AlbertaChickensEtc

From the Feathersite (http://www.feathersite.com)

The poultry industry is heavily dependent upon this bird. Most broilers in the supermarket are the result of a cross between a White Cornish and a White Plymouth Rock. These Cornish/Rock crosses are the mainstay of the poultry industry. Be aware, however, that you can't just cross any Cornish and Rock and get a supermarket carcass. The parental lines of these crosses have been developed extensively over the years by the commercial industry.


Does that help make it a little less confusing? Unless the catalogue just says, "Cornish" it's a chicken that is a Cornish crossed with something else. And yes, what they got crossed with does matter, but they are still the hybrid bird, not a plain old Cornish.



And from Oklahoma State University ( http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultrypage/)

Varieties: Dark, White, White Laced Red, Buff

Standard Weights: Cock-10-1 /2 pounds; hen-8 pounds; cockerel-8-1/2 pounds; pullet-6-1/2 pounds.

Skin Color: Yellow.
Egg Shell Color: Brown.

Use: Developed as the ultimate meat bird, the Cornish has contributed its genes to build the vast broiler industry of the world, Its muscle development and arrangement give excellent carcass shape.

Origin: Cornish were developed in the shire (county) of Cornwall, England where they were known as "Indian Games". They show the obvious influence of Malay and other oriental blood. They were prized for their large proportion of white meat and its fine texture.

Characteristics: The Cornish has a broad, well muscled body. Its legs are of large diameter and widely spaced. The deep set eyes, projecting brows and strong, slightly curved beak give the Cornish a rather cruel expression. Cornish males are often pugnacious and the chicks tend to be more cannibalistic than some breeds. Good Cornish are unique and impressive birds to view. The feathers are short and held closely to the body, and may show exposed areas of skin. Cornish need adequate protection during very cold weather as their feathers offer less insulation than can be found on most other chickens. Because of their short feathers and wide compact bodies, Cornish are deceptively heavy. Due to their shape, good Cornish often experience poor fertility and artificial mating is suggested. Cornish are movers and need space to exercise and develop their muscles. The old males get stiff in their legs if they do not receive sufficient exercise. The females normally go broody but because of their very minimal feathers can cover relatively fewer eggs. They are very protective mothers but are almost too active to be good brood hens.


I have white cornish and haven't found them having any difficultry breeding, but I expect the birds I have don't measure up in full to the breed standard in that whole shape area.

  thanks for all the info!!  i was contemplating the same thing, to go along with some turkeys for next year.

Okay now you've really confused me. I  didn't do so well in genetics in college. 

So I think I may just ask for a Cornish cross for meat purposes at the feed store and see what they have, haha.

The Rochester catalogue is also available online, but they're not very quick about updating it. I think you can request online that they send you hard copy.

Their true beauty shows up in the roasting pan just after they come from the oven.  Also look fine from the frying pan or the crock pot.

One of the main problems with the cornish giant or any of the other cornish meat birds is the fact that they love to eat. So if you give them a larger area to roam and control their feed intake that will solve quite a few problems. One of the commercial farmers I talked used to take the ones that were the runts and were left behind and fed them nothing except what they could dig up for themselves and they were finished before the next batch was done which is seven weeks. Also they don't handle stress very well. Electrolytes solve that problem generally speaking but you can also mix up some sugat water. Sometimes you also just get weak birds an there is nothing you can do about that. I had 15 of them and only 1 died next batch of 15 13 died on me. Put them in with the other chickens and I believe they were just to stressed. Was also feeding them a higher protein diet which of course makes them grow faster. Next time I would give them a feed lower in protein as the required growing time is offset by a lower mortality % and cheaper feed because it has less protein.

Last edited by ohwell (2009-11-11 14:59:47)

cayuga26 wrote:

Personally I think for a home flock (especially if you are already raising chickens for some other purpose) just go with the chickens you have and hatch more eggs.  It will give you more birds to choose breeders from and, and most dual purpose breeds do not have to be raised in confinement which translates to lower feed cost.   The only thing with my suggestion is forget about trying to sell them (maybe to family and friends) and the end because the market just will not be there and you cannot compete with the faster growing hybrids.  But in the end you will be helping out our heritage and rare dual purpose (and even many of the show strains could probably benefit from being used as a chicken should for meat eggs and looks).

You can also order broiler eggs from Rochester and hatch your own meat birds. I did this last spring. I ordered three dozen, two for a friend and one for me. I hatched 8 out of my dozen and although I know better than to let them grow to old, I have not found the time to butcher so now I am down to 1 rooster who must weigh about 15 lbs.even though he looks 25 lbs. In the past I have taken my meat birds to the Hutterites to do my dirty work. This year I planned on doing it myself but I keep avoiding it and if I avoid it much longer there will be no need to butcher. The lone survivor looks like a small turkey.