All, I am doing my second batch of Broilers ... 50 Cornish Crosses. I would like to raise the next batch myself from my own Hens/Roosters. I have a decent incubator, brooder setup, and raising area. I have seen mentioned the broiler chicks are crosses between Plymouth Rocks and Cornish Hens. I have also read where its possible to actually hatch from Cornish Cross parents...The later seems like it would be a very difficult scenario as they get large so fast and are prone to certain issues.... So I am looking for basically a how to on Broilers from the ground up. Has anyone successfully done this endeavor? If so how what approach? Thanks Chris
It's far more complicated than just crossing a rock and Cornish and getting a cornishX. The parent stock has taken years to get proper, and they aren't going to be available from a local breeder, or hatchery stock. If you want to do sustainable meat birds, there are a lot of options and crosses, and several threads near the top of the forum of people toying with different breeds, but none are going to be CornishX birds. If you want to stick with CornishX, keep buying them.
tmarsh83, I wondered about the "Simplicity" of just Rock and Cornish cross....As I have noticed a big difference in the CornishX I have bought from different hatcheries in the area. The last set I purchased seem more like normal chickens...not science projects so to speak...but still the growth is being accomplished. I will do some reading on the subject (other topics)....Thanks for the advice. Chris