Jokes on me

[Mrs. K]

So having a very small thanks giving - I decide to do Cornish game hens, which I have never done before. When I brought them home, my DH was impressed that they were raised in the USA. We both thought they were a type of pheasant, something a wee bit elegant for a celebration.

Turns out, they are not Cornish, not game birds, and not all hens... they are just chicken! This is a marketing ploy!

 

[sourland]

Yep, that's what they are called. They will be very tasty.

 

[Mrs. K]

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/herb-stuffed-roasted-cornish-hens/

Very easy, very tasty!

 

[aart]

Turns out, they are not Cornish, not game birds, and not all hens... they are just chicken! This is a marketing ploy!

They are very young Cornish Cross...
....just a grocery bird harvested at ~4wks instead of ~8wks.
My mom used to make them regularly.

 

[3KillerBs]

If I understand correctly, the history of this marketing category is that during the development of the Cornish X the females were markedly less efficient at feed conversion so producers came up with a way to market very small birds -- allowing them to butcher the females as soon as they could be readily identified and raise only the more profitable males to heavier weights.

There is still a feed efficiency difference between males and females, but I *think* it's less pronounced in the modern birds and the processing costs for the "game hens" are higher because automated equipment is designed for a specific range of sizes.

 

[Mrs. K]

So if you were going to do your own, just harvest some meat birds early?

 

[rosemarythyme]

They are very young Cornish Cross...
....just a grocery bird harvested at ~4wks instead of ~8wks.
My mom used to make them regularly.

Growing up, I remember these constantly being on the table as my mom was keen on them too, she found them the perfect size for our family for various soups/stews.

At some point I realized they were just small chickens but for a while it sure sounded fancy in my young mind.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So if you were going to do your own, just harvest some meat birds early?

Yes.

I like them on wild rice, stuffed with mushrooms, raspberry glaze to finish. Or a drizzle of good balsamic.