Making your own Cross

[Ridgerunner]

Just for reference sake, someone (I think Imp. That's the type of thing he would do) posted a copy of an advertisement from way before the "broilers" were around. That advertisement was for Dleaware chicks that would dress out at 4 pounds at twelve weeks if memory serves me right. That's when Delaware and New Hampshire were the "commercial" broilers.

Those genetic lines are pretty well lost, but if you can come up with a bird that does that, you may be onto something.

 

[Cedarknob]

Just for reference sake, someone (I think Imp. That's the type of thing he would do) posted a copy of an advertisement from way before the "broilers" were around. That advertisement was for Dleaware chicks that would dress out at 4 pounds at twelve weeks if memory serves me right. That's when Delaware and New Hampshire were the "commercial" broilers.
Those genetic lines are pretty well lost, but if you can come up with a bird that does that, you may be onto something.

I think Kathyofmo has both breeds, and her New Hampshires are of a German strain that were bred over there to keep and improve on their original characteristics that once made them a breed of choice for early commercial producers.

I decided I wanted a blue/green egg layer more suitable for eating. Two crosses of high quality Cornish has improved the bodies but not nearly as much I would like. The first generation of a cross with white commercial meat birds [sold as jumbo cornish] are looking great. It remains to be seen if they can live long lives; or if they can be stabilized into what the F1s look like and their great growth rate. I'm glad I tried using the CX to breed. I used pullet chicks from Schelcht's to get these chicks. I bought a minimum purchase of 6 from TSC this spring, and they are nothing like the others, being much taller and more narrow bodied.

Edited to add that one CX from TSC has white skin. There's no possible way to find out which breeds the corporations have used to develop their parent lines, but obviously a white skinned breed was used with this strain, and might have been Orpington or Light Sussex. The strain from Schlechts were all yellow skinned, shorter legged, wider in the body, and with a bit of the wider head with projecting brows of the Cornish breed showing.

 

[kizanne]

The Orp roos I've eaten were the tastiest I've ever had in my life. They have lots of leg meat and I do like dark meat. Yum.

You just made me very happy since that will be my next meat round. That is how I would have described my barnvelder sounds like the Orphington might be the same which would be nice.

I do have some eggs in the bator that might hatch out some true marans, or maran mix but the roos been gone a while so I thinking I might just be making hot eggs. I know when I crack my barnyard mix eggs I am still frequently seeing the bullseye indicating fertile so I'm hoping. I've been collecting every egg the maran girl is laying. Had I know she was going to start laying so soon would have held off on killing the roo a little longer for more marans. I haven't cracked a maran egg yet cause I only have one girl and I'm putting everyone in the bator probably for another 7-10 days. I threw in some of my barred rock eggs so I can try the barred rock / maran mix in about 20 weeks (3 to hatch and 17 to grow).

I also threw in a couple EE eggs hoping for some green egg layers (they do well for my egg customers) and some small pullet eggs from my ameracauna's hoping for green eggs.


But honestly I'll be happy and surprised if anything hatches because the roo has been gone 3 weeks 2 days or so. I sell my eggs for $3 so incubating them doesn't really cost me anything. On the other than I paid I don't know $40 for 15 shipped eggs and got 2 Black copper marans out of the batch (they weren't all marans but that is why I ordered them). so I figure I'd have to incubate 13 dozen eggs with no results before it was the same LOL. And of course I won't get many more eggs out of my brand new laying pullet (only one pullet) in the next week or two that I keep trying. Besides the bator only holds like 45 eggs LOL. I am making my husband nervous as I just had it full and hatched out 17 chicks, one died and another needs to be culled so 15 chicks. It would have been quite a bit higher if Debby hadn't thrown the power out during the last but very important hatch day.

That puts us up to 52 chickens now. In a nice neighborhood and only one acre. I do have about 13 of those scheduled to be leaving us soon and 15 are in a tiny little brooder out of sight so that will help a lot. By the time they are out of the big brooder some of the current broilers will get processed.

I also am not allowed to pay for shipped eggs right now, he's got me on lockdown. He can't stop or won't stop me from my own mixes and creations LOL their cheap and easy. I think he is secretly hoping the roo has been gone too long and that none hatch.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I've been thinking about breeding something that will mature fairly fast, range well and that has a pea or walnut comb. I was thinking of using "colored rangers" and Buckeyes...but then thought of true Ameracuanas x colored rangers--thinking I could have some purebred birds (rooster and some hens) and hold back the hens, so I could tell who was laying what eggs...plus, I wouldn't have any problems selling extra hens around here...and I have an increasingly large market for eating eggs. I keep having to tell people no because they're wanting to buy eating eggs from me and I just don't have this time of year.

 

[kizanne]

I like your thinking. See that is why I'm playing with my crosses because well it's fun but also you can find a bird that fits a function you want filled.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Yes! That's it...I want something that will lay fairly well...(reproduce naturally)...I don't care about broodiness because I have plenty of Cochins, Wyandottes and Orloffs for that. And I need something that will grow fast, have decent meat on it, tolerate 100+ degrees and survive -25 degrees in the winter. I also need them to be good foragers.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

One of the reasons for the Sire Line x Dam Line breeding scenario used by modern commercial broile producers is to overcome poor reproductive performance. When the modern broiler breeding began in the 1930's farmers quickly realized the breeding for greater growth and meatier carcasses resulted in hens that layed fewer eggs. As a result breeders now use dam line which are selected for both meat and reproduction and cross them with sire lines that are selected primarily for growth or carcass traits.

Jim