes, i'm concerned about the price of food. i'm not against evolution and modern science. i just want a flock that breeds. that's all. jeez.

i'm gonna politely step aside now on this subject, i've said my bit and it's not my desire to offend or be offended.

I think you misunderstood me... to each his own. If you really just want a DP flock then just say that.... instead you come up with all these what ifs?? I hate ruffling feathers as this is just all in good fun but I don't need to know your personal life and how you live. Keep it chicken and it's all good.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
A small quibble, here...

Genetic diversity is what allows a species to survive, even if the majority of it is wiped out. The wider the gene pool, the more likely it is for a gene resistant to a particular disease to exist. The narrower the gene pool, the less likely.

And these lines are very very very VERY narrow, genetically speaking. That is why the industry can boast such consistent results. Couple that with the unsafe practices of factory farming (routine prophylactic medication that will eventually lead to stronger and stronger bugs, overcrowding, etc.), this critter being the animal of choice for the world meat bird will, inevitably, lead to its eventual demise.

Having a wide, genetically diverse gene pool outside that system is the only sustainable option.

I have made my peace with having to raise these things, out of necessity, as they do have their strengths, but that hasn't blinded me to their very real weaknesses.

See I disagree... the CX genes are probably the most diverse out there. There are dozens of strains and each strain has it's own distinct genetic difference. The thought of most DP breeds being sustainable on genes alone has really no leg to stand on. DP breeds are very limited in their genetic diversity. They have been inbred for hundreds of years.... but they still seem to thrive.

 

[EggGardener]

I raised 6 cornish x this spring. They were different than what I expected. A lot of personality, very inquisitive and friendly, and MUCH more active than I'd been led to expect. I free-ranged them with standard chicks, and they did fine. Yes, they flap their wings when they run, but they aren't crippled or weak, their legs are just far apart.

Their limited genetic destiny is sad. And I think that people are realizing that, while economically these birds make so much sense, there needs to be a better option.

I love the breeding projects I see on these boards, and the people who are working to create alternatives are my HEROES.

I would raise them again. They weren't at all like I thought they'd be.

 

[lovemelovemybirds]

kkkkkk...if I am understanding the thread... the cornish x can free range and have a life if not gonna be dinner? I have egg layers... my old egg layers live till they die...I don't slaughter but love the eggs. At the local feed store.... I was asked if I wanted the birds that did not sell.. three cornish are in there....I want to just let them be chickens.. but should I separate them from the feed? Total birds i m geting is 15.. three cornish...thanks.

 

[Wifezilla]

Keeping a sustainable chicken is kind of like keeping a horse and buggy.

I raise self sustaining ducks (Welsh Harlequins, best for eggs, but also a descent meat bird). The quail, not so much, but I did have one go broody and hatch out a few chicks last year.

The days of being able to go to the grocery store and just get whatever you want for cheap are about over. Food inflation, while under-reported, is very real.​

 

[MetalSmitten]

Quote:
no, economics was not my major, i won't lie. but my chickens cost me one initial investment to get set up with, and are very low cost from then on. i buy them about $20 of feed a month, from my next door neighbor who runs a feed store (convenient!) and then supplement with free stuff like weeds, bugs, grass and whatever's around the property. my roommate works in a kitchen where she brings home free kitchen scraps all the time. their hay is recycled from the goat stalls, and then later it becomes compost. i can't really think of much else we spend money on for them.

how is this worse than buying a whole bunch of CX at the same time (otherwise buying small numbers with shipping costs defeat their value), raising them, spending a bunch of money all at once for a bunch of starter food, then needing to keep them all frozen until use? and i'd have to put them in a separate freezer to store many more than 5 or so at once. i can afford small monthly expenses over long periods of time. i can't afford big expenses in short periods of time. this is why bank loans and mortgages exist, even though the borrowers end up losing money in the long-term which is technically "not economical" for them, but it's what they can afford to do.

anyway. every person's situation is different, and this is what works for me.


ETA - also, the money issue wasn't my original point anyway. that was kind of a tangent. again, i originally said that i basically approve of the CXs, i just wish they could be bred at home. if breeding your own birds couldn't be made profitable somehow, the hatcheries wouldn't do it. that's why they don't sell the parent lines, so that you can't breed your own, so that they don't lose their profit. am i wrong to think that the hatcheries probably have to keep some breeding stock over winter? i'm sure hatching is low profit, but when you buy/sell in BULK, that's what makes the money. i'm not buying/selling in bulk. and if something bad ever were to happen to the bulk, it would be nice if there was a backup option.

 

[SethJ]

I raise them for their intended purpose,....I have hens for theirs,......

ever tried to eat an old scrawny barred rock hen,..lmao

no breast meat at all.......