I'm Confused how do Hatcheries get Cornish Cross hatchlings?

[Oddyseous]

The rest of the world has benefited from the exceptional feed conversion ratio of CornishX, setting aside all of the animal welfare issues, they along with Prolific egg layers have helped the world tremendously in our requirement for High Protein Source at a accessible price point. Otherwise the price of chicken meat would be even higher than beef or Pork.

More than beef or pork? Equal to pork maybe, but beef? That's quite a stretch.

 

[nicalandia]

More than beef or pork? Equal to pork maybe, but beef? That's quite a stretch.

Try doing the math for just how much feed it will take to produce the same amount of chicken meat that is produced today with Delawares/Barred Rocks. That is just for feed, you need to take into account facilities to hold less productive breeders. Basically it will not be profitable and we would be back to the early 1900s using the hens for eggs and cockerels for meat, raised in backyards.


Edit. Meant to say regular beef, not Prime Grade nor Wagyu type of beef

 

[Oddyseous]

I disagree and here's why, I think if you add the health issues and non sustainability Cornish Cross cost more than people are generally accounting for.

Red Rangers or (my current favorite) Jersey Giant deserve another look imho.

 

[nicalandia]

I disagree and here's why, I think if you add the health issues and non sustainability Cornish Cross cost more than people are generally accounting for.

Red Rangers or (my current favorite) Jersey Giant deserve another look imho.

To People in Europe and developed countries like the USA that have more resources and access to large strain of breeds, but in most of the world where local chickens are dual purpose but on the smaller side and inefficient really don't have a choice for low price high protein source.

 

[Oddyseous]

To People in Europe and developed countries like the USA that have more resources and access to large strain of breeds, but in most of the world where local chickens are dual purpose but on the smaller side and inefficient really don't have a choice for low price high protein source.

You're starting to confuse me. Who is mass producing broilers cornish cross that doesnt have access to another breed?

 

[Ridgerunner]

This schematics is from Hubbard.

View attachment 1915031

The Final Terminal Cornish Cross will be. Males are Dw+/dw(regular sized as Dw+ is dominant over recessive sex linked dwarf dw), the Females will be Dw+/- from non-dwarf sire.

Great chart and tremendous information throughout this thread. Thank you.

 

[nicalandia]

You're starting to confuse me. Who is mass producing broilers cornish cross that doesnt have access to another breed?

I am talking about regular people that are not into breeding their own chickens for sustainability, people with low income that are conserned about feeding their families and don't put much attention to the higher standard of Animal Walfare in Europe and the USA.

The CornishX has made high protein source meat accessible for most of the world.. Can it be done better? Yes for sure Red Broilers are about as good as it gets in term of sustainability and efficiency.. Dual Purpose breeds are less efficient at turning feed into meat.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

For more than beef, it depends on the cut but yes that's very feasible for chicken to reach that price.
(Citations!
https://projects.sare.org/project-reports/fnc12-866/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broiler
http://www.poultryhub.org/family-poultry-training-course/trainers-manual/broiler-production/
https://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=pjn.2017.940.944
http://backyardfarming.blogspot.com/2010/06/cornish-cross-versus-freedom-rangers.html
https://afarmishkindoflife.com/cornish-cross-vs-red-rangers/
https://www.extension.uidaho.edu/publishing/pdf/PNW/PNW665.pdf)

Under many circumstances it's easy for a cornish cross to consume literally half what a red ranger does. If a broiler is raised JUST so as they are under commercial conditions, they consume 1.5lbs of feed for every lb of body size. That's a SHOCKINGLY good rate. Cornish crosses are EXTREMELY specialized. And yet, I know that I buy chicken raised this way at just under $2/lb for a whole bird, it's cheaper elsewhere but I'll just roll with my local prices.

If we were to raise a native chicken commercially, say like the jersey giants or more common chickens like rocks or delawares, the average FCR would be 5lb feed to 1lb live weight. Which would bring the average cost of a chicken up to $6.50/lb, EASILY within beef prices for me locally (ground tends to be 3-4/lb, most of the cheaper steak cuts/roasts around 5-6). Even if you were to consider a high mortality rate, something even as high as 25% (commercial broiler facilities tend to have 10-12%) with a 0% mortality rate for heritage breeds (which is pretty much impossible on a large scale) you'd STILL be hitting around $5/lb over the 2/lb we have right now.
(FCR for rangers is about 3/lb ideally, but if your concerns are how the chickens are made, recall that rangers are made the same way and have similar health problems at older ages and do not breed true.)

And then on top of that you have to consider that the current $2/lb cost includes labor and overhead. To reach the same carcass size of a ranger or heritage breed it usually takes more than twice as long. (Commercial CX are processed at 6-8 weeks while a ranger is usually done at 12 and a heritage at 18-20). Which also means that a commercial facility can only produce half as many for the same labor cost. Similarly, if you are small farm raising for profit you may be able to grow 100 CX in the same space and timeframe as 50 rangers or heritage breeds. That changes your bottom line if you're in continual production, though it matters a LOT less if you're only doing one batch a year for private consumption. Ultimately chicken producers would have to drastically raise price to account for labor costs and larger/more facilities. Given that the $2/lb is the cheapest whole chicken around it's not inconceivable for specific cuts (like breast meat) for chickens to hit $7+/lb like that. Well within beef costs locally for me. And that's not even including things like organic or kosher or free range or any other modifier. Those chickens already hit $5/lb, they'd be shooting up into the costs of higher tier steaks in a heartbeat.

So chicken is cheap BECAUSE of these birds. I agree that there are problems with them - they require special care to get a healthier bird out of them (which does lower the FCR, but the same is true of heritage breeds or rangers) or they need to be butchered very young. It takes sustainability away from the farmers having to buy new birds yearly. If cared for improperly they have high mortality rates. They're designed for confinement.

But if your goal is a one-and-done meat bird, they're top tier for a reason. Given that I've had some live in my flock for years and they were extremely personable and fun on top of that I hate to see them so readily dismissed. It's pretty sad because not only are they extremely efficient at feeding people to a degree that is legitimately shocking, they're a lot of fun - in my experience - to raise. They've got a lot going on for them.

Which isn't to say don't raise jersey giants. Do it if you want. But reconsider knocking them as frankenchickens. They're a hybrid produced through nothing but careful natural breeding that are a lot of fun and also feed the world. They give a lot of people the option to raise their own healthier meat. I personally could not AFFORD to raise a heritage breed rooster at 5/1lb vs 1.5/1 FCR for meat. I'd be paying as much as it cost to buy the organic chicken from the supermarket that way on non organic feed, so I don't see the point. CX let me know where my food comes from and know it's cared for well without the extraordinary cost that most of america can't afford.

 

[MysteryChicken]

This how they're bred in most places.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Again, that's NOT how they're bred in most places. That...

Wait. no that's not how it's usually done at all. Not in the US at least. That appears to be India even. What.