Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[christine9]

Makes sense that these meat birds could potentially live long enough to reproduce. Otherwise they would be extinct!


I appreciate varying views so I can make my own decision. Thanks to everyone who has given me more information than I had this morning...NONE!!

The Cornish X meat birds you buy don't reproduce.  Not because they can't but because when they do they do not produce a bird like themselves. They do not breed true. They are the result of a cross of the parent lines.The outstanding performance you get is a result of hybrid vigor. They are an outstanding meat bird if you are willing to cater to their quirks.  If you are not, choose another breed. 

Oohhh.... Trying to absorb all this new info. Thanks!!

 

[cassie]

I would definitely recommend the dual purpose over the Cornish Cross for the reasons mentioned--the Cornish Cross needs to be slaughtered early or they will up and die on you from all kinds of issues. You can process the dual purpose birds later, and sometimes it takes a lot of mental preparation to actually do it.

I just processed three 10-month old Ameraucanas that I had just avoided and avoided dong. I'm the queen of procrastinating. I have only eaten one so far, but used him in a curry and soup. The older cockerels were MUCH harder to process than a younger bird--no reaching in the body cavity and expecting just my hand would release all the internal organs, no, I had to cut ligaments to get them cleaned. They were really hard to deal with, but the same aged Silkie pullet I processed (she fell in the pool and drowned) was just as easy as a younger bird, so maybe the cockerels were just harder to deal with because they were young roosters.

I procrastinated and butchered one Cornish X at about four and a half months. He weighed 16 pounds dressed. However I like the Cornish because they are a short term project. Lots of meat in a short period of time. If I decide to raise Cornish X this year, I will butcher some early for Cornish game hens, some for fryers, and a few later as large roasters.

 

[Tomtommom]

I'll respectfully disagree with this information about the CX. They do not "fall over from heart issues or hips break from stress" if they are not killed in X amount of time. That's a common misconception of raising these meat birds and it couldn't be more wrong if the chickens are raised humanely to begin with. If one keeps them in a small area and feeds them continuous, high protein feeds and lets them gorge until they are tiny butterballs, yes, they can develop some issues...as would just about any creature with an increased hunger and quick metabolism that is genetically designed to put on muscle tissue very quickly and fed like a pig until they cannot walk.

Treat them like a regular chicken with regular feeds and let them free range and grow at a normal pace, they live healthy lives and some live as long as a DP bird(2-3 yrs), lay eggs, breed and live out their happy little lives as humanely as any other breed. One just has to know what they have and adjust their feeding schedule and amounts accordingly, encourage early foraging and exercise and raise them with common sense. Now, if one has no common sense, then this is not the chicken for you.

I can provide video proof of their vigor, health and normal, happy and humanely lived lives if anyone cares to see them and so can Aoxa...she has a whole thread devoted to free ranging these wonderful meat birds...and is currently hatching eggs from one of the hens she held over and didn't butcher.

I stand corrected! My apologies.

Frankly, I have not raised them myself, just read a lot about them and the images I've seen were slightly gruesome. Indeed they must've been raised to be 'butterballs'. I like to warn folks about the possible difficulties with certain breeds (sharing the information I find during my own research), when they are getting into a new adventure, much like myself. It's good to have folks like yourself to steer us in the right direction. I honestly had not heard that they can be raised to live healthy lives.

I was going to get some this year, to try them out, but ended up getting straight run plymouth rocks, so decided I would have some roosters to deal with. I may still change my mind and get some, TSC carries them all the time. Considering your information, I may be more likely to get some.

 

[christine9]

I'm going to try hatching eggs and process Roos. I think it's the best of both worlds for a first time process. Might try Cornish next. Like you said, TSC has them so they'll be easy to find.

 

[Beekissed]

I stand corrected! My apologies.

Frankly, I have not raised them myself, just read a lot about them and the images I've seen were slightly gruesome. Indeed they must've been raised to be 'butterballs'. I like to warn folks about the possible difficulties with certain breeds (sharing the information I find during my own research), when they are getting into a new adventure, much like myself. It's good to have folks like yourself to steer us in the right direction. I honestly had not heard that they can be raised to live healthy lives.

I was going to get some this year, to try them out, but ended up getting straight run plymouth rocks, so decided I would have some roosters to deal with. I may still change my mind and get some, TSC carries them all the time. Considering your information, I may be more likely to get some.

No need to apologize!

It was those very stories and images that led me to do my own research~of a personal, hands on kind~into the CX capabilities. I'm a "show me" kind of person, so I needed to know if the stories were true. They aren't. The problem is that most people are following the hatchery guidelines about raising these birds when those guidelines were based on commercial poultry methods...and we all know how successful those are.

Then they tell all and sundry how disappointed they are about the CX and how quickly they die, etc. when they need only read about how many die in the broiler houses to find out why...and they went ahead and copied those methods.

My question for these backyard growers was why in the world would you get these birds, feed them exactly how the broiler houses do, confine them like the broiler houses do and then expect a different end product? Didn't make sense. So I set out to see how these birds did living within a regular layer flock and they were different, but very similar and they were extremely hardy, healthy and even fun to grow. Here's the thread about that first meaty experiment of mine:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...have-a-rooster-raising-50-cx-chicks-new-batch

 

[Tomtommom]

No need to apologize!

It was those very stories and images that led me to do my own research~of a personal, hands on kind~into the CX capabilities. I'm a "show me" kind of person, so I needed to know if the stories were true. They aren't. The problem is that most people are following the hatchery guidelines about raising these birds when those guidelines were based on commercial poultry methods...and we all know how successful those are.

Then they tell all and sundry how disappointed they are about the CX and how quickly they die, etc. when they need only read about how many die in the broiler houses to find out why...and they went ahead and copied those methods.

My question for these backyard growers was why in the world would you get these birds, feed them exactly how the broiler houses do, confine them like the broiler houses do and then expect a different end product? Didn't make sense. So I set out to see how these birds did living within a regular layer flock and they were different, but very similar and they were extremely hardy, healthy and even fun to grow. Here's the thread about that first meaty experiment of mine:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...have-a-rooster-raising-50-cx-chicks-new-batch

You're like my new favorite person....

*saunters over to read*

You answer all the things my brain has been playing with.

 

[chicken junky]

So I just read the experiment with cx and found it fascinating, I have wanted to raise some but the horror stories having made me rethink. While I would be glad that I would finally have to woman up and butcher some birds I couldn't bring myself to raise something that way, thank you. Since they love the cool weather I believe I'm going to get some for fall and free range them.

 

[Beekissed]

So I just read the experiment with cx and found it fascinating, I have wanted to raise some but the horror stories having made me rethink. While I would be glad that I would finally have to woman up and butcher some birds I couldn't bring myself to raise something that way, thank you. Since they love the cool weather I believe I'm going to get some for fall and free range them.

You wanna see how well these guys forage? These are a few vids of my last batch... BYC member Aoxa also has some threads and even an article on here about her free ranged CX. Lots of good pics and documentation on her bunch.

 

[Elke Beck]

I did a few Cornish X last year, and I was not impressed. Sure, you get a lot of meat fast, but it was bland and soft to me. I like more flavor and texture to my meat. I am raising my meat birds only for myself, and I can afford to spend a little more on feed, so I am sticking with dual purpose and Red Rangers. The Red Rangers grow almost as fast as the CX's, but have a bit more "normal" body shape. I like dark meat better than light anyway, so having more leg than breast is not a downside for me.

Right now I have about 10 Red Rangers, 8 Buff Orpington cockerels, 5 New Hampshire cockerels, and one Murray McMurray "mystery rare breed chick" (which mysteriously appears to be a "rare" Easter Egger cockerel) growing out. I am looking forward to spreading the butchering out over several months instead of having 24 birds all hitting optimal weight within a couple of weeks. I expect to start with the largest around mid-April. I only have two left in the freezer from last year, so I may cheat and do some a little earlier. A woman should not have to wait for fried chicken, darn it!

 

[Tomtommom]

I did a few Cornish X last year, and I was not impressed. Sure, you get a lot of meat fast, but it was bland and soft to me. I like more flavor and texture to my meat. I am raising my meat birds only for myself, and I can afford to spend a little more on feed, so I am sticking with dual purpose and Red Rangers. The Red Rangers grow almost as fast as the CX's, but have a bit more "normal" body shape. I like dark meat better than light anyway, so having more leg than breast is not a downside for me.

Right now I have about 10 Red Rangers, 8 Buff Orpington cockerels, 5 New Hampshire cockerels, and one Murray McMurray "mystery rare breed chick" (which mysteriously appears to be a "rare" Easter Egger cockerel) growing out. I am looking forward to spreading the butchering out over several months instead of having 24 birds all hitting optimal weight within a couple of weeks. I expect to start with the largest around mid-April. I only have two left in the freezer from last year, so I may cheat and do some a little earlier. A woman should not have to wait for fried chicken, darn it!

It really is a matter of trying to see what you like. It's amazing to me the differences between breeds. Had an Autralorp roo and he tasted like beef, his meat was SO dark (and chewy) and he was 12 weeks old. Had an Ameraucana roo and he was DELICIOUS and he was 17 weeks old

Got some baby plymouth rocks right now, expect to have some roosters in there too... will see how they are. I expect them to be much like a cornish X minus huge breast. I enjoy the whole thing, so I don't need a huge breast on my birds.

The other day I was tempted to snatch one of my hens and cook her

She's been recovering from a hawk attack... she's been healed for months, molted, but she's not been the same... They knocked her from the top of the pecking order to the bottom and she's stopped fighting to try and get back up. Now she just hangs off alone, by herself. Not laying yet either. I will give her a little more time, but she was close to the frying pan