What is better? A Delaware or Cornish Cross?

[magistradomina]

Hi! We have all Austalorps right now but we are looking into getting some meat birds. We were looking at getting Cornish Cross birds, but a friend of ours told us not to because the Cornish Cross birds are stupid and that they aren't hardy. She told us that we should get Delawares instead because they are really meaty, smarter, and they also lay eggs. Any opinions? Thanks in advance!

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Australorps are also meaty, smarter, and lay eggs. Both Australorps and Delawares are dual purpose birds. I don't know how much difference there is between them for meat; never owned a Delaware.

You might consider putting this in the meat birds section -- a mod could move it for you.

 

[magistradomina]

Thanks! Yea, I was also wondering if there was much difference between Ausralorps and Delawares. But we really do want meat birds but our Australorps are our egglayers and they're not hardly meaty. Thanks again!

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Keep in mind, that Cornish X's are meant to be a meat bird, Delawares aren't. You would have to keep the Del's a lot longer than the CX's to get them to be the right size for slaughter.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I am sure you understand the the CornishX has a very short life. It has been commercially bred to eat itself, literally, to death in 15 weeks. Either you butcher it, or it dies of a heart attack or other organ failure.
As long as you understand that, this is the bird with which you are most familiar appearing under Saran Wrap at your local supermarket.

There are also slightly slower growing RedX Ranger type birds to choose from as well.

No dual purpose bird can compete with the meat bird specialty breeds for quick weight gain, large breast meat and meat to bone ratios.