So I was just wondering, Those poor little Cornish X babies are bred to literally eat themselves to death by dying of a heart attack or suffering leg failure of they're not butchered soon enough in their young lives... So I'm trying to figure out how do any of them reach maturity enough to breed and produce more Cornish Xs? Do meat factories just choose some at random, try to raise them to adulthood, and those who don't die become breeder stock? Or is there a certain technique for keeping them alive and getting two solid legs beneath them?
first thing Cornish X stand for a cross most if not all the time white rock hen and cornish roosters. its only the young that get huge so fast
They are hybrids - they don't breed true. Just like hybrid seeds for plants or the breeding to make mules, they are the end cross of a mixed selection for breeding. The parent generations aren't going to look or act or gain like the cornish X, but will carry their own attributes. When crossed, the resulting chicks carry the correct mix of genes for fast growth, high feed conversion, and the carcass traits required. Breeding is not done from the resulting stock, but from the grandparent/parent stock. The cornish X aren't expected to reproduce. Think if you're breeding mules. You can't breed two mules together to make another mule. You have to breed a horse with a donkey to get your mule. Breeding Cornish X isn't how the breed is propagated, the breeding of two specific lines of chickens (non-Cornish X) gets you the cornish X. Also, they aren't pitiful creatures that need sympathy - they are pretty amusing little buggers. Otherwise I don't think they would be so popular with folks raising them at home. They require attention and care to grow well, but they are worth it. I enjoy raising them as much as I do other livestock.
I think you mijght enjoy watching these videos. They show you how it is done. Notice that they do limit the feed to the parent stock too by only feeding so much at intervals. If they did not, the parent stock would get too big to breed and would have health problems. I think it is also interesting how they feed certain feeds to the roosters and the hens. This whole industry is pretty specialized. Broiler Chicken Videos Booker81 is exactly right. They do not cross Cornish and and White Rock to get the broilers. Many, many generations back, those were part of the parent stock used to create the specialized breeds that now are crossed to make the broilers. But these are no more crosses between Cornish and Rocks than New Hampshire are Rhode Island Reds or Australorps are Orpingtons. The broiler parent stock are a completely different breeds than the Cornish and the Rocks used many, many generations back to create the breeds.
It's my understanding that there's actually 4 lines involved. 2x on the parent roo side and 2x on the hen side...so by breeding the 2x X 2x, you get a 4 way cross that has a lethal or terminal gene.. it actually cancels out any future crosses with the 4x babies. Genetics can be as interesting as confusing and instead of trying to understand why I have my meatie babies growing, I was intending to hold back a few for breeding but because of what I have learned, it's actually a waste of good food to rear them to a breeding age and maybe get a few viable but not consistent eggs that might produce a chick.. Better to end the line and start over every time...
Others have mentioned the genetics and how that works, so I'll add that some people here have successfully raised Cornish X's to adulthood. They have to be very careful with their access to feed, but it's not an inevitability that they will die of heart attacks and such before reaching sexual maturity.
LOL. They can die of any number of things but cause of death was not part of the selection criteria. Management can do a lot to make even a CX a happy, healthy, thriving animal but one can never forget these are built for speed, not longevity.
cornish x cross chickens are not hybrids. Hybrids are a result of a breeding of two different species of animals or birds. mule is a hybrid.. It cannot reproduce. A cornish x cross, on the other hand, can reproduce, since ithey are a cross between two like species {CHICKENS}. If you breed these together,,you will get different results than the parents.I believe that if you raised these fowl in situation where they could run free,and were not stuffed with feed, you will get some individuals that can be used for breeding. perhaps using white rock or a silver dorking ,or a cornish rooster over a cornish x hen. Then use these offspring to make a thre way cross
They definitely are hybrids, from Websters Dictionary Definition of HYBRID 1: an offspring of two animals or plants of different races, breeds, varieties, species, or genera
