To grow cornish hens what age do I butcher and when can I give them grower?

[Ridgerunner]

I've been wondering. if you grow CX at home, do they have the same bland taste of the store-bought chickens?

If you raise them the same way and butcher them at the same age, pretty much. The older the birds get the more flavor and texture they develop. The same is true with pork, beef, sheep, pretty much any meat animal. Dual purpose chickens are typically butchered at an older age than the CX so they have more flavor and texture. With the girls that's not as noticeable if you eat your pullets but when the boys hit puberty the hormones really make a difference to both texture and flavor.

To me those are the big two when it comes to flavor change, age and the boy's hormones. If you raise them so they get more exercise and feed them differently you can make minor changes in flavor and maybe texture. My taste buds are pretty insensitive, I wouldn't notice that difference but some people are more delicate and do.

 

[CNJ]

I've been wondering. if you grow CX at home, do they have the same bland taste of the store-bought chickens?

Jumbo Cornish X are big enough to be processed before they start crowing, so their meat is tender unlike hormonal tough heritage breeds. Good Fried Chicken or marinated smoke chicken doesn't taste bland, its the amount of seasoning used that defines bland.

 

[Molpet]

Jumbo Cornish X are big enough to be processed before they start crowing, so their meat is tender unlike hormonal tough heritage breeds. Good Fried Chicken or marinated smoke chicken doesn't taste bland, its the amount of seasoning used that defines bland.

To me, Poultry harvested at older ages than CX have more flavor. Pressure cooker rooster, I forgot to add spices to, still had more chicken taste.

 

[raingarden]

I'm not talking about how it is seasoned. When I was a child in the early 1950's chicken meat tasted distinctly different than it does today.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The Cornish X have little flavor because they are butchered young, before flavor has time to develop. The bland flavor has nothing to do with breeding, it is the age they are butchered.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

On Monday of this past week we had 4 of our Cornish game hens processed. These were not Cornish cross, but CGH we got from Mt. Healthy. They were 7 weeks old and we went ahead and had them processed because one of our original nine was found dead Monday morning, possibly from heat. They all dressed out at well over 3#, and one was just under 4#. We will have the remaining four processed tomorrow. As I move the first four from fridge to freezer, there will be room in the fridge for the second batch. I can't imagine keeping them longer than 8 weeks, the poor things can barely walk.

 

[NatJ]

On Monday of this past week we had 4 of our Cornish game hens processed. These were not Cornish cross, but CGH we got from Mt. Healthy. They were 7 weeks old

How are they different than normal Cornish Cross?

I can't find them on Mt. Healthy's site, but I find them at several other sites:

McMurray::
"We sex Jumbo Cornish X Rocks and provide you with the pullets to use for your Cornish Game Hens. BUTCHER AT 2-21/2 POUNDS LIVE WEIGHT"
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/cornish_game_hens.html

Hoover:
"The Cornish Game Hen is a Cornish Cross Broiler pullet that is butchered at 3 weeks of age when they reach a weight of 2.5 - 3 pounds."
https://hoovershatchery.com/CornishGameHens.html

Meyer:
"You can also process any gender at 2 lbs or 4 weeks for a tasty Cornish Game Hen."
https://www.meyerhatchery.com/Jumbo-White-Cornish-Cross-Broiler-Day-Old-Chicks-p217573300

 

[BigBlueHen53]

How are they different than normal Cornish Cross?

I can't find them on Mt. Healthy's site, but I find them at several other sites:

McMurray::
"We sex Jumbo Cornish X Rocks and provide you with the pullets to use for your Cornish Game Hens. BUTCHER AT 2-21/2 POUNDS LIVE WEIGHT"
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/cornish_game_hens.html

Hoover:
"The Cornish Game Hen is a Cornish Cross Broiler pullet that is butchered at 3 weeks of age when they reach a weight of 2.5 - 3 pounds."
https://hoovershatchery.com/CornishGameHens.html

Meyer:
"You can also process any gender at 2 lbs or 4 weeks for a tasty Cornish Game Hen."
https://www.meyerhatchery.com/Jumbo-White-Cornish-Cross-Broiler-Day-Old-Chicks-p217573300

Interesting! Reckon I'll do that if I order these again. Seems like Ft Healthy advised processing at 8 weeks but of course I can't find that literature now. I'll report back as to taste and texture when one of these hits our table.

 

[affacat]

. I can't imagine keeping them longer than 8 weeks, the poor things can barely walk.

Same. Almost No feather coverage on belly either, and many of those few feathers had dingle berries.

We were originally hoping to keep and breed 6 of ours but I don't understand how anyone pulls that off (like whoever we bought the chicks from). And I don't know how we'd have wintered them.

Poor things is right. At least we have another 40 or so happy eggers that, except for being goofy, seem like normal animals.

 

[Ridgerunner]

We were originally hoping to keep and breed 6 of ours but I don't understand how anyone pulls that off (like whoever we bought the chicks from).

The commercial poultry companies spend millions of dollars on exactly that. How do you feed and manage the parent and grandparent flocks that produce the CX broilers? They also study genetics and they study how to raise the CX broilers themselves for maximum efficiency, but how to manage the parent and grandparent flocks is also very important. It's not easy but they have it down to a science.

They have techniques to feed the hens and roosters separately although they are housed together. They have techniques so every chicken eats a certain amount and no more. The basics of those are fairly common but I don't know details. I have no ideas on the formula that is fed to the boys or the formula fed to the girls or the amounts. They have the facilities to do this. It's no wonder it is so challenging for us to attempt this yet many people do and a few even pull it off for a while.