Red Laced Cornish X and project talk (pics p. 8)

[al6517]

I was watching chicks hatch this morning, and suddenly realized I already have DCs hatched out.
Since I've hatched several breeds and mixed breeds in the past few years, and still am, I had kind of forgotten what each chick looks like when first hatched. [Getting old I guess

] I looked up DC chicks on Feathersite, and sure not getting anything looking like the chicks labeled as DC there or at McMurry. As I watched a white head emerge from an egg marked DC, I suddenly remembered that true Dark Cornish are E^Wh/E^Wh, not e^b/e^b like Barnevelders and Wyandottes. Their heads and most of their bodies are supposed to have yellowish white down at hatch, and first feathers have white on the ends also.

In other words, Dark Cornish are supposed to be based on wheaten, while the other two are based on partridge.

The number one rule in any hatching is know your chicks and seperate the eggs in the hatcher if you don't. Don't fret about the white feather tips as this is normal and will stop as the feather grows, any tinge of white left will surely be gone at their first molt, unless they are anything less than pure and from decent stock. I would never use any chick coloring from a hatchery catalog as even a remote source of Identification, it's just not reliable given their reputation for breeding the highest quality of all fowl

 

[al6517]

Sorry pic's posted the old way aren't working with this new BYC and I don't have the time to jack with it right now, but was wanting to show you the color pattern of the 3 colors as chicks. and give you an idea of what Cornish should look like.

 

[Cedarknob]

Quote: I mark all of my eggs as to the pen they came from, and was planning on continuous incubating in a cabinet and hatching in two separate Hovabators with separation cages inside of them as necessary. My CX were more productive than expected, every pen started laying, I filled the cabinet with about six varieties and crosses, had to put one Hova to use as an incubator, and the other is too full at every hatch to separate the eggs into cages. I thought everything but one blue egg that is cross bred should be easy to identify, as it could hatch black or several possible patterns, possibly either muffed or not muffed. What really threw a wrench in the works was a black chick hatching from my WC pen, plus me forgetting that DCs are E^Wh and what they look like as chicks until I actually saw one popping out of a marked egg. Of course in time I will know what I want to keep, regardless of what they look like now. I'll have to get a picture of a day old Ameraucana X CX next to a pure Cornish.

 

[Totalcolour]

Of course in time I will know what I want to keep, regardless of what they look like now. I'll have to get a picture of a day old Ameraucana X CX next to a pure Cornish.

I have some crosses that are beginning to look good. They have the nice thick legs of the Cornish, but they also have that thinly feathered area in the breast area that I was hoping the Marans/Am roo would breed out. But they are only 7-8? weeks old, so they have a lot of growing to do.They are growing well so far.

Better get outside with the camera tomorrow!

 

[Cedarknob]

Day old chicks side by side, a pure Cornish next to a big, Ameraucana X CX.




Truer colors



At least the Cornish chick already shows the heart shaped body.

 

[Cedarknob]

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the chicks coming from my White Cornish pen because the chick's colors are a bit surprising, though experience with other breeds of recessive white chickens prepared me to expect the unexpected. LOL

I have my WC cockerel over three WC pullets, three Dark Cornish pullets, and a couple of Easter Egg hens. [I have not tried hatching the EE's eggs because the incubator has been too full.] I know that all of the chicks are sired by my WC but no way of knowing which pullet laid which egg. I'm am getting the usual mix of white, yellowish white, and smokey white I've seen in other breeds that are recessive white, but also a couple of black chicks and a bunch that are white with a lot of black spots, but none that look like DC chicks. I think maybe my WC male is descended from someone mixing White Cornish with White Laced Red or Jubilee Cornish, and that he carries one copy of dominate white. I can understand why someone might think those two varieties might work well together, but introducing dominate white into a recessive white variety is not really a good idea in my opinion. Never-the-less, he was the only WC male I could find to buy, and a pretty good looking one at that, so will just have to work with what I have. I'm going to try to hatch a chick or two from my two Easter Egg hens. One is split for recessive white and the other isn't, and their eggs are very easy to tell apart. If I get a mostly white colored chick from the hen that lays the large green egg, I'll know my WC male carries dominate white.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

i would be really neat if your black chicks would stay that color as adults... i know that big medicine has blue's so he should get blacks sooner or later... yours would be pure cornish so would be another blood line to mix in with his... i would love to see a flock of good LF black cornish...

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the chicks coming from my White Cornish pen because the chick's colors are a bit surprising, though experience with other breeds of recessive white chickens prepared me to expect the unexpected. LOL

I have my WC cockerel over three WC pullets, three Dark Cornish pullets, and a couple of Easter Egg hens. [I have not tried hatching the EE's eggs because the incubator has been too full.] I know that all of the chicks are sired by my WC but no way of knowing which pullet laid which egg. I'm am getting the usual mix of white, yellowish white, and smokey white I've seen in other breeds that are recessive white, but also a couple of black chicks and a bunch that are white with a lot of black spots, but none that look like DC chicks. I think maybe my WC male is descended from someone mixing White Cornish with White Laced Red or Jubilee Cornish, and that he carries one copy of dominate white. I can understand why someone might think those two varieties might work well together, but introducing dominate white into a recessive white variety is not really a good idea in my opinion. Never-the-less, he was the only WC male I could find to buy, and a pretty good looking one at that, so will just have to work with what I have. I'm going to try to hatch a chick or two from my two Easter Egg hens. One is split for recessive white and the other isn't, and their eggs are very easy to tell apart. If I get a mostly white colored chick from the hen that lays the large green egg, I'll know my WC male carries dominate white.

 

[al6517]

Everybody can go around and around and get all caught up in genetics and reccesive this and Dominant that and so on and so on, but if you don't know much about your birds, where they come from for sure, and without a doubt their lineage, you won't ever be sure, hence all the issues with color and what folks think they should be getting as opposed to what pop's out of the egg. If you have bred your own stock over a few generations then you can dang skippy be sure, unless your crossing or not paying attention. I have seen this topic of color and genetics get turned upside down and folks get so caught up in the formulations of what's supposed to be what, that if they actually did hatch something they couldn't recognize it if it dropped on their head. select pairs/trios........ breed..... hatch...... look ..... learn...... and pay attention......... that's what makes good breeding birds......... not obsessing of formula's if your not sure what the blood carries in the first place.

Just trying to add some grounded insight instead of speckulation.

 

[Cedarknob]

Everybody can go around and around and get all caught up in genetics and reccesive this and Dominant that and so on and so on, but if you don't know much about your birds, where they come from for sure, and without a doubt their lineage, you won't ever be sure, hence all the issues with color and what folks think they should be getting as opposed to what pop's out of the egg. If you have bred your own stock over a few generations then you can dang skippy be sure, unless your crossing or not paying attention. I have seen this topic of color and genetics get turned upside down and folks get so caught up in the formulations of what's supposed to be what, that if they actually did hatch something they couldn't recognize it if it dropped on their head. select pairs/trios........ breed..... hatch...... look ..... learn...... and pay attention......... that's what makes good breeding birds......... not obsessing of formula's if your not sure what the blood carries in the first place.

Just trying to add some grounded insight instead of speckulation.

If memory serves, you had the good fortune to find your first quality White Cornish in 2009, and have since picked up some birds in local auctions in your vicinity. So you certainly have more experience with Whites than I do, and I have no chicken auctions in this area to pick up additions to my flock either.

 

[al6517]

No Not any good Cornish at our local actions, but I have gotten some good ones at some national show's from some good breeders. Whites and good ones are just so tough to get a hold of, it can be very frustrating sometime, and even more so when we hatch a ton of chicks and only a few are worth taking the time to grow out. I have raised several different breeds over the years and the LF Cornish have proven to be the toughest test of my pateints. Still hanging in there though.