Standard Cornish vs. Cornish-X
- Thread starter GoodEnough
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That's my only point as well. I don't care what anyone raises- I see it as a trade off between meat quantity and the ability to reproduce your flock easily. However, the things that are said about the Cornish X's are simply not true- and I just can't let that slide when it's said by people who've never raised them, or just raised them once then gave up. My losses were higher with these birds when I first started raising them- not by much, but anything takes practice. As I've said, it's only because other breeds basically survive on there own to Cornish X's get the reputation of being hard to raise. I've never had a fat or lazy Cornish X. They are incredibly energetic. They are far from teetering on the brink of death at any moment. I do nothing special for my birds, and my losses prior to butchering are around 5% on the high end, which includes both natural deaths and culls. I'd be shocked if anyone raising any other breed does much better- the point not being that they don't occasionally die, rather that you don't have to keep a special diet and a chicken difibrillator handy just to raise them. Again, raise what you want- there certainly are reasons to raise other breeds, but repeating rumors as if they were facts just spreads inaccuracy.
I have not had alot of Cornish X but the ones Katy the Chicken Lady have are a hoot. When I visited the other day, those two girls came RUNNING! Not limping along but running. Those are not fat and lazy.
That's my only point as well. I don't care what anyone raises- I see it as a trade off between meat quantity and the ability to reproduce your flock easily. However, the things that are said about the Cornish X's are simply not true- and I just can't let that slide when it's said by people who've never raised them, or just raised them once then gave up. My losses were higher with these birds when I first started raising them- not by much, but anything takes practice. As I've said, it's only because other breeds basically survive on there own to Cornish X's get the reputation of being hard to raise. I've never had a fat or lazy Cornish X. They are incredibly energetic. They are far from teetering on the brink of death at any moment. I do nothing special for my birds, and my losses prior to butchering are around 5% on the high end, which includes both natural deaths and culls. I'd be shocked if anyone raising any other breed does much better- the point not being that they don't occasionally die, rather that you don't have to keep a special diet and a chicken difibrillator handy just to raise them. Again, raise what you want- there certainly are reasons to raise other breeds, but repeating rumors as if they were facts just spreads inaccuracy.
I have not had alot of Cornish X but the ones Katy the Chicken Lady have are a hoot. When I visited the other day, those two girls came RUNNING! Not limping along but running. Those are not fat and lazy.
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They are supposed to start dying at 8 weeks.... LOL... That's seems the magic number for most people when they fall victims to the blade of a knife or an axe...
They are supposed to start dying at 8 weeks.... LOL... That's seems the magic number for most people when they fall victims to the blade of a knife or an axe...
Quote:
Well said! I agree, there is a place for both. I, like you, prefer heritage/dual purp, for the same reasons.
I may at some time get a few Cornish X and free range them with the others, to see how they do. If they become physically distressed, I'll butcher them. If they do well with the others, I'll let them grow out and see what happens.
I have had them before. The first ones I had were some huge hens I bought from another farmer. That was years ago, when I was new to raising poultry, and I knew nothing about them. They free-ranged with the others, I had many breeds. Eventually, they started dropping dead of CHF. (congestive heart failure) When the last of them started to show the signs, (wheezing, dark purple comb when at rest on her keel, that regained normal red when she stood up and walked around) I knew she'd die soon, so we went ahead and butchered her. She dressed out to around 15 lbs, that's a guess, I didn't have a scale. But she was huge, like a small turkey. The breast meat alone was probably 8 lbs. We filleted that into strips and fried them, they were great. The rest became a lot of chicken and dumplings, having proven to be tough when fried. I don't know how old they were, probably about a year and a half. They did lay huge eggs, I didn't hatch any. The farmer I got them from had also just let them run around with his other breeds, free-range.
Then I raised them a few times as a meat "crop". They were messier than other breeds, voracious, and though they had free access to go out and run around with the others, few did. Mostly they laid around and ate. With the last bunch I raised, I lost 9 in one day, during a particularly fierce heat wave. I had no losses at all among my other chickens. 3 more died the next day. They were around 7 weeks old at the time, and that was a batch of 25. I had ordered 25 white rocks as well, none of them dropped dead. I did lose some of each to predators, those bright white feathers just seem to call them in. By week eight, I had 8 or 9 CX's left to process, and about 20 white rocks. They were from MMH, and the rocks were scrawny, undersized birds. I let a few go longer, I forget how long, maybe 12 weeks or so. They never did really get much meat or size to them. We ate them all, and like them. The CX's were big and meaty, but that was an awfully expensive bunch of chicken dinners.
In my situation, some red broilers may be a better choice, or maybe just keep on with the dualies. I have good outcomes with those. I hardly ever lose one, and usually if I do it's usually to injury of some sort. I don't think I've had more than one dual purp bird get sick and die, that was about a year ago, I have no idea what made her sick. Maybe a toxic plant, or maybe she got snake-bit or something. I have no idea, nobody else was sick at all. Now and them a very old hen will die, I recently lost a hen that was about 8 years old, (or more, I'm not sure!) a BO. She was still laying eggs last summer, and I hatched several of them. I had an old red hen that lived about 8 years, who died on the nest box, laying an egg. She was laying about 5 eggs a week when she died.
Those of you who do well with CX, and like them, wonderful. Go for it. There are some of us who do better with other birds, and prefer them.
There's really no need for this "My bird's better than your bird" "My chicken can whip your chicken" mentality.
We all have different situations, different needs, and when we've been raising chickens for several years, most of us have pretty much figured out what works for us. It would be nice to hear encouragement from the CX folks, now and then, instead of constantly being told we're wasting our time and that we're a bunch of idiots, and that the CX's are the very best birds in the whole wide world. Yes, we already get that you don't understand why we chose to raise heritage/dual.
Jeff, good luck with your project, I think it's worthwhile to try out.
Well said! I agree, there is a place for both. I, like you, prefer heritage/dual purp, for the same reasons.
I may at some time get a few Cornish X and free range them with the others, to see how they do. If they become physically distressed, I'll butcher them. If they do well with the others, I'll let them grow out and see what happens.
I have had them before. The first ones I had were some huge hens I bought from another farmer. That was years ago, when I was new to raising poultry, and I knew nothing about them. They free-ranged with the others, I had many breeds. Eventually, they started dropping dead of CHF. (congestive heart failure) When the last of them started to show the signs, (wheezing, dark purple comb when at rest on her keel, that regained normal red when she stood up and walked around) I knew she'd die soon, so we went ahead and butchered her. She dressed out to around 15 lbs, that's a guess, I didn't have a scale. But she was huge, like a small turkey. The breast meat alone was probably 8 lbs. We filleted that into strips and fried them, they were great. The rest became a lot of chicken and dumplings, having proven to be tough when fried. I don't know how old they were, probably about a year and a half. They did lay huge eggs, I didn't hatch any. The farmer I got them from had also just let them run around with his other breeds, free-range.
Then I raised them a few times as a meat "crop". They were messier than other breeds, voracious, and though they had free access to go out and run around with the others, few did. Mostly they laid around and ate. With the last bunch I raised, I lost 9 in one day, during a particularly fierce heat wave. I had no losses at all among my other chickens. 3 more died the next day. They were around 7 weeks old at the time, and that was a batch of 25. I had ordered 25 white rocks as well, none of them dropped dead. I did lose some of each to predators, those bright white feathers just seem to call them in. By week eight, I had 8 or 9 CX's left to process, and about 20 white rocks. They were from MMH, and the rocks were scrawny, undersized birds. I let a few go longer, I forget how long, maybe 12 weeks or so. They never did really get much meat or size to them. We ate them all, and like them. The CX's were big and meaty, but that was an awfully expensive bunch of chicken dinners.
In my situation, some red broilers may be a better choice, or maybe just keep on with the dualies. I have good outcomes with those. I hardly ever lose one, and usually if I do it's usually to injury of some sort. I don't think I've had more than one dual purp bird get sick and die, that was about a year ago, I have no idea what made her sick. Maybe a toxic plant, or maybe she got snake-bit or something. I have no idea, nobody else was sick at all. Now and them a very old hen will die, I recently lost a hen that was about 8 years old, (or more, I'm not sure!) a BO. She was still laying eggs last summer, and I hatched several of them. I had an old red hen that lived about 8 years, who died on the nest box, laying an egg. She was laying about 5 eggs a week when she died.
Those of you who do well with CX, and like them, wonderful. Go for it. There are some of us who do better with other birds, and prefer them.
There's really no need for this "My bird's better than your bird" "My chicken can whip your chicken" mentality.
We all have different situations, different needs, and when we've been raising chickens for several years, most of us have pretty much figured out what works for us. It would be nice to hear encouragement from the CX folks, now and then, instead of constantly being told we're wasting our time and that we're a bunch of idiots, and that the CX's are the very best birds in the whole wide world. Yes, we already get that you don't understand why we chose to raise heritage/dual.
Jeff, good luck with your project, I think it's worthwhile to try out.
- Jun 15, 2008
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They are supposed to start dying at 8 weeks.... LOL... That's seems the magic number for most people when they fall victims to the blade of a knife or an axe...
Another critical time frame for mortality is when they reach about 4 weeks of age as they succomb to the game hen syndrome. Mine seem to dress out at 1 1/2 -2 pound size range.
They are supposed to start dying at 8 weeks.... LOL... That's seems the magic number for most people when they fall victims to the blade of a knife or an axe...
Another critical time frame for mortality is when they reach about 4 weeks of age as they succomb to the game hen syndrome. Mine seem to dress out at 1 1/2 -2 pound size range.
Quote:
And that.... is a perfect reason why not to raise them... they don't fit your lifestyle.
And that.... is a perfect reason why not to raise them... they don't fit your lifestyle.
We all have different situations, different needs, and when we've been raising chickens for several years, most of us have pretty much figured out what works for us. It would be nice to hear encouragement from the CX folks, now and then, instead of constantly being told we're wasting our time and that we're a bunch of idiots, and that the CX's are the very best birds in the whole wide world. Yes, we already get that you don't understand why we chose to raise heritage/dual.
Jeff, good luck with your project, I think it's worthwhile to try out.
I'm going to see what happens, I will certainly keep everyone informed.
Well said, It goes both ways too. I try to encourage DP breed when I can, they do fit peoples lifestyles. However I would like to see more DP raisers out there not refer the Hybrids to devil like chickens LOL...
Jeff, good luck with your project, I think it's worthwhile to try out.
I'm going to see what happens, I will certainly keep everyone informed.
Well said, It goes both ways too. I try to encourage DP breed when I can, they do fit peoples lifestyles. However I would like to see more DP raisers out there not refer the Hybrids to devil like chickens LOL...
lol, yes mine run . . . because I have them on a diet and they think I may have food.
I have to get a video of them running, it's like watching a sumo wrestler
I have to get a video of them running, it's like watching a sumo wrestler
But I sure wish I cud get some of the Cornish x breast meat onto some of my dp's
I crossed some Dark Cornish with my game, they have good meat but they are crazy acting birds, ez spooked
I wonder what a game rooster over a Cornish x hen would do. Hmmm....nawww
maybe someday we will have the perfect one size fits all bird.
I crossed some Dark Cornish with my game, they have good meat but they are crazy acting birds, ez spooked
I wonder what a game rooster over a Cornish x hen would do. Hmmm....nawww
maybe someday we will have the perfect one size fits all bird.
Your right, they are not devil chickens, I think the devil chickens are called la flèche
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