I want to grow the WORLD RECORD cornish cross in size and weight

[johnscalido]

Quote:
Quick question. It took you more than 2 and half years for your cornish crosses to reach 31 pounds. My birds are weighing now about 14 pounds after 12 weeks. Just wanted to know if the growth is still rapid. When will my birds reach 22 pounds!

I must also make myself crystal clear. "MY AIM IS NOT TO ABUSE THE BIRDS" . I think it can be done, I think the person I have quoted has done it already. I am an animal lover and I would hate it if any of my birds went through any form of abuse.

My birds run around without any problem evens though they are weighing at 14 pounds. I let them free range whenever the weather allows it. I give them a proper feed in the morning only. They then feed outside on cloves in the grass and probably grass as well. Naturally I give them plenty of water.

Another question. How will the meat be after slaughter. Will it still be tender. Very importantly how much weight will I lose when I slaughter and process. Someone mentioned almost 30%. Is this true.

Oh yes, please do send us pics of your 30 pound roosters. I would love to see. BYC rocks!.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

yes waiting to see a pic of the 30 lb birds . . .
john, really good luck! I think you have a long road ahead of you with a lot of surprise problems, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. Ignore naysayers and do keep us posted. Do some back post reading on this thread, you will learn a lot and have many of your questions answered upfront.

 

[sonew123]

Quote:

x2 please please!!!

 

[uhuh555]

As soon as one of the kids has free time to snap them will post some pictures. I can't take them because of sever arthritis in my fingers.

 

[ijon1]

All I can say is go for it.

 

[goatranch]

We did our first meat birds this year. We ordered 53 Jumbo cornish from Cackle Hatchery. We saved a roo and have named him Chunk. We take every precaution that he is not overstressed or overfed. We would like him to breed to some of our DP hens. He is very timid and I don't know if it will ever happen. I understand why people are put off with the idea of cornish X, but we love their temperament
and very much love a bird that is almost all white tender meat. We will never eat Chunk, nor will we ever let him suffer. He is mostly free range until I get rid of most of my overrun of other roos. Then I will put him back in with the girls and see what happens. My only goal for him is to bring a large cornish line into my flock. Good luck to everyone who has cornish X they are working with.

 

[uhuh555]

goatranch,

Out of your next batch of cornish x save a hen or two and breed them to your DP roo. The cornsh x roo could injury your much smaller DP hens.

Good Luck

 

[Stevo]

I was told if you leave a light on in the coop 24/7 and keep the feed in there you can add a pound a week indefinetly. Coop must be cleaned every 2 days as they will be doing nothing but eating and pooping 24/7. But that is the fastest way to make a bird grow. Is that a good life for a chicken? To me I have to say no but to a farmer raising meat birds this is how they do it. Will you get your world record? Maybe. Meat farmers won't let them get that big as the cost for feed and electricity outweighs the income from the chickens.

For a minute there I imagined Mr Purdue shoveling feed in his coops lol.

 

[uhuh555]

If you feed 24/7 you’ll probably do fine until you get past the 5th week. That is when leg/hip and heart problems will show up. The ‘big boys’ feed this way. They process them between 4-5 weeks of age yielding a 2 to 3.5 pound carcass. If the goal is 4-6 pound dressed weight you must prescribe to a feeding regiment that will produce a healthier bird that will live long enough to get to desired weight. Keep in mind that the younger they are processed at the lower the feed/gain ratio (FGR) will be and at between 7to 8 weeks of age the FGR begins to drop sharply to the unfavorable levels.

It takes 17 to 22 weeks to get a healthy bird to 30 pounds live weight. If you are doing this for meat they are still tender, but it will take close to 85 to 90 pounds of feed to achieve. Three 7-8 week old birds will yield the same amount of meat but for 25 to 30 pounds less feed not to mention less time involved then caring for the older birds.

 

[crperdue]

Quote:
It's Perdue.

Purdue = University
Perdue = Chickens