Queston about Cornish X

[iajewel]

From past experiance I know that the Cornish X is a termanl breed. I would like to do some crossing with them and my barred rocks.. however.. how do you keep the darn things alive long enough to breed? And would you want to hold back a rooster to breed the Barred Rock hens? or the Hens to be bred by the Barred rock roo?

Out of curiosity I did hold back a hen a while back and she did live to lay a few eggs.. then died.. as they will if you don't butcher them like you are supposed to..

anyone know a solution?

 

[greyfields]

Most people keep the broiler hens, then use a their own rooster. The hens tend to stay smaller and may live longer than the roos. I have a friend on the island here who gets them to point-of-lay, but he also doesn't feed his chickens. Even if they live to the point of lay, the Cornish X are typically dead by 1 year old.

I have some Freedom Rangers on my place which are 2 years old now. The colored range broilers just seem to do better and act more like chickens ought.

 

[iajewel]

I don't feed mine.. and yes.. point of lay is just about it and they are gone.. Never have my free range birds ever lived a year.. so I guess a few eggs is it and you start with almost nothing and work from that?

I have heard of the freedom rangers. However never tried them and not sure where to order them. Any ideas?.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

You should go and get a nice set of White Plymouth Rock hens and a big ol' roo.

I have recently done this and am waiting for the two roos to come up. They get pretty darn big. The corninsh X are usually crossed with these birds and a few other. I have a full blooded New Jersey Giant roo and plan on crossing him with the WPR hens.

I also have a few huge cochin hens and the ol' roo. I plan on crossing a few of these witht the WPRs.

I do not think that you will have enough of a life with your cornish crosses to get alot done and they require a lot of attention toward the end.

Meat birds are crossed for a specific purpose and they really need to be culled no later than 12 weeks or they start to get physical problems.

 

[iajewel]

I have barred rocks already. I personally don't care for white birds. there are to many pretty birds out there to be feeding ones I personally find very unattractive. Jersey take forever to grow up.. Thus the Cornish X.. they mature quickly and have more breast then do my rocks. The alternative is Caponizing.. I do this, and dont mind doing it. However the lazy way out, is to breed birds that have the same gain as a Capon.. with out spending a day catching and caponizing cockrals.

 

[greyfields]

http://www.jmhatchery.com/free-range-broiler/colored-range-chicks/prod_5.html

These will significantly outperform capons.

 

[iajewel]

Have you given these birds a go Greyfields? They do look worth trying and I like the color choice. I know in meat birds that shouldn't matter.. but hey.. why not feed something you like to look at.

Thanks again.. I will put these on my spring "to try" list.
I would like to hear your experiance and what colors you have tried. How long you have raised them etc..

 

[greyfields]

When they were called Freedom Rangers, I raised the greys, bronze, golden and black.

They're now called Colored Range Broilers. They are identical birds from Hubbard breeders in France. JM also owns the Freedom Ranger breeding flocks, too. I've had all the colors from JM as well.

I guess I've been doing them since summer of 2006. I still have two black hens alive from my first batch. I always grant clemency to a hen or two.

We should start another thread. Only a couple people here didn't have theirs do well, or better than Cornish X's under the identical conditions.

 

[iajewel]

I don't understand what you mean by start a new thread?

Anyway.. Is the fact you only have 2 alive becuse you butchered the rest? Or are they also termanal birds, they simply do better while going through the growth faze?

 

[greyfields]

They are the two alive because the others were eaten. My point is you won't find many Cornish X's alive at 2 years old.