VTChickenQueen
In the Brooder
- Apr 22, 2015
- 16
- 4
- 24
I love Cornish X Meatings and What I learned about them through experience contradicts what the books have to say about them and their care.
We are told that they are stupid, nasty, smelly, lazy, cannot mate, will not/ cannot forage and die of heart attacks so you better kill them quickly.
This is what I've learned about these awesome pet like birds.
1) They are intelligent. My meaties know when feed time is and they stalk me until I feed them. They are also friendly and follow me around like mother hen.
2) They do not have to be fed around the clock. I currently feed my flock of 13 about half a 10 gallon pail once a day. During the winter months I fed them a whole pail once a day.
3) I can feed them layer food.
4) They are winter hardy! I fed my birds (then 24 before processing some) a whole 10 gallon pail only once a day, gave them one heat lamp and did not insulate the coop apart from stopping air leeks. I only lost one and she was at the bottom of the pecking order.
5) My birds LOVE to free range and their good at it on the contrary to what you read about x rocks.
6) They are decent egg layers. I have between two to five eggs everyday with the average being three. I believe that they lay eggs every other day which would make sense.
7) They do other things than poop and eat. They forage, they mate, they chase each other and they explore.
8) The hens are a little broody. At least one hen out of ten is "trying" to build a clutch and she sits on them. She keeps laying eggs in the tall grass of my old garden and she defends it. Almost hate to take them from her.
9) My eggs are fertilizing, yet to master incubation but I'm experimenting with hatching.
10) The roosters don't mate well and can cause the hens massive injury and death. I've lost three hens while they were mating. The roosters are just too heavy and awkward to mate safely. I'm killing off the rest of the roosters this weekend apart from my non meaty rooster who will hopefully continue to service the hens.
11) They mate with my Chantecler rooster. They love him better than the fatty "men".
12) They do grow slower, but slowing down their growth rate allows them to reach maturity and lay eggs. My birds reached processing size only two months ago when they were five months old.
I raised them like layers and I got healthy birds. When I process them I find that their hearts are in perfect condition. There is no fluid around the heart, nor fatty tissue around it. It was not enlarged or too small, and the color was right on for a heart. My flocks I kept last summer and process were treated like the "manual" said too and their hearts were unhealthy compared to the firm, strong hearts my birds have now and are going on eight months old. Very old for a x rock but healthy as can be.
What have you discovered about meaties that contradict the experts?
We are told that they are stupid, nasty, smelly, lazy, cannot mate, will not/ cannot forage and die of heart attacks so you better kill them quickly.
This is what I've learned about these awesome pet like birds.
1) They are intelligent. My meaties know when feed time is and they stalk me until I feed them. They are also friendly and follow me around like mother hen.
2) They do not have to be fed around the clock. I currently feed my flock of 13 about half a 10 gallon pail once a day. During the winter months I fed them a whole pail once a day.
3) I can feed them layer food.
4) They are winter hardy! I fed my birds (then 24 before processing some) a whole 10 gallon pail only once a day, gave them one heat lamp and did not insulate the coop apart from stopping air leeks. I only lost one and she was at the bottom of the pecking order.
5) My birds LOVE to free range and their good at it on the contrary to what you read about x rocks.
6) They are decent egg layers. I have between two to five eggs everyday with the average being three. I believe that they lay eggs every other day which would make sense.
7) They do other things than poop and eat. They forage, they mate, they chase each other and they explore.
8) The hens are a little broody. At least one hen out of ten is "trying" to build a clutch and she sits on them. She keeps laying eggs in the tall grass of my old garden and she defends it. Almost hate to take them from her.
9) My eggs are fertilizing, yet to master incubation but I'm experimenting with hatching.
10) The roosters don't mate well and can cause the hens massive injury and death. I've lost three hens while they were mating. The roosters are just too heavy and awkward to mate safely. I'm killing off the rest of the roosters this weekend apart from my non meaty rooster who will hopefully continue to service the hens.
11) They mate with my Chantecler rooster. They love him better than the fatty "men".
12) They do grow slower, but slowing down their growth rate allows them to reach maturity and lay eggs. My birds reached processing size only two months ago when they were five months old.
I raised them like layers and I got healthy birds. When I process them I find that their hearts are in perfect condition. There is no fluid around the heart, nor fatty tissue around it. It was not enlarged or too small, and the color was right on for a heart. My flocks I kept last summer and process were treated like the "manual" said too and their hearts were unhealthy compared to the firm, strong hearts my birds have now and are going on eight months old. Very old for a x rock but healthy as can be.
What have you discovered about meaties that contradict the experts?