?'s about cubas

[fowlsessed]

I have read that many people sometimes cross cubalayas with shamo, asil or malay to achieve larger size and sometimes get different colors. So, I was wondering why I have never heard of the same done with cornish (not the cornish x rock), I think this would be a very good choice to add size, and maybe I can get some whites to start breeding white cubans. Am I right? and would this be a good choice? Or are there strong reasons why I should go with one of the other orientals instead? Also, my brother is going to get some thai gamefowl and I was wondering if I could cross with those and get good results as well? I hope to hear from Doc, Gallorojo, Cubalaya, Cubakid, Cuban longtails, DaveK, and all the other cuban breeders out there so I can compare opinions. thanks

 

[gallorojo]

In theory this is not a bad choice. The cornish ought to have a tail at or slightly below the horizontal, and a nice short beak. The problem is going to be finding a good cornish! Even some breeder birds I've seen have high tails and too long of beaks to be a great choice. ( Maybe these were exhibition type culls..lol) The exhibition type have very short legs, in my experience crossing these with any other breeds results ( for me) in all long legged offspring with the cornish double breast. I have heard some people say you get short legged F1's, but, I have not seen this. The trick will be fixing the tail-good cornish have fairly short tails, which will take a while to fix. Hatchery cornish will have longer tails, but, will have a higher angle, so, still will take some time to fix. This is not a terrible choice in my mind, but, using a Shamo, Thai, or Asil will simply get you back to good Cuba type much faster, as fast as 3 generations in some cases. Using a cornish will just take you probably an additional 1-2 generations to get where you need to be. It's a much better choice than a Phoenix, however!! You can never get rid of white earlobes and blue legs, so stick with white or yellow legs, and red earlobes for an outcross!!

You can use anything to outcross, but, keeping it as similar as possible just reduces your time and money invested. If all you can get is a cornish, well, you have to start somewhere.

 

[wood&feathers]

I'm not the expert the others named are...but my guess is the Cornish body posture is a drawback. Plus those short, thick, yellow legs.

 

[gallorojo]

I've played around a bit with the whole " build your own meatie" game, using exhibtion type Cornish. My f1's all had long legs. White legs is dominant to yellow legs, so is no big deal. Malay, Asil, Shamo, Asil, all have yellow legs and pearl eyes, which the Cubablaya white skin and red eyes dominate.

 

[wood&feathers]

Specifically,Cornish have a very horizontal carriage. The other Asian games that folks prefer when trying to recover cubalaya size all share a very upright stance and long, slender legs. I think you want size while retaining that graceful motion and bearing, not a longtailed tank.

 

[gallorojo]

One more thing-the exhibition type Cornish have serious health issues. The other oriental breeds have a lot less health problems, except maybe Malay. So, this is one factor to consider with using Shamo, Thai, Asil, is overall hardiness, and vigor.

 

[gallorojo]

wood&feathers :

Specifically,Cornish have a very horizontal carriage. The other Asian games that folks prefer when trying to recover cubalaya size all share a very upright stance and long, slender legs. I think you want size while retaining that graceful motion and bearing, not a longtailed tank.

 

[fowlsessed]

What color are cuba legs supposed to be? Pictures would be nice, I have a hard time with leg colors. thanks for the good replys.

 

[gallorojo]

White legs with a pink/red leg stripe for all colors except black/blue which should have slate/dark grey legs. ( Not blue!!) Although no colors are standardized except BB Red, White, Black.

Not my bird, but, nice white legs.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
If you are looking for good Cornish, al6517 on BYC has good ones including white and a couple other colors. If you are looking for Cubalaya information, your best bet is to contact saladin (Doc), also on BYC. Don`t sit around waiting for them to contact you. Just so you know, most breeders, myself included, are against crossbreeding and "creating" stuff. Most of the time the project ends with a discouraged breeder and with a bunch of mutts and the original stock is compromised. In my humble opinion, you should start with the best stock you can find/afford and breed to improve it. Good luck with whatever you end up doing.......Pop