Oregon

[Totalcolour]

There are a lot of interesting alternatives to the Cornish Cross available ... (but it bears repeating that raising the few Cornish Cross that I raised was just about the easiest chicken experience I've had, and the results were HUGE and DELICIOUS!)

Did you raise them to adulthood for breeders, or just as meaties? We raised 45 last spring up to age 6 weeks then slaughtered. They were tender and meaty, but I prefer a fuller flavoured bird. Something at 16-24 weeks, while not as tender, has more flavour. The meaties (CornishX) didn't free range, so I'm sure that's part of the reason they weren't as tasty. Of course, dressed up with sauce, they were fine.

 

[Totalcolour]

Have you looked into the Sagitta? I don't know if it's considered a true breed yet; it's a hybrid that is supposed to breed true and is feather sexable - - RIR/NH/Cx. They are red with black and/or white highlights. My pullet is red with black in her tail like a RIR, but rounder, fuller body, and definitely is going to be a good sized hen. They were specifically created to be dual purpose - the high egg laying of the two red breeds with faster growth and larger size due to the Cornish cross influence (they don't grow fast like a Cx, but a bit faster than dual purpose breeds). I don't know where you can get them from source, mine came from a feed store where there were only pullets.

She tried to go broody when the eggs piled up in the nest while I was gone for a week, but after three days of me taking her our of the nest a couple times a day, she gave up. So they can go broody, at least if there are enough eggs to make a clutch, but are easy enough to break the broodiness if you want to. Mine is very food motivated, one of the tamer girls I have; she will eat out of my hand.

I realize some breed folks will probably turn their noses at a hybrid, but that's what most breeds really are anyway - hybrids that breed true.

Here's a link to a pdf from the company that created them - it looks like it's geared toward hatcheries that are going to raise chicks to be parentstock to lay and/or hatch eggs.

PARENT-STOCK - Centurion Poultry, Inc.

www.centurionpoultry.com/default/download_pdf/53‎

I read the pdf and I believe these are commercial birds. They trim the beaks, which I think is cruel. I think these are for big commercial farms that have caged birds. I'm not going to buy them. While I do eat birds I raise, they are all humanely treated. I'm just not into supporting outfits that do the kind of stuff they do.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Did you raise them to adulthood for breeders, or just as meaties? We raised 45 last spring up to age 6 weeks then slaughtered. They were tender and meaty, but I prefer a fuller flavoured bird. Something at 16-24 weeks, while not as tender, has more flavour. The meaties (CornishX) didn't free range, so I'm sure that's part of the reason they weren't as tasty. Of course, dressed up with sauce, they were fine.

We processed them at nearly 8 weeks ... and I think they tasted great compared to "store bought" birds. Ours were offered pasture, but they didn't like to go outside much. If I were to do them again I'd use the field pen method, but I'm most likely not going to do them again. To cook them I just quarter them, rub them all over with butter or olive oil blended with spices (usually curry and fennel and garlic and something smokey) and cook them in the oven for about an hour. They were huge. Juicy, tender, delicious with crispy skin that smells like heaven when it is cooking.

We don't have much to compare it to for "home-grown" poultry. We ate one of the turkeys last year ... BBB ... and that bird was also much more flavorful than store-bought turkey (prepared the same way I prepare store-bought). I cooked another BBB turkey this year, a younger bird, and didn't brine it before cooking -- this one I prepared like I prepare the chicken, except I roasted it whole and put some quartered onions and garlic inside -- that one was extremely delicious and made amazing broth. That was a test to see if the meat would be tough unless it was brined, and I'm happy to say it was not even a little bit tough, not at this age. And a while back we processed and ate one of our culled cockerels -- that bird was scrawny and wasn't properly aged (I was ordered to cook it the same day as processing and the same way I cook store-bought chicken) so it was tougher than necessary but did have very good flavor. We have a farm and the workers here like to buy the bigger cockerels, so I've only gotten the one scrawny one so far. From now on I'm going to be more selfish.

When I lived in France I was very impressed with the variety of the chickens there. They did seem to have more flavor, but certainly cost a lot more than chicken does here and were smaller.

So ... my little bit of experience with home-raised poultry has me wanting more for my kitchen *without* participating in the big-business poultry industry.

 

[PtldChick]

I read the pdf and I believe these are commercial birds. They trim the beaks, which I think is cruel. I think these are for big commercial farms that have caged birds. I'm not going to buy them. While I do eat birds I raise, they are all humanely treated. I'm just not into supporting outfits that do the kind of stuff they do.

The pdf was about growing them as parentstock, not as egg layers or meat birds. Hatcheries are interested in growing parentstock so they can hatch the eggs and sell the chicks. The ability to feather-sex as chicks is also aimed at hatcheries. Even the terminology of "floor space" is more indicative of big chicken barns than cages. I wouldn't be surprised if big hatcheries trim beaks when the birds are kept in close proximity. I learned of this breed/hybrid because they had pullets at a local feed store - from a hatchery. Several hatcheries now are carrying this bird. Commercial egg farms use white leghorn crosses (white) or red sex link crosses (brown) because they produce the most number of eggs, and as smaller birds they use less feed. Commercial meat farms use CornishX because of their growth rate. This is something in-between, a new dual-purpose bird bred specifically for that purpose. I don't know of (m)any big, commercial farms that use dual-purpose birds, they're not cost-efficient compared to egg- and meat-specific birds. I have one and she is not as feed efficient as my white leghorn, and she did not grow with the incredible speed of a CX.

 

[Tammy N]

They said that they would build me a run and coop - their birds free range though.

The coop is Probably for night time and the run would be a good way to keep them safe while they are learning their new home as well as lets say you wanted to go somewhere over night

 

[iwanaplae2]

I got my approved permit for keeping my hens. Finally. From the city of Newberg. But no call or inspection. Just the application back stamped approved and a letter saying they could revoke it at anytime. Pretty anticlimactic. But official!! Yeah!!

Really? No inspection? Weird. Salem made a point of coming out to inspect, measure, blah blah blah...but the lady was nice. And she mentioned that ours was one of the nicest she'd seen in a while. It was nice to hear after working so hard on it.
Congratulations on your permit! How many chickens does Newberg allow you to have?

 

[farmgirlroots]

Really? No inspection? Weird. Salem made a point of coming out to inspect, measure, blah blah blah...but the lady was nice. And she mentioned that ours was one of the nicest she'd seen in a while. It was nice to hear after working so hard on it.
Congratulations on your permit! How many chickens does Newberg allow you to have?

I'm Salem too! I bet it was the same lady who did our inspection. Do you have pictures of your coop? I love seeing what others in Salem have set up!

 

[iwanaplae2]

I'm Salem too! I bet it was the same lady who did our inspection. Do you have pictures of your coop? I love seeing what others in Salem have set up!

Sure! I could post a few
Give me a minute

 

[iwanaplae2]

I could have sworn I had pictures of the finished product, but can't find them at the moment. These were before we got the doors on the nesting box, and clean out end...but you get the idea
The coop is 8' X 4', and the run is 8' X 8' (plus the 2' under the coop.












(The nesting box is blocked off as they are to young yet to use it)





The girls love it!

 

[Karenmyrrh]

Really? No inspection? Weird. Salem made a point of coming out to inspect, measure, blah blah blah...but the lady was nice. And she mentioned that ours was one of the nicest she'd seen in a while. It was nice to hear after working so hard on it.
Congratulations on your permit! How many chickens does Newberg allow you to have?

I was totally expecting a visit. I've heard our animal control officer doesn't know much about chickens so I wasn't expecting much. But I was surprised. I couldn't find a defined rule on the books. I'd only heard I could have 6 and to preferably keep them in the back yard. So I have 6. In a very secure coop in the back yard. Oh well.