what are Cornish X

[kfacresagain]

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[greenhorn]

Yeah, first generation (F1) hybrids are uniform that's why the broiler chicks come out looking very similar. Take it to the next generation (F2) and you will have all kinds of diversity if I'm correct. The industry calls their birds f2's but the way they explain it sounds like more like a poly hybrid. Poly's are f1 x f1 but they are made with 2 entirely different F1 hybrids. They mention cornish and white rock but I think there are also other genetics in there too. They make simple explanation from a complicated process and gloss over things to keep it a secret.

If you use F2 birds of similar design you will start to see a little uniformity in the f3 generation and each consecutive generation should be a little more uniform than the prior.

I'm not saying for one second that you will be able to make a modern white broiler from a regular white rock and white cornish cross. But if you were to develop 3 or 4 different pure breeds and start working them you could eventually make something similar.

I know it would take years to accomplish this but if it weren't possible then there would be NO broilers today.

I guess nobody really knows exactly how the big boys breed broilers but it would be interesting to inbreed some and find out what happens. Probably would be a real pain in the behind because it would probably take AI to accomplish it. I just got a flock of broilers, 25 cockerels and 5 pullets. Maybe we'll try a crazy experiment.

Sorry if I ruffled your feathers there, meant no harm.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Maybe these videos will help clear it up for you. I learned a lot from them.

Broiler Chicken Videos

You can get as technical as you want. I guess the four grandparent flocks are technically the breeds and the offspring are considered specific crosses. One way this surprised me is that I would have expected crosses of crosses to be more unpredictable. But I take the grandparent flocks to be as much a breed developed from the initial birds as Black Australorp are a breed developed mainly from Black Orpington. I would think technically, the broilers are not really hybrids because they are the result of crossing crosses, not crossing breeds. But that is just a definition for people that want to be pedantic.

There is some misunderstanding about Hybrid Vigor. It is a known phenomenon, but it is not so much about crossing breeds or varieties as it is about genetic diversity. You can get the same effects of hybrid vigor crossing two flocks of the same breeds that have been genetically separated for a few generations as you can by crossing different breeds or varieties. In this case, you are crossing strains.

I recently saw an article where someone took a flock and split it into two different flocks. By breeding one flock for large size and the other for small, he had developed two different purebred flocks from the same ancestry where one flock averaged weighing 9 times as much as the other flock. I wish it had mentioned how many generations that took. To me, this demonstrates the power of selective breeding.

From the common name Cornish Rocks, I'd expect that Cornish and Rocks were included in the original parent stock, way back when. Other breeds may have been included too. I really don't know. But I would not expect to get a Cornish or a Rock by crossing broilers any more than I would expect to get a Black Orpington by crossing two Black Australorps.

 

[kfacresagain]

Two very good posts above mine, and I agree with both of them. even though I never watched neighter video clip.

I think the key to these CX chicks, is that they are crossing 4 very distinct strains of bird to create them. The chicks that we see today are nothiing more than super fast growing, heavy breasted white bodied, single combed birds. Sure I see a little Cornish blood in them, as do I the white rock- but I'm not sure what the other stuff is, and I'm thinking they don't either. Personally, I think these birds most likely trace back to some mutant that was hatched out very many years ago with a birth defect-- but was a freak in nature... and from there they have found a way to continue breeding that freakiness into them without exposing that gene mutation. I would suspect that the birds with severe leg issues, etc... would be birds that could carry a double copy of that mutant gene. I know personally, I bet we've raised close to 1000 of the CX chicks over the years, if not more-- and it seems that 2 out 100 have leg issues.

I've said it many times, but I'm confident that a cross of any true Dual Purpose breed, True Cornish, and the Cornish X birds to the effect of 3/8 Cornish, 3/8 Dual Purpose, and 1/4 Cornish x would have the ability to become an outstanding meat bird candidate- with some consistancy.

In the spring time, when I order a batch of CX birds, more than likely I plan to keep back a few females and see what I can do.