white laced red cornish

[MTchicknman]

Hi Karen, my post about finding nothing on 'that site' was Walt Leonard's site.
Thanks for the author's name, etc. for the Hathitrust site.

We might be re-thinking the Cornish for breeding/mating/chix, only buying them for broilers tho for the coming year, since we are raising a batch of Brahma chix this year.

Since the Brahma's are slow growing, but are heavy-weight birds, we'll be butchering any roos out of that batch in the Spring (we figure there are going to be 6 or 8, since we bought straight run .... any pullets will be egg layers.

Next Spring we intend to breed some Orps, Australorps, Brahma's, Hampshires and Naked Necks in the Spring, so we may end up having more chicks than we can handle for next year, at least!
We have 5 Roos (one was supposedly a Brahma pullet! {Surprise, Surprise, as Gomer Pyle would say!})

I read somewheres, that the Cornish are not very fertile, and that they aren't very hardy for cold weather - (we get some -40F for a couple of weeks usually around Jan-Feb) - so we'll be doing more research on them becuz we don't want to have to carry too many non-layers thru the Winter and we'll be supporting the power company as it is keeping the chickens from freezing - we'd prefer to freeze them after butchering ;>).

 

[MTchicknman]

Karen;
Got it .... Many Thanks !

Author's name is Wetherell Henry Card.
He was known as Wid Card. just stick "Card" and "Breeding Laws"in the Hathitrust search engine. Choose " full view" . that is their default setting for viewing lit.
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

If I might be so bold as to make a couple suggestions. light Sussex from Emily Robertson at TruNorth heritage hatchery in Vancouver British Columbia .I believe you can get eggs from her. has a website. read her blog on how she raises her Birds. she is a retired biologist and is using population genetics to successfully reintroduce utility qualities to her beautiful light Sussex. very statistics oriented. Successfully charting and raising her Birds to butcher weight at certain ages. lots of statistics about that.
another suggestion white or partridge chanteclers. very very cold tolerant. will play in the snow at 30 below . good meat birds ,good egg layers.there is an International Chantecler Fanciers club where you can get more information.
Best,
Karen

 

[MTchicknman]

Scratch the Hampshires from the potential breeding list in our post above .... there was a Bull Snake in the rooster's pen and the wife was trying to kill it. The Rooster intervened ( she says he was trying to defend her from the snake), and he got bit - he was dead in a matter of hours! The hen will just have to remain celibate! The snake might have won that battle, but he lost the war ... the wife knocked him out and he ended up in the road. Flatter than a fender washer ATM!

 

[MTchicknman]

If I might be so bold as to make a couple suggestions. light Sussex from Emily Robertson at TruNorth heritage hatchery in Vancouver British Columbia .I believe you can get eggs from her. has a website. read her blog on how she raises her Birds. she is a retired biologist and is using population genetics to successfully reintroduce utility qualities to her beautiful light Sussex. very statistics oriented. Successfully charting and raising her Birds to butcher weight at certain ages. lots of statistics about that.
another suggestion white or partridge chanteclers. very very cold tolerant. will play in the snow at 30 below . good meat birds ,good egg layers.there is an International Chantecler Fanciers club where you can get more information.
Best,
Karen

Thanks Karen, we'd like to raise the Cornish for the breast meat (wife's favorite), but if the others you suggest are comparable - and colorful - then we would be interested in them as a replacement.

 

[3riverschick]

That's weird you couldn't find anything on Walt's site. I found it , maybe it's a browser thing. at any rate ,you should email him and tell him you want Cornish. he will tell you where to get the very best because he's very good with the breed .
on byc his nick is:
fowlman01
Karen

 

[MTchicknman]

Hi, Karen,
Thanks for the heads up on the Chanteclers. After a few communications with Emily, in BC, heeding her advice, we have pretty much decided on the Chantecler Chickens for our area. She pretty much told us that what we already have in our flock are NOT good Winter birds, even tho the hatcheries promote them as such, AND, the Light Sussex and Cornish would not be much of a survivor in our climate.
Over the next year or two, we will possibly/most-likely be converting to the Chanteclers - both the White (Chantecler) and the Partridge (Albertan, NOT actually a Chantecler) and purebred stock, rather than big-hatchery-who-knows-what's-in-it-line-bred-stock - instead of the ones we currently have in our flocks, which will probably become our broilers for the next 2 years! Both of the 'Chanteclers' are similar in some ways in the base stock, but with the differences between the two, we may end up with some fairly colorful birds , we'll see what the future brings! The only other flock difference will most likely be that we'll keep on raising the Australorps, which have always done good for us in our harsh Winters.
Once again, Thanks for your advice!
Jim & Reta

 

[3riverschick]

More than welcome Jim and Reta .
here in Western Pennsylvania our winters have turned bitterly cold in January and February the last 3 years. it's why I'm switching from Light Sussex to Chanteclers .no matter what I did, the cold froze the combs on my roosters. Until the Combs healed , the roosters were either infertile or did not want to mate. This pushed my breeding season from February to May ,June, and July . which is way too late to raise Sussex that are good winter layers. they need to be hatched in February and in March mostly. I think it will be a lot easier to keep the birds cool in the summer than to struggle in the winter to keep their combs from freezing. it sounds like you got a good plan and maybe as years go by we can exchange Chantecler birds .that would be fun.
Best,
Karen

 

[MTchicknman]

@ 3riverschick