Meat Bird Project - Delaware, White Rock, Dark Cornish

[KoopOnTruckin]

Yeah, it would be pretty awkward to cut into a Cornish and realize after a minute of poking around in there that you have a female... Have you thought about caponizing another breed, just to see what happens (as Steve Erwin used to put it)? I don't plan to caponize my first chick until probably the first week of June or thereabouts. It's going to be an intimidating first cut, probably several cuts. But it will be an experience, and I'll need someone with a strong stomach to assist and likely take over after I pass out. But to have a couple caponized roos around for special occasions, that will be a huge plus.

That's cool to be a part of such a large project that proved something so potentially substantial. And again, great info to know. Did you make note of the size difference between the seasons?

 

[Ulladh]

Awesome to see youre still at this, Ill be honest its hard for me reading this as Im very jealous I couldnt keep mine, being stuck in an apartment now!

How are you finding this 2nd generation coing on weight wise against the originals?

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Yeah, it's got to be a heartache to be on this website when you know you're some time away from being able to get back at it. I'm glad you're still around here though!

So far they are coming along very well. I expect the crosses to be significantly quicker-growing than the originals. So far they are meeting my expectations - they are already quite meaty and feel 'thick' like the DCs did at their age. I've got them (5wks) in the pen next to the store-bought fast-growing Cornish Cross broilers, so it will be interesting to see the difference in their sizes as they get bigger.

FatDaddy made a good point though, this generation has a lot going for it to make it bigger than the last, and some of those factors are natural (spring vs. summer hatch) and others are human (selective breeding).

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

I forgot to post these pics last week, taken the same day I weighed them last. You can see the ducklings in the background, they are a week younger but double the size, and by this week at least triple the size of the chicks.

Here are the 3 chicks from the WR roo, the one in the middle is the Del mix.


Here are the others, 3 white/black speckled mixes, and 3 varied-brown speckled mixes.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

I've heard how lazy these Cornish Crosses are, but it's a whole other thing to watch it in action. When i moved the tractor coop today, they barely moved at all. I had to physically move a few of them out of the way of the wheel. And HEAVY. But the enormity of their weight is only matched by their lack of brains or personalty. I'll take some photos tomorrow and post them.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Wow, this was very telling - both the numbers and the photos:

7 week old Dark Cornish Cross (my hatch) cockerel:







3 week old Cornish Cross broilers (store bought, TSC):








I couldn't even feel the breast bone in this one. He's just the first one I could grab, likely a cockerel.

I mean WOW, right????

 

[123RedBeard]

I think your "wow" will change to "uuhhh", when you eat it ...

I'd rather have to wait, for the weight, like on your own raised ones!

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Yes, very likely - and great point about the flavor. I'm just shocked at how quickly they grow, it's like watching Tommy Boy when David Spade tells Chris Farley (who's sucking mayo from a single-pack) "I can actually hear you getting fatter." They are so lazy, it's sad - they lay around, get up to eat, lay down, get up to drink, lay down, and repeat all day long. The older DCXs next to them are playing, scratching, alert, etc. I'm still trying to keep them from running around too much to keep their meat more tender, but they use up all the room I give them to play.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

I candled the 37 eggs I had in the incubator, took 6 out for dereliction of duties, so that leaves me with 31 set to hatch this coming Sunday/Monday. Add those potentials to the 9- 7 week olds, 9 store-boughts, and 9- 3 week olds, (OH YEAH, and 9- 6 week old ducklings!), and we've got a pretty good haul come summer time. And with all the "9s", my guess is that 27 of the 31 eggs will hatch/survive long enough to see grass... the chicken-math gods are precise in their wisdom and wrath! Or I'm just crazy and superstitious, we shall see.

My wife bought me a deep freezer a couple months ago and, with that purchase, challenged me to fill it up. This will put a good dent in it.

 

[Kiki]

The little cx is so ugly huh?
poor thing....