when are CornishX fertile?

[shaft0463]

Mine are 3 months old. About when are the roosters fertile, and when do the hens tend to start laying?

 

[LarryPQ]

Hens' eggs are usually fertile 2 weeks or so after they are mounted by the roo. They are hatchable about 4 weeks after they being laying, sometimes sooner.

CornishX are such large birds, they usually croak of heart attacks before the point of lay. I don't know if the roos could mount the hens without damaging her

 

[BirchHatchery]

they can breed fine but u got to restrict feed i have cornish rocks that are A year old

 

[mdulik]

My CX started laying at about 5 months. I switched them over to layer feed at 4 1/2months. Once they started laying, I introduced the roo to the coop and left him in thiere. He is a White Plymoth rock. With 4 hens I get usually 2 eggs aday. I have incubated as many as 10 at a time and the fertility rate is usally around 50%. but the other 50% usually hatch quite nicely. I have done this 5 times now and the chicks still seem to grow fast. This year I am going to order 25 cx pullets to raise for egg laying and crossing with WPR. My feed cost seems to be a little less and they are more active then the regular cx's. they actually venture away from the food bowl.

 

[shaft0463]

mdulik, that's my intention for them too. I have a REALLY nice, fast-growing, large RIR roo that I want to cross on the biggest hens, and use some of my FIL's large wyandottes, and my one large EE hen, for the biggest of the cornishX roosters. I'm not trying to create anything too wonderful, just something that won't weeze like these cornishx do.

My cornishX have been good foragers though. But I raised them to be good foragers too. The results weight-wise haven't been as amazing as those raised to never move, but they have done fine. Just the weezing and such makes me nervous that they are all going to drop dead soon.

Ironically, it's the smaller, runtier ones that weeze the worst. The bigger ones seem healthier.

 

[BirchHatchery]

i have the best luck crossing the cornish rock roos over hens

 

[shaft0463]

Quote:
Good to know. I'm planning on keeping the best of both the hens and roos, just in case something goes wrong with one or the other.

What about the cornish roo and other hen made that the best cross?

 

[BirchHatchery]

the chicks are bigger with the cornish x as the father but with the roosters you must restrict feed starting on the 8th day of life or they will be to big to mount hens in 4 months

 

[shaft0463]

Mine are definitely NOT too big since I've raised them to forage some, and I feed them on a diet that's less rich than commercial feeds. So I shouldn't fun into that issue with my roos. I do have one hen who is just huge, and lazy, but she's very very healthy. Her breathing is much better than the smaller hens.