Processing Cornish x Rocks, when?

[THunter]

At what age do y'all process your cornish x birds. I've heard anywhere from 8 to 11 weeks. Eight weeks sure seems like they'd be small??

 

[jenjscott]

The commercial farms process at 6 weeks. 8 weeks is about right, don`t go over twelve.

 

[embkm]

We will be processing ours at 11 weeks, only because I want to wait until my "quesy- city- girl" Mother goes back home. Otherwise, I'll never get her to eat at my house when she comes on vacation again. She already asks everytime I make chicken "Is this store chicken, or your chicken?".

 

[THunter]

Colbert, GA, huh? That's near my farm in Paoli. Know where that is?

Your mom is one of those "won't eat it unless it comes under plastic wrap" chicken eaters? You should hear the story about my buddy's wife.

 

[Kali]

We did our first 2 at eight weeks and they were a bit small. We did 4 more a week later and they were perfect... the last 4 will be huge by this weekend.

 

[jaku]

I can't imagine anyone would find 8 week old Cornish X's small! I do mine at 8 weeks, and the breasts are so thick that it's almost tough to cook them through without burning the outside. You could butcher at six weeks and still get a ridiculous amount of meat.

 

[Kali]

From what I've been reading on here I feed mine a bit differently than most people. After 2 wks I fed them 4x a day. Once they were outside in their run I fed them 3x a day... now nearing the end they only eat twice a day. Mine are surprisingly good foragers.

 

[THunter]

I've never raised these before, and I'm still confused as to whether or not that's what I have. They sure look and eat like 'em, though. My wife got them at the local hardware store where they were labled as white leghorns. I'm quite certain that ain't what they are.

 

[jamieneenah]

Quote:
Can you post photos of the birds?

My 4 week old cornish are close to 4 pounds. How old are yours now? How much do they weigh?

Jamie

 

[THunter]

I can tomorrow. She got them April 16. I have no idea how much they weigh, but they are "thick". Also noticed today when a couple jumped out of the pen at feeding time that they are lightly featherd on the sides of the breasts, the wings, and drumsticks.