Keeping a few Cornish hens.................

[CNJ]

You got further than me on the project. I save 2 cornishx roosters, but 1 died and the remain may be a hen. As right now, I have no rooster to proceed. The pure Bresse rooster just too noisy so end up in the pot about a year ago.

I feel sorry for my dominate Breese rooster, he has a rooster collar, and I think you know how tight it must be to control his crow. He wore his collar for about two years and it pains me when I see a little feather blood around his neck during molting season.

I have his sire (Replacement) in another cage, and I need to cull him, but I can't do it, he has sentience (The quality or state of being).

I also have a Breese/Cornish X cross hen that has sentience. She cried like a baby all day and night until I moved the coop into a shady area and opened up the shade cloth to allow the air to pass through. Her cries sounded like a real baby. She stop crying when I made things right. However, she calls out to me when its her snack time and her calls doesn't sound like crying, its more like, "Hey, its time for my snack!" And she won't stop until I give her something. This is another one I can't cull.

 

[CNJ]

The first batch of Breese/Cornish X crosses has finally started to lay solid eggs. They were laying soft eggs for the past two weeks. I put some in my incubator, the chicks from this hatch will have double Breese genes, so they should be better layers and hopefully grow a little bigger from the Cornish X dinosaur blood.

The second batch which is about a month younger are still laying soft eggs. I have saved 3 solid ones, so far and have put only one in my incubator together with the first batch. This line should produce mutated meat birds with brother and sisters setting the line.

I hope the chicks from the 2nd batch can hit 2 lbs dressed with in 5 weeks, so I can get a tender gourmet meal out of them.

 

[CNJ]

I checked the eggs from the first batch (Breese rooster +Cornish X cross hens) and 7 of them were fertile, but I think the largest egg maybe from my pure 2 year old Breese hen because the rest of the eggs were all medium sized. These chicks should be better egg layers and inherit steel blue legs.

I also fired up another incubator, I will try to hatch 6 small eggs from the 2nd batch. I read that chicks born from young small eggs are born smaller, but catches up in size as they mature. I found this statement to be true as I did the same thing with their parents and they all turned out to be big birds.

The main reason for me to start early is because the rooster from the 2nd batch is getting too big, I am worried that something unforeseen may happen to him or to his hens.

 

[CNJ]

I checked the eggs from the second batch today and none of them were fertile. It looks like the big guy was shooting blanks or the hens aren't mature enough.

The big rooster from the second batch is the only one from both Cornish X cross batches that can not or does not roost, he is the only one that sleeps on the ground and he gets pooped on.

I am thinking about moving this breeding group to my wire floor coop, but I need to wait until all the hens are producing normal eggs. They can only stay in the wire floor coop for a month before the under side of their leg shanks begin to show abrasion.

 

[CNJ]

Today, I made a second attempt to place a no crow collar on the second batch rooster and I also weighed him. He was 11 pounds, so he already out performed other heritage breeds that I raised in the past. However, he has not sired any off springs yet.

I just checked up on him and like the last time my sentient hen (Cry Baby) took the collar off him. Since this was the second time I decided to order the ones with the buckle from Amazon. I will try again latter.

The chicks from the first batch started hatching, its now a wait and see how they grow. I am sure they will grow heavier than pure Breese chickens, since the genes from the Cornish X are from the best of the best.

 

[CNJ]

My first batch Breese/Cornish X cross weigh 8 lbs., he is bigger than his companion a pure 5 lbs. Breese rooster at the same age. I keep a peddle feeder full at all times in their coop. Unlike the 2nd batch, i don't have to control how much they eat.

I just placed 6 medium sized eggs from the second batch in my incubator today 4/27 Wednesday. I hope I get some faster growing chickens from this hatch.

I had 5 chicks hatch from the first batch hens that was paired to their father a pure Breese rooster. I ordered some vitamin boost from Mcmurray, just in case, but I think they will grow like regular chickens. These chicks should be better egg layers.

 

[CNJ]

You got further than me on the project. I save 2 cornishx roosters, but 1 died and the remain may be a hen. As right now, I have no rooster to proceed. The pure Bresse rooster just too noisy so end up in the pot about a year ago.

I got Breese from 2 different farms, one farm said he got the 2 lines Greenfire farm imported from France and the other farm told me they got their breeders from Greenfire farm, but weren't specific on which import line. I think I got the 2 imported lines because the characteristics of the lines I got from the 2 farms are different. The roosters I got from Breese Farm (Florida) can't wear rooster collars, their neck is too thick. However, the rooster I got from Paradise Poultry can wear them with out any problems.

The problem I have is I have only one hen from Breese Farm and one rooster from Paradise Poultry, so the roosters from this pairing can pull on either side. I recently saved the biggest rooster from this pairing and he pulled on the Breese Farm side. I can't control the sound of his crow, he will die if I make the collar any tighter, so I am going to have to send him to the freezer.

In another breeding project, I crossed my Breese hen from Breese Farm to a Dark Cornish rooster from McMurray and I got two different color roosters. One was white and brown (Pyle color) and the other was black and white kind of look like a grey, and both of them had pea combs. I discovered that both of these roosters can wear rooster collars and I can barely hear them crowing. They are perfect for residential areas............

 

[speedy2020]

I got Breese from 2 different farms, one farm said he got the 2 lines Greenfire farm imported from France and the other farm told me they got their breeders from Greenfire farm, but weren't specific on which import line. I think I got the 2 imported lines because the characteristics of the lines I got from the 2 farms are different. The roosters I got from Breese Farm (Florida) can't wear rooster collars, their neck is too thick. However, the rooster I got from Paradise Poultry can wear them with out any problems.

The problem I have is I have only one hen from Breese Farm and one rooster from Paradise Poultry, so the roosters from this pairing can pull on either side. I recently saved the biggest rooster from this pairing and he pulled on the Breese Farm side. I can't control the sound of his crow, he will die if I make the collar any tighter, so I am going to have to send him to the freezer.

In another breeding project, I crossed my Breese hen from Breese Farm to a Dark Cornish rooster from McMurray and I got two different color roosters. One was white and brown (Pyle color) and the other was black and white kind of look like a grey, and both of them had pea combs. I discovered that both of these roosters can wear rooster collars and I can barely hear them crowing. They are perfect for residential areas............

I wasn't planning to raise chicken this year due to the feed cost, but the current condition change. For those who want nice block, going through select Cornish cross medium size may do the trick. Just feed them twice a day after 5 weeks and then once a day after 7 weeks. I butched my Cornish cross block last year and I wish I didn't. Anyway, I still can't find suitable white rooster locally within 1 hour drive for my 5 remain Bresse and Bresse/Ixworth cross hens.

 

[CNJ]

This is a picture of the Breese father to the Cornish X cross daughters, some of them have black spots and non of their legs turned blue yet. I think they around 3 weeks old. The 2 smaller chicks are pure Breese and they about 1 week old. They managed to fit in with the older chicks. They growing like regular chickens.

I am looking forward to the 2nd batch hatch with the 11lbs rooster to his sisters. I have 4 fertile eggs that should hatch in a few days. The fertility rate of this group was about 50%. I have 3 fertile eggs in another incubator and about 7 new eggs in another.

I have 4 hens in this group and they are still laying small eggs and double yolkers. I get 1 to 2 small eggs a day and 1 to 2 double yolkers every other day.

 

[CNJ]

I have 3 fertile eggs in another incubator and about 7 new eggs in another.

Only 1 of the 7 new eggs were fertile and the 4 eggs that were suppose to hatch yesterday did not hatch yet? I set another 7 eggs, so that 1 fertile egg will be 7 days apart. I hope my eggs hatch today, I saw a video on Youtube, about breeding Cornish X and it pointed out that the eggs hatch late.