Murray McMurray Cornish Roasters- should I withhold feed?

[Fuzzbot]

Hello! I'm very new to raising meat birds so I decided to try out Murray McMurray's cornish roasters as opposed to cornish x as they grew a little slower and the description said they didn't get the leg problems of cornish x.

Right now my little meaties are about 10 days old, eating like pigs and growing like crazy. I know with cornish x many people withhold feed for part of the day or night (ie 12 hours with feed, 12 hours without) to prevent them from eating too much and putting on weight faster than their bones can manage.
Should I be doing this for the cornish roasters as well?? They seem to be growing insanely fast but since this is my first experience with raising meaties, I have no idea if it's at a normal, healthy pace or if I just have a pack of mutant gluttons..maybe it's both

 

[bethandjoeync]

I don't know an answer for you, but I will bump you up the list so someone else will see it

 

[Kezzie]

You may also want to call McMurray and ask for their recommendation...

 

[Fuzzbot]

Yeah, I'm planning on doing that but I just wanted to see if anyone had any personal experience with Cornish Roasters...

 

[cfabe]

I just finished raising a couple of these. You should be witholding feed 12 hours per day. I fed mine free choice along with the rest of the chicks the first 4 weeks and they got HUGE. I contacted McMurray and they suggested that they should be fed 12 on 12 off like a Cornish X. As a result of my feeding one of them developed leg problems as it reached butchering size.

 

[ChickBond 007]

I have MM cornish rocks and cornish Xs now. They are 6 weeks old. I do 12 on and 12 off. Actually it's more like, give them 2 gallons of feed at 5:30 am and pick up the nearly empty feeder at 7:30pm or so when I coop them.

 

[Fuzzbot]

Thanks! I just can't believe how fast they're growing! We have 4 egg layer chicks in with them and the Cornish are about twice as large as them already.
Maybe I should separate them if I need to restrict food for the meaties. So far it's been a fairly peaceable kingdom in the brooder but I don't want my little eggers set back by restricting the food....
They're all really tame but since they already look like tiny Sunday roasts to me, it helps me from getting too attached!

 

[jaku]

Yes, do 12 on, 12 off. Does anyone know for sure that the Cornish Roasters are even ACTUALLY different than the Cornish X's?? McMurray does some "clever" marketing to try to sell some things- such as the "cornish game hens," which are the the exact birds as the Cornish X's. They also sell the males that no one wants as frying pan specials, if I recall.

 

[chicklips]

To tell you the truth I believe that the cornish roasters are the same as cornish X, just a different name is used to make them sound more appealing. As for the layers and meat birds being together, you should seperate them around two-three weeks.

 

[Fuzzbot]

Thanks! I'll plan on separating them pretty soon then! It's like football players vs ballerinas right now. Luckily the ballerinas can move a lot faster! That really bugs me if they're the same, as I got them especially for something a little more beginner friendly and slower growing. I know the cornish x aren't too bad but I don't like having to stress over how much they're eating etc. I guess I'll just get used to it!
Thanks for all the great advice!!!