when will we stop calling them "cornish cross"?

[Buster52]

Language is for communicating. When you say Cornish Cross, everybody here knows what you are talking about. And as an earlier post said, there are other hybrids that are meant to be grown as meat birds and broilers. If you just use the terms to discuss what is generally known as a Cornish Rock Cross, people aren't going to know what you are talking about.

Also, the grandparent lines for the Cornish Cross are not breeds. Unlike a species or subspecies, a breed is an artificial construct determined by some recognizing body, and as far as I know, these lines have never been recognized by such an organization. Calling them breeds is meaningless.

Lastly, I recently joined the APPPA at the Producer level, so I have access to almost all of the back issues of Grit! magazine and I'm reading them like crazy. From what I have read so far, the professionals who raise these birds on pasture for a living have absolutely no problem at all calling them Cornish Cross. They might occasionally use an industry term to distinguish a particular line of Cross, but they do call them CX in general. This is in recognition of the fact that there are numerous hybrids raised for meat that are not in fact Cornish Cross and are nothing like them.

 

[Buster52]

I will confess that I have stopped calling them Cornish Cross with my customers, though. Too often I get, "You mean those little Cornish Game Hens? But I don't want one of those. I want a big chicken!"

So, I use the term Broiler Chicken or Meat Chicken, because non-chicken people are clueless about what constitutes a Cornish Cross. My assumption about chicken people is that they do, in fact, know exactly what I am talking about, so I will continue to use the term when conversing with people I assume know chickens.

 

[enel 1]

I know that you know chickens Ive read many of your posts,are the grand parent lines of any known breeds?the parent lines of the "cx"are breeds,with pedigree's,are they shown? No,their genetics are owned by giant corparations,they are the only ones who can have them and they arnt intrested in winning blue ribbons,only producing the modern broiler chicken,in the 1940 and 50's,the grocery store broiler was a corish cross but in the 40 and 50's the delaware was called the "indian river" and it was white sports of Plym rock/New Hampshire....if they were owned by Cobb we wouldnt see those around either.if you call cobb they will tell you the parent birds are true breeding pedigreed pure breeds.
two different pure breed lines make the modern broiler.

 

[enel 1]

 

[enel 1]

these birds are all 8 weeks old so it should make it easy to compare
the White Rock eatting with the broiler is a great comparison of body shape,real simalar shape,just a huge differance in size,

 

[enel 1]

 

[enel 1]

So I can breed my DC with a WR and then THAT would be a Cornish Rock cross and it will not resemble one of these 8wk broilers what so ever

 

[galanie]

Kill the LF cornish, look at the caracass. Kill any other breed you choose, and look at the carcass. Now kill a "cornish cross" and look at the carcass. I don't think you'll find any other bird having a carcass anywhere close to being like the LF cornish, other than what we keep calling a Cornish Cross. I keep saying opinion, and you keep beating that poor horse to pieces. Yes, I do think it resembles a "cornish cross" more than any other breed. I never said they looked just like one. The horse died, we aren't convincing each other.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

It's an informal name for a chicken. Interesting topic that will draw many opinions, and if all listen and reply respectfully, it can surely remain an interesting topic rather than an unpleasant (or locked) one.

edited by staff

 

[Buster52]

Nice hatchery Cornish, enel 1, but I was talkin about the Real Deal.

The distinctive features of the CX are the feet and legs, the heart shaped back, the comb, and breast meat, and those look more like Cornish than anything.

Real Cornish.