Cornish Cross vs Chicken Meat

[Juther]

So, I have a few food intolerances. A few years ago I started buying processed chickens from a local farm, but I couldn't tolerate the meat, I assumed it was something they were feeding the birds. So I kept buying "organic" chicken from the grocery store.

Now that I am an active breeder I have been processing cockerels (Marans, Brabanters, Orps, Etc) and I can't tolerate the meat.

I can eat Cornish Hens just fine, so my question is I read the Cornish Cross is what the meat industry uses are they in fact cornish hens, or Chicken I am buying at the grocery store?

 

[chrissynemetz]

I'm not positive, but I think a Cornish cross is a mix of a Cornish and a white Rock....

 

[erehwon]

When we first saw some broilers here we did some research on them as we had no idea what was what (as usual). Looking over my notes (yes, my memory is pretty bad, but I am getting on now!) I found the following, not sure if it helps:

Cornish Crosses the most common broiler is normally a cross of the White rock and Cornish chickens.

Red Broilers or Label Rouge, once popular but they don't mature as fast as the Cornish crosses.

Delaware Broilers from crossing Rhode Island Red hens with Barred Plymouth Rock roosters. Rare to find today anywhere (according to my notes).

The only broilers we have found here have been Cornish crosses. I would like to breed my own but getting any Cornish and White rock chickens is just impossible. I understand you can actually raise the Cornish Crosses and breed them but not sure if that is true or not, would expect it to be rather difficult.

Will follow this thread as I could learn from people with more knowledge about broilers.

 

[Molpet]

The birds at the store are Cornish cross. Cornish hens, in the store, are 4wk old Cornish cross

They claim when they eat wheat ECT it doesn't get in the eggs or meat
But I can't eat eggs from feed that has wheat.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can eat Cornish Hens just fine, so my question is I read the Cornish Cross is what the meat industry uses are they in fact cornish hens, or Chicken I am buying at the grocery store?

Cornish Cross are NOT a simple cross between true Cornish chickens and White Rocks. Those two breeds were in the original parentage, other breeds may have been as well. They have been selectively bred for many generations to develop the meat birds you buy at the store. They have not used any form of gmo or anything strange to develop them. They just carefully select which birds get to breed. They are just chickens. That's not really any different than how breeds were developed or the commercial lying hybrids were developed.

I'm not exactly sure what you are saying you can tolerate, Corning Game hens or some sort of organic chicken. The Cornish game hens are, as Molpet said, 4 week old Cornish Cross. The typical Cornish Cross are typically butchered at 6 to 8 weeks of age. "Organic" chickens could be anything but probably Cornish Cross.

My guess is that the intolerance is caused by something in the feed they are eating. I don't have a clue how you would determine what that might be. It's a pain to not be able to grow your own.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

What are you feeding your birds? Anything different or special aside from a standard commercial pellet? What your birds are eating is the likely issue here, not the breed.

 

[RoosterML]

What are you feeding your birds? Anything different or special aside from a standard commercial pellet? What your birds are eating is the likely issue here, not the breed.

X2

 

[Juther]

The birds at the store are Cornish cross. Cornish hens, in the store, are 4wk old Cornish cross

They claim when they eat wheat ECT it doesn't get in the eggs or meat
But I can't eat eggs from feed that has wheat.

That's good to know, I can't do wheat well, but I really can't do fish and fish meal is in my feed.

 

[Juther]

Cornish Cross are NOT a simple cross between true Cornish chickens and White Rocks. Those two breeds were in the original parentage, other breeds may have been as well. They have been selectively bred for many generations to develop the meat birds you buy at the store. They have not used any form of gmo or anything strange to develop them. They just carefully select which birds get to breed. They are just chickens. That's not really any different than how breeds were developed or the commercial lying hybrids were developed.

I'm not exactly sure what you are saying you can tolerate, Corning Game hens or some sort of organic chicken. The Cornish game hens are, as Molpet said, 4 week old Cornish Cross. The typical Cornish Cross are typically butchered at 6 to 8 weeks of age. "Organic" chickens could be anything but probably Cornish Cross.

My guess is that the intolerance is caused by something in the feed they are eating. I don't have a clue how you would determine what that might be. It's a pain to not be able to grow your own.

okay, so it has to be my feed then. Thanks so much!

 

[Juther]

What are you feeding your birds? Anything different or special aside from a standard commercial pellet? What your birds are eating is the likely issue here, not the breed.

After reading the responses, I think it is the feed. I feed Scratch n' Peck which is mainly wheat, lentils, fish meal. There are only a few fish I can tolerate, so I bet that's it.