Need to pick a breed

[bigzio]

James, welcome to BYC. I'm familiar with you from another board and am glad to see you hear. Your wisdom from experience will be enjoyed by everyone here. I know that for sure!

bigzio

 

[JamesC]

bigzio:
Thanks for the welcome. I don't recognize your name so I guess you have gone by a different one in the past???

James

 

[cornishman]

somebody say cornish? yeah that's a good choice for cold weather climates with thier small combs that don't freeze like the big tall straight comb breeds can. another thing i like about cornish{i have dark cornish}is them hens will SIT thier own eggs! they also got MEAT! they also are pretty hardy as far as health is concerned. i've read the males can wiegh ???lbs...i got one named cornwall jackson that i swear wieghs 15 lbs and it ain't fat, it's muscle. he has no problem getting around, he's just a bigg roo! also i would like to mention that these standard size dark cornish eggs hatch very well! i guess i just like them alot. they will dig a hole to china inside a confined pen. the dirt is softer in thier pen than others...they are dirtdobbers. only thing some may not like about the cornish roos is they are very protective of thier hens, they will jack you up like a game roo if you mess with thier ladies! cornish is a really good chioce...they also come in the banny form. cornishman.

 

[cornishman]

jamesc! i see that you got alot of expierence working with cornish...what kinds have you dealt with and what all can you tell me about them? i am going to order a cornishcombo of dark, buff, and white laced red standard size. i was just wondering if they're were any other colors of cornish out there besides these and of course white ones. any info will be appreciated! cornishman{i like 'em!}

 

[JamesC]

cornishman:
Very nice to meet another Cornish enthusiast. I have been raising Large Fowl Darks since 1983 and have been working with one strain since then. In 1985 I was able to pick up a trio of Large Fowl Whites and was going very well with those until 2 years ago, when I kept two cockerels from my last year of hatching with them and both died on me during their first winter - found both of them on their backs about 6 weeks apart - healthy looking up until then. Don't have access to another white so this year I'll have to bite the bullet and breed the white hens onto a dark and see if I can get back to white in a few years.
I also have Bantam Darks which are very high quality. They win their class every time I enter them into a show and last October at our Club Winter show one of the Dark Bantam Hens won Champion Bantam of the Show. Also won Champion English with one of the Large Fowl Dark hens. So, I'm pleased with them - they're coming along.

Just a couple of comments - I guess if you're not into showing it doesn't matter where you buy them, but if you want high quality Cornish, that are supposed to look like Cornish, a hatchery is not the place to go. I know hatcheries have their place in the business but I have never purchased anything but supplies from them, I'd rather find a good breeder and give him my business. A good breeder will tell you everything you need to know about the birds he wants to sell you (just try stopping him) and will always be available to answer questions when you need help. I spent an hour on the phone last night with someone who wants some of my Large Darks bad - so I promised he would get some as soon as I set up my breeding pens and get some hatched out - I'm just starting to get eggs now but none fertile.

My Large Fowl Cornish hens are massive and are good at incubating eggs but I can't trust them to hatch any. Out of a setting of 12 eggs I might get 3 that survive the pipping stage. Most get crushed by the hen's weight as soon as they pip their shells. So, my fix for that is to hatch most of my eggs in incubators, but not all. If I let a hen set, I record the date and on day 18 or 19 I move them into a hatcher and give them back to the broody after they've dried off for her to raise. They're great mothers. The other thing, at least with my strain, is that I've never had a vicious male. They're very large 10-12 lbs at maturity and thick boned but not over aggressive - it might be just my strain, but I'm glad for it. Thankfully I have people waiting in line for my culls to butcher or I would have to hatch a lot fewer of them and that would severely slow down my progress in breeding. They look like small turkeys when they're dressed out.

In addition to the above, I've raised White Laced Red in Large and Bantam as well as White Bantams. Darks are my favourite but I would like to try Jubilees. So that's it for approved varieties of Large Cornish: Dark, Buff, White and White Laced Red - Jubilees are around but not admitted into the Standard of Perfection yet- at least not in the copy I have.
In Bantams approved varieties, as well as those listed for large are: Black, Blue, Blue Laced Red, Columbian, Jubilee, Mottled, Silver Laced and Spangled.

I could go on - but I'll stop now. If you have any questions, let me know.

James

 

[cornishman]

man! James! i appreciate the info you shared with me and the rest here that are interested in the cornish breeds! one question i have is what color is the jubilie? you gave me some good advice that i will take into consideration as i'm looking for my cornish broodstock. me and my brother have attended some bantam shows in boaz al and i did meet a breeder that showed bantam cornish but to me they looked just a little rough. i don't think he won alot with them but he was the only one that had any there that day. i am interested in the large cornish only and wish they came in blue also. my darks are very shiney and well put together and i'm pleased with them. i bought them from an individual not a hatchery but i was thinking about buying some from ideal hatchery. maybe i will get together with the man we got some old english bantams from and see if he knows anyone that shows big cornish. once again i sure appreciate your help and advice! fellow cornish enthusist...cornishman.

 

[JamesC]

cornishman:
A Jubilee is basically the opposite of Dark. In both varieties the females are double laced with deep mahogany red, but in all areas where the Dark is black, the Jubilee is white. With the males, where the Dark is basically black with the triangle of bay on the outer secondaries when the wing is folded and the outside of the primaries are edged in bay, the Jubilee is white, with bay in the same places as the dark. I have only seen pictures but I would love to get my hands on some. In North America the White Laced Red are the popular white and red coloured Cornish but they are single laced. A good double laced bird is a sight. I know what you're talking about when you describe the shine on the feathers. A good Cornish, especially the Darks will look like their feathers are embossed. To me there is nothing nicer in the show room than a properly conditioned Cornish.
Blue might be available, in my last reply I listed the varieties that are accepted in the APA and ABA standards. The April 2006 Cornish Club quarterly lists two members who accumulated points with wins on Large Fowl Blue Cornish and apparently there are Large Blacks winning at shows in the U.S. as well.

I'm a member of the International Cornish Breeders Association. If you want to join, or just want information on breeders in your area you should contact the club Secretary, Billy Ray Grimes in Leonard, Texas. He's a pleasure to speak with and is very helpful to anyone who is interested in promoting Cornish. His address is ICBA, P.O. Box 373, Leondard, TX 75452 (903) 587-2950. I've been trying to get into the ICBA website but for some reason it's down, don't know for how long.

Let me know if I can help in any way. The address of one of the LF Blue breeders is in my file but I don't want to post it on the web. If you want it, send me a PM and I'll send it to you, they're in Illinois. The other breeder is not on the list I have so maybe Billy Grimes can help you with that.

Good luck,
James

 

[keljonma]

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[cornishman]

JamesC: once again thanks for your knowledge...much appreciated! man i bet them jubs are a sight to behold! they sure are pretty i bet. i would also like to get my hands on some of them and also the blues. i separated my original pair of darks from some of his daughters {full grown and laying} but they are 1/2 buff orpington so i sold some of them to get the money to possibily purchace some white lace red chicks. people are surprized when they hold one of them big meaty chickens. with all of them together they get mixed so i set up a brood pen for my original pair and they sure are looking nice. my hen has really small white dots on the top of her head...is this normal? i have raised other pure ones that didn't. i have no problem selling all the extra cornish or crossed offspring that i raise. that rooster is solid as a rock...well more solid as any rocks..ha! ha! cornishman.

 

[JamesC]

cornishman:
You're welcome, anytime I can help, I'm glad to. Those small white feathers on the head sometimes crop up. As with anything else it's something you have to breed out. If you get a daughter from this year's breeding, one that has good type and none, or fewer, of those white feathers be sure to put that pullet back to her father next year. I have a few hens like that but I don't consider it a huge problem if the hen or pullet has great type, that comes first, colour second. Remember if you don't have type, you don't have Cornish.
If I can find a good picture of a Jubilee I'll post it. So far those in the books I have are black and white. I'll keep looking.

James