Which breed-Cornish Cross or Cochin???

[Blosing101]

Which breed is best all around to raise for a broiler? I have read up a little on it. I have heard people who like Cornish and people who like White Cochins. What are some of your thoughts? Pros and Cons? Thank you all!!!!!!!

 

[GoldenFlight]

I think Cornish are lot better! They grow extremely fast and get VERY meaty!

 

[donrae]

Cochins?

I don't know of anyone who raises Cochins for meat birds. Yes, they do get big, but they take forever and a day to do so. You'll spend a crapton more on feed, and the time it will take....they'll be over 6 months old before there's any meat there.

For feed conversion, etc you simply can't beat a Cornish Cross. It's what they've been intensely bred for for decades. Lots of $$ behind developing them, and it's paid off nicely.

 

[GoldenFlight]

Cochins?

I don't know of anyone who raises Cochins for meat birds. Yes, they do get big, but they take forever and a day to do so. You'll spend a crapton more on feed, and the time it will take....they'll be over 6 months old before there's any meat there.

For feed conversion, etc you simply can't beat a Cornish Cross. It's what they've been intensely bred for for decades. Lots of $$ behind developing them, and it's paid off nicely.

I agree, I've never heard of Cochins being raise for meat birds either...

 

[Blosing101]

My neighbor has white cochins he is raising for broilers. That is why I was asking.

 

[GoldenFlight]

My neighbor has white cochins he is raising for broilers. That is why I was asking.

Oh, interesting... No problem, I was just surprised to hear that.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

A broiler is a young bird, tender enough to be broiled. Cornish X are never older than 10 weeks of age and most birds you see in supermarket are 6-8 weeks old. A dual purpose bird like Cochin would take 6 months or more to be that size and would be of roasting age, far too old to broil or fry. Dual purpose need to be butchered by 15 weeks age to broil and that's typically far too small a bird at that age (dual purpose) for people to want to butcher. You'd be lucky to get a 3lbs carcass from a dual purpose bird at the tender age of 14 weeks. It's the age I butcher my excess cockerels for summer grilling. I should break out the scale this year, weighed before but didn't write it down so wont quote from memory my result.

 

[Blosing101]

So I got 10 Production Reds that are about 10-11 months old right now. I was told that they would lay for about 2 years then be done and ready to butcher. Is that accurate and would they be to tough????

 

[donrae]

I've never had a bird be finished laying at 2 years.

Now, they do slow down. they molt, and take the winter off unless you supplement lighting for them. Then they resume in the spring, laying slightly fewer eggs each cycle. My birds have repeated this cycle until about 7 years old, when I've kept them that long.

It's up to each of us to decide if we want to keep birds past that mark, feeding them over the winter while they don't lay. You need to balance that cost and effort against brooding new chicks each spring. It's an individual thing for each to decide.

I've found I'm selling most of my birds off around the 2 year mark, but it's more because I find a new project that catches my eye, and I need the space. My birds aren't lifelong pets, so off they go to a new home and a new fancy takes their place.

You can absolutely butcher a 2 year old hen. Will she taste like a grocery store bird? Nope, not at all. Texture will be different. She's not a 8 week old baby who has never been allowed to move around, she's a mature animal with actual used muscle tissue. You'll need to tenderize that tissue by cooking low and slow, or in a pressure cooker. Do that and you'll likely be surprised at the depth of flavor chicken can have. Folks joke that everything "tastes like chicken", meaning chicken doesn't really have much flavor itself. Well, that's true of the grocery store chickens. Mature birds, hens or roosters, have a rich full flavor.

Look around on the meat bird section and the recipes section, there are recipes there about cooking older birds.