Meaties...where do they come from?

[chicks4kids]

Where do meaties come from? I know, from a hatchery, I know, I know. But where do they get them from? How do they get hatchlings? If we can't keep a few meaties to breed, because they don't breed true, then how do "they" do it? We all know that each bird is not grown from a test tube....Has anyone kept a male and female meatie ie. cornish x and tried to hatch out from them? And if so, were you successful?? Everyone always says that they don't breed true but they come from somewhere....any ideas?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

They're a mix of 2 breeds...the Cornish and a White Rock I think.

 

[danielbrown]

They come from two separate lines of parent stock.
The males from one line are bred with the females from the other line to produce the CornishX.

The breeders of the parent stock sell the eggs to the hatchery who hatches them and sells the chicks.
The breeders only sell the crosses from the parent stock lines.

 

[Buster52]

There are four grandparent lines, two of each breed, that have special qualities to create parent stock, which in turn when bred bring you the Cornish X. We call one line Cornish and the other White Rock, but to tell the truth they could probably characterized as their own breeds, as they don't much resemble the standard of either breed.

Anyway, you breed those two and the special traits of both are accented by hybrid vigor.

There are people here who are trying to raise and breed them, and I have a friend who is going to be picking up some parent stock with the intent of creating a new line of sustainable bird that breeds true. I think he will have more luck than the first folks, because of all the attendant problems of the CX. Plus, the offspring of the CX will carry traits of the grandparent lines rather than the parent, which means it will take a while to work it so the genetics are right.

 

[SteveH]

Basicly they are the poultry version of hybred corn and other breeds are like the old open pollenated varieties [ where they just picked the best ears back for next year's seed ] . The parent stock of both are developed and owned by corporations in this day and age .