White Cornish: Building a Quality, Sustainable Flock for Meat and More.....

[Fairview01]

What age does a heritage Cornish reach market weight? I am looking for a 3-4 lb carcass, good size but not huge.

Depending on individual management practices and quality of feed a Cornish should reach Cornish Game Hen size by at least 12 weeks. Some of my more vigorous cockerels that hatched early spring could have been processed at eight weeks.

Overall for your desired table weight of 3-4 pounds I think you should figure on 4-5 months of age. Here's a pic of some 5 month cockerels I've separated from the main flock that would meat your requirements. The second pic is a 3 month old pullet. Much smaller.

Cost effectively if you are just looking for meat chickens then the hybrid Cornish rock xs annually ordered from the hatcheries would probably be you better choice however they are a bit higher maintenance when it comes to their feed requirements and schedule.

As far as heritage Cornish in your area I wouldn't suggest joining the international Cornish breeders association FB group. At this time of the year and the excessive heat no reputable breeder will be willing to ship until fall

 

[Dr.Dale]

Overall for your desired table weight of 3-4 pounds I think you should figure on 4-5 months of age.

Excellent. That is actually perfect. My goal is 3-4 lb carcass, no earlier than 12 weeks and no later than 20.

I always hear that Cornish grow slow, but that doesn’t sound slower than other heritage breeds. Maybe even a bit faster. I guess the difference is they take more time to get full size, not that they take more time to get a specific size.

 

[Fairview01]

Excellent. That is actually perfect. My goal is 3-4 lb carcass, no earlier than 12 weeks and no later than 20.

I always hear that Cornish grow slow, but that doesn’t sound slower than other heritage breeds. Maybe even a bit faster. I guess the difference is they take more time to get full size, not that they take more time to get a specific size.

When compared to Cornish rock xs that are procesed between 6-8 weeks that is a very long time.

Also something else to consider is that Cornish are game birds and for the first 3 months I feed 28% protein game bird crumbles. After that I feed 20% layer pellets with several handfuls of catfish chow. The catfish chow is animal based protein at 30%. I do not feed for the protein content but rather the two necessary amino acids that are not found in soy based diets bit are synthesized and added to soy based feeds.

This type of premium feed schedule comes at at a premium price. My flock serves to purposes. The first is for my enjoyment chasing the elusive Standard of Perfection for this breed and secondarily as the name of this post is, a sustainable source of meat for me and my daughters families.

I started with over 60 chicks I hatched starting in February. If I can get just 1 cockerel and 5 pullets - 10% - that are breeder quality I will be thrilled. The other 50+ go to freezer camp.

You can get heritage Cornish from any hatcheries except

the whites. You only.find the whites from private individuals.

 

[Fairview01]

Looks like I may have gotten a white sport out of my Darks. Hopefully it is a cockerel because I have one pullet from shipped eggs.


View attachment 1478022 View attachment 1478023

What does it look like now. Post a pic please. .

 

[Dr.Dale]

Across the board every serious breeders keep their best stock for their own flock improvements. When juveniles are offered for sale they are always the breeders 1st or second quality culls. True breeders never intentionally and knowingly sell their gold.

Of course, but since different people have different goals, one man’s culls may be another man’s first pick. I would gladly take a healthy, meaty bird with a color fault that someone breeding to the SOP would cull.

 

[Chickenheadmate]

I will contact you in two months.

I will have juvenile 5-7 month old in October- November time frame this year. They should be laying anytime from March 2019 onwards depending on age. I live south of McKiinney.

Across the board every serious breeders keep their best stock for their own flock improvements. When juveniles are offered for sale they are always the breeders 1st or second quality culls. True breeders never intentionally and knowingly sell their gold. The only way to get around this is to purchase fertile eggs or day old chicks.

 

[Fairview01]

Of course, but since different people have different goals, one man’s culls may be another man’s first pick. I would gladly take a healthy, meaty bird with a color fault that someone breeding to the SOP would cull.

It's no harder to breed to the SOP than having a bunch of yard birds running around. In fact the closer to the SOP a Cornish is the better to meat ratio

 

[Fairview01]

Of course, but since different people have different goals, one man’s culls may be another man’s first pick. I would gladly take a healthy, meaty bird with a color fault that someone breeding to the SOP would cull.

Its no harder to breed to the SOP as it is having a bunch of yard birds in a community breeding environment. The closer a Cornish is to the SOP the better the meat to bone ratio will be.

This chick is a cull and pretty close to what you may be referring to in color fault. It is the result of a pairing of homozygous pairing of an undesirable recessive gene. As a breeder concerned with his reputation I wouldn't give this chick away for fairly obvious reasons. The only destination for my true culls are my freezer or the dump.

The 'culls' I'm willing to sell are what can be considered to be WIP. They posses the genetic potential to produce competition Cornish but it will take time and selective breeding pressure over several generations to get there.

 

[Dr.Dale]

This chick is a cull and pretty close to what you may be referring to in color fault.

Yes, that is what I mean. If a chicken like that had good body type and vigor then I would be happy to have it.

As you say, it isn’t more difficult to breed for one thing or another. It is just different people breeding for different goals. My wife likes variety in feathers (which basically prevents me from ever breeding to the SOP). I want good production and I want my wife to be happy, so my breeding goals reflect that.

 

[Redhead Rae]

What does it look like now. Post a pic please. .

I’ll post a pic this evening. I am 5 hours from home right now. The chick has coloring in the feathers, but a lot lighter than the other Darks. We’ll have to see how it grows out.