First, if you are depending upon the post office to bring you your new broilers every spring then you are not practicing sustainable agriculture. And if you can't get the parent stock for your flock then you are dependent upon the post office. If the post office or their mail-carriage contractor ever does quit carrying day-old chicks then you have a huge problem.
There are local hatcheries in many states. Most have a hatchery within a days driving distance.... If your just talking about day old chicks in general, many people know breeders with in a couple of hours driving distance so obtaining day old chicks would not be all that difficult.
Not to mention if the USPS ever quit shipping chicks.... another organization would pick up the extra buisness. There is too much money in shipping chicks to just give it up. So hardly a problem if you look at it from an economic stanpoint.
There are local hatcheries in many states. Most have a hatchery within a days driving distance.... If your just talking about day old chicks in general, many people know breeders with in a couple of hours driving distance so obtaining day old chicks would not be all that difficult.
Not to mention if the USPS ever quit shipping chicks.... another organization would pick up the extra buisness. There is too much money in shipping chicks to just give it up. So hardly a problem if you look at it from an economic stanpoint.
Second, if your bottom line is driven strictly by profit then go right on ahead. Tyson's and Foster Farms pretty well have that market cornered, though; you can't go head to head with them and do any good. You need to find a niche and compete against them in that niche. For some, that niche is in the heritage breeds that people ate when they visited grandma and grandpa on the farm.
And for some... that niche is a cornish x rock type breed that is humanely raised... it doesn't have to be a heritage breed to be superior to ones raised by Tyson. And when you raise birds for your livelyhood... than yes the bottom line is profit. I wouldn't want to raise somebody a chicken and lose money on it.... nor would I want to sell someone a dozen eggs for a buck. If that was the case I would have just enough for me and my family.
And for some... that niche is a cornish x rock type breed that is humanely raised... it doesn't have to be a heritage breed to be superior to ones raised by Tyson. And when you raise birds for your livelyhood... than yes the bottom line is profit. I wouldn't want to raise somebody a chicken and lose money on it.... nor would I want to sell someone a dozen eggs for a buck. If that was the case I would have just enough for me and my family.
Third, the parent stock for the Cornish X (and White Leghorns and $FOO Stars, for that matter) is inbred to a farethewell. If that inbreeding ever results in a loss of fertility or any other situation where the numbers aren't there to support small sales then your problem is as big as if the post office ever quit carrying day-old chicks.
You raise Red Stars... that seems pretty hyprocritical to me... How are these birds any different than the cornish x rocks? The are the complete opposite, instead of gaining weight fast... these hens lay eggs at a very abnormal rate... You don't think that these lines of Rhode Island reds and Delaware strains that make up the Red Stars are true to their heritage type ancestors? No, not even close. Both the offspring and the parent stock are hybrids to the fullest, and very inbred to say the least.
If the inbreeding would ever result in loss of fertility you would just use another male from another breed from lines of good egg laying abilities. It's not hard to fix a fertility problem, much easier than fixing the post office issues.
You raise Red Stars... that seems pretty hyprocritical to me... How are these birds any different than the cornish x rocks? The are the complete opposite, instead of gaining weight fast... these hens lay eggs at a very abnormal rate... You don't think that these lines of Rhode Island reds and Delaware strains that make up the Red Stars are true to their heritage type ancestors? No, not even close. Both the offspring and the parent stock are hybrids to the fullest, and very inbred to say the least.
If the inbreeding would ever result in loss of fertility you would just use another male from another breed from lines of good egg laying abilities. It's not hard to fix a fertility problem, much easier than fixing the post office issues.
Fourth, genetic diversity has been all but eliminated in the production crossbreeds. That not only has the result of eliminating production variability, it also reduces or eliminates the varying resistance to disease. If a disease should target one of the major suppliers of parent stock then they would, essentially, be wiped out unless and until they could breed up resistant strains. And those producers depending on them would suffer too.
Again.. you have a production crossbreed... Red Stars. Your supporting the same industry you hate?
IF and a big IF... a disease should ever get the parent flocks in this country and wipe them out our problems would be catastrophic to our country and possibly world for that matter. As if a disease would be that powerfull not only big industries would suffer our backyard flocks would suffer. Just because they are backyard flocks or heritage breeds doesn't make them immune to a disease. Poultry immune systems are very fragile and it doesn't take much to screw them up. Lets all hope that this will never happen as we would all suffer as poultry enthusiast.
Again.. you have a production crossbreed... Red Stars. Your supporting the same industry you hate?
IF and a big IF... a disease should ever get the parent flocks in this country and wipe them out our problems would be catastrophic to our country and possibly world for that matter. As if a disease would be that powerfull not only big industries would suffer our backyard flocks would suffer. Just because they are backyard flocks or heritage breeds doesn't make them immune to a disease. Poultry immune systems are very fragile and it doesn't take much to screw them up. Lets all hope that this will never happen as we would all suffer as poultry enthusiast.
Fifth, the dual-purpose breeds you sneer at so earnestly do not need anything like the intensive management your beloved Cornish X do. When my Red Stars (crossbreeds between two different dual-purpose breeds) got here I opened the box, checked for pasting-up, and put them in front of a feeder full of chick feed, and they ate until they were full then stopped. The feeder in the chicken house is full and will stay full tonight. I don't need to worry that they will eat themselves into leg problems or ascites. I can enjoy them both as they scratch around in the yard and as they simmer in a soup pot on the stove once they have been replaced.
I don't think anyone made negative comments about dual purpose other than explaining a personal preferance.
Cornish x Rocks do not need intensive management. You could raise them like normal chickens if you wanted to. It's intesive only if you make it intesive. If you want good feed results and conversion ratios than your going to make it intensive so you get a lot of meat in the time you desired.
I leave my chicken feeders for my cornish rocks full 24/7. They eat with the natural daylight. How is this any different than you feeding your red stars? Many people confuse the eating habbits of a cornish x. They think that they are induldgent pigs.... little do people realize that thes birds are going through all the stages a normal chicken goes through but only 4 times faster.
See you feed a cornish x full feed for 2-3 weeks for 24 hours a day in the brooder. Comparable to that would be a dual purpose who stays in the brooder for the first 8 weeks of their lives with 24/7 lighting and feeding. If you would weigh a broiler at 3 weeks and a dual purpose at 8 weeks their sizes would be about the same. At three weeks old a broiler is ready to be taken out of a brooder set up and moved to a "big chicken" pen, just like an 8 week old dual purpose would have to do.
From 4-8 weeks most broilers are raised to eat only in the natural daylight or a 12 hours on 12 hours off... That's a typical 7:00 am - 7:00 at night. If you wanted to get technical, which you did, you can raise them with feeders full 24/7 if they are outside on natural daylight they just sleep at night. Now to compare that with a dual purpose, they grow and live the same schedule... they eat during the day... and they sleep at night. So technically even the dual purpose get restricted feed... does that make them managed intensively?
I also enjoy cornish x scratching around my pastures and at the same time I do enjoy a fryer that is grilled. Soup sucks in the summer time, nothing is better than a fryer on the grill. That's hard to do with a heritage at 16 weeks. Makes one tough meal.
I don't think anyone made negative comments about dual purpose other than explaining a personal preferance.
Cornish x Rocks do not need intensive management. You could raise them like normal chickens if you wanted to. It's intesive only if you make it intesive. If you want good feed results and conversion ratios than your going to make it intensive so you get a lot of meat in the time you desired.
I leave my chicken feeders for my cornish rocks full 24/7. They eat with the natural daylight. How is this any different than you feeding your red stars? Many people confuse the eating habbits of a cornish x. They think that they are induldgent pigs.... little do people realize that thes birds are going through all the stages a normal chicken goes through but only 4 times faster.
See you feed a cornish x full feed for 2-3 weeks for 24 hours a day in the brooder. Comparable to that would be a dual purpose who stays in the brooder for the first 8 weeks of their lives with 24/7 lighting and feeding. If you would weigh a broiler at 3 weeks and a dual purpose at 8 weeks their sizes would be about the same. At three weeks old a broiler is ready to be taken out of a brooder set up and moved to a "big chicken" pen, just like an 8 week old dual purpose would have to do.
From 4-8 weeks most broilers are raised to eat only in the natural daylight or a 12 hours on 12 hours off... That's a typical 7:00 am - 7:00 at night. If you wanted to get technical, which you did, you can raise them with feeders full 24/7 if they are outside on natural daylight they just sleep at night. Now to compare that with a dual purpose, they grow and live the same schedule... they eat during the day... and they sleep at night. So technically even the dual purpose get restricted feed... does that make them managed intensively?
I also enjoy cornish x scratching around my pastures and at the same time I do enjoy a fryer that is grilled. Soup sucks in the summer time, nothing is better than a fryer on the grill. That's hard to do with a heritage at 16 weeks. Makes one tough meal.
Sixth, older birds make much better soup than young ones do both because they do have a fuller richer flavor and because their meat has some tooth after it has simmered for two or three days. It is not a big deal if the bird takes twice as long to grow to half the size if it has ten times the flavor.
You probably should have stuck with just this statement in your post instead of turning it into a personal debate. I couldn't agree with you more. A cornish x rock doesn't have a leg to stand on in this category, along with a whole array of other dishes. Heritage breeds are prized among great chefs throughout the world.
I think as you may now realize that both birds have their place on the farms and in the kitchens. So if you post about cornish x's in a negative way be prepared to take the negatives of the heritage breeds. Neither breed is perfect, cornish x have taken over the profit part of the industry... heritage flourish with quality and flavor. But don't think for one second that a humanely raised cornish x that spends 4-6 weeks of it's life on pasture is low on quality or flavor. Sustainability is key in both of these birds but for one to do it and make money... or save money for their families one must make a choice and very rarely do heritage breeds step up to the plate to take that burden. Sometimes you have to meet in the middle, raising cornish x breeds (even though you don't hatch out the chicks) is still more sustainable than buyin them from the store. Nothing bad on heritage as it's very important to cherish these breeds so they don't disapear by the wayside. They just have a different role in todays industry.
You probably should have stuck with just this statement in your post instead of turning it into a personal debate. I couldn't agree with you more. A cornish x rock doesn't have a leg to stand on in this category, along with a whole array of other dishes. Heritage breeds are prized among great chefs throughout the world.
I think as you may now realize that both birds have their place on the farms and in the kitchens. So if you post about cornish x's in a negative way be prepared to take the negatives of the heritage breeds. Neither breed is perfect, cornish x have taken over the profit part of the industry... heritage flourish with quality and flavor. But don't think for one second that a humanely raised cornish x that spends 4-6 weeks of it's life on pasture is low on quality or flavor. Sustainability is key in both of these birds but for one to do it and make money... or save money for their families one must make a choice and very rarely do heritage breeds step up to the plate to take that burden. Sometimes you have to meet in the middle, raising cornish x breeds (even though you don't hatch out the chicks) is still more sustainable than buyin them from the store. Nothing bad on heritage as it's very important to cherish these breeds so they don't disapear by the wayside. They just have a different role in todays industry.
