My Cornish X experiment

[duluthralphie]

luvmybob:

You could be right, hopefully they will turn into waddlers in a couple weeks. ( boy spell check sure hates the word waddler)..

It is amazing how fast these meat birds can run.....

I hope by the time I butcher I can tell the boys from the girls. I can tell some boys now, but the girls are harder to tell.




I am going to continue this experiment of mine next year. I plan (if I get CX eggs) to hatch a group of Cx's and buy a group on the same day. I want to see how the babies compare in growth health etc. I want to see if I can become more self sufficient and not buy chicks. I would love to be able to raise almost everything I need on my little 13 acres.

 

[duluthralphie]

My little chicks are no longer little!

I am starting to tell some that are rooster Now if I can only tell the hens.

I am thinking of taking 4 of the smallest and saving them for spring.

I know it is counter to what I would like to accomplish, but I think the smaller ones have a better chance to make it to spring.

I would like to keep the bigger, but am afraid of the losses and the possibility the rooster could not breed in the spring. Keeping the bigger is the trait I want, but, sometimes we have to make allowances.


I think I will keep the 4 in a tractor and run over winter, just so I can limit their food. I hope they survive winters are rough here.

 

[duluthralphie]

Well the CX genes are quite strong, even when using a Barred Rock over a CX hen I get results that look very similar in structure to a store bought CX, but of course slower. I think one more generation and I can get it to 12 weeks butchering.


at 16 weeks


at 7 weeks


7 weeks


I moved this to my thread I hope you do not mind Aoxa.

I wanted to comment but know luvmybob does not want this conversation on her thread,


If you got this size chicken from a barred rock cross, I can only wonder what a cross to a rainbow or another CX would produce... Nice job..

 

[duluthralphie]

If anyone wants to comment on what happens when 2 CX's breed and what the offspring is feel free too, However I ask you not call names or become condescending. Try to be gentle.

In the end I will be breeding a hatch of CX's if I can get the chicks through the winter.

 

[LindaB220]

They look just like mine... I am guessing some are close to 4-5 lbs now. But they are not waddling are having trouble walking at all. I am so happy with them. If I want to catch one I have to run! And for a fat old man that is a lot of work..

How old are they? They really pack it on the last 2 weeks or so. You might confine them the last 2 weeks. To tenderize the meat and allow the energy they expend playing to go toward meat. This is what I have observed, not experience you understand.

 

[LindaB220]

All mine were free ranged and I smoked them and they were delicious and tender. Dressed out my roo was 6.8 pounds....

Wowza!!!! Good size. Bet the taste was outstanding. Was it different from store bought on the chewiness?

 

[LindaB220]

My little chicks are no longer little!

I am starting to tell some that are rooster Now if I can only tell the hens.

I am thinking of taking 4 of the smallest and saving them for spring.

I know it is counter to what I would like to accomplish, but I think the smaller ones have a better chance to make it to spring.

I would like to keep the bigger, but am afraid of the losses and the possibility the rooster could not breed in the spring. Keeping the bigger is the trait I want, but, sometimes we have to make allowances.


I think I will keep the 4 in a tractor and run over winter, just so I can limit their food. I hope they survive winters are rough here.

It's definitely worth a shot. Try it. Then report back. Keep your thread going.

edited: I'll be breeding a very, very large White Plymouth Rock cockerel with my CX's that I get and try to get something going on them. I'll let you know how that turned out.

 

[duluthralphie]

It's definitely worth a shot. Try it. Then report back. Keep your thread going.

edited: I'll be breeding a very, very large White Plymouth Rock cockerel with my CX's that I get and try to get something going on them. I'll let you know how that turned out.

That sounds great......Now if I could just get those big butts and legs I want! ( ok thighs not butts)..

 

[duluthralphie]

Linda My chicks were hatched on August First at the hatchery, I got them 2 days later.

They have been raised on lower protein limited feed. I am just now starting to give them unlimited feed, but they have such good eating habits they are not over eating or sitting in their own poop and scarfing down food!

I just saw an amazing sight, all my birds are under cover, lying about like me on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I throw them scraps now an then.

Yesterday I started a batch of Headcheese, I know some of you will vomit at the thought of it, but I like it.

I boiled the heads all day yesterday and picked the meat off last night. I threw the bones fat and stuff I do not use in the finished product to the chicks. They really picked the bones and fat over. I think they ate half the fat and cleaned the skulls! Now they are full and resting, all of them. I doubt there was a lot of protein in what they got, but they sure filled up on fat.

I have my birds in a pen now, they have been there for about 2 weeks, since my fur bearing predator attack and my needing to go to my sons in Iowa for a few days. With the cooling weather I do not think I will free range them again. Their pen is huge for the 23 birds I have left. It is about 100ft by 100ft, with lots of play things and cover. They are very happy , I think.

 

[duluthralphie]

Brutus was just asking me today:

How do people feel entering a "best rooster of the world" contest and knowing they will get their behinds kicked by a 3 month old rooster....


( I did not have the heart to tell Brutus it was just a comb contest).



I had no answer for him. I simply told him it was in the bag.