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I actually have 30 cornishx brooding in the back room right now.
Yes, they are definitely the most time/cost effective way to go.
But they're not self sustaining. It's rare for them to even live to breeding age and they don't breed true. Actually in my eyes (just my opinion) it would border on animal cruelty to try to keep the poor things around for that long. I'd like to have a flock that can still perpetuate itself and give me eggs on the side.
So while I don't think that I'll stop raising CX anytime soon (I love a roast chicken with a huuuge breast!) I'm still interested in a dual purpose breed that's actually dual purpose. Which I think means actively selecting for a good carcass. Even though you can eat any scrawny little thing it doesn't mean the bird is dual. I don't know if I'm saying this right.
OK, right now, just about every breed is for eggs (or show) and meat on the side. You eat them because what ELSE are you going to do with them?? not because they are particularly good eating.
I want a flock that's for meat, and gives me eggs on the side. I want them to grow quickly and well, forage and keep brooding chicks and give me a few extra eggs above and beyond that.
Does that make sense?
Yes it does I raise Delawares for that very reason...at 16 weeks you have good fryers and at 20+ weeks you have roasters and at 20 weeks you get eggs lots of them and they get big fast. The only birds I have that come close to the Dellies are my Cuckoos they just take another month then would come my BCMs now I didn't hatch any show stock but most of my boys are getting big but they are even slower than the Cuckoos. There are people on this board who's strain of BCMs are huge how fast they get huge I don't know. I have a meat bird pen mixed blood of what all I don't know or care the person who I got the from said they would be ready at 14 weeks they are I saved some to raise my own I think they look like Delaware/New Hampshire/Barred Rock and maybe CX mixed together the hens started laying at 16 weeks and now at 20 weeks the eggs are huge and the roo is huge too I can't wait to hatch some out later this year. My Cuckoo I processed at 22 weeks dressed out at 4.5 lbs I have more to do and they look more filled out so they should be over 5lbs now I don't count anything but the carcass no neck or innards and sometimes I cut the tail and wingtips off too...I think most chickens in the farmstead days were killed when they were going to eat them and after harvest would make for a nice fattened up bird I would think so maybe 6 months to over a year and year old roosters were prized for their flavor....and I'm sure the rooster who jumped on anyone more than once would get to go sooner. Have fun with your chickens and try some of your ideas you can go to ALBC and download chick evaluation forms and it tells you how to choose good laying hens and how to pick them out of your flock...you really only need a couple of real good hens to raise more chicks than you would ever need I say go for it.
