Starting my own meat birds dark cornish and cross with white rock

[mcdaid36]

We did the cornish roasters as our first batch of meat chickens. We currently have a batch of Colored Rangers. Our Cornish Roasters grew well - the roosters dressed out at 6+ lbs. at 7 weeks, and the hens were 5+ lbs. at 8 weeks. We didn't loose any nor did we have any leg or heart problems. Although, by the end, the bigger roosters definitely had trouble moving from one side of the pen to the other. Not leg problems, but they would have to flap their wings to help them get any further than a few feet.

 

[SS]

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I'm thinking the same thing

 

[pepper48_98]

I think there are many of us on here that are working on this project.

I know that I will never match the cornishX but I am having a lot of fun now playing with the crosses to see what I get. As far as cost, It would be MUCH cheaper to just buy colored rangers or one of the others that are proven but I wouldn't get to play. lol

 

[nicalandia]

I live in nicaragua(HOT HOT), and I am doing the same progect....I can´t get my hand on natural Cornish or Delawares or white Rock, but I can get my hands on production type RIR(for eggs) so I am feed restricting this very large corishX rooster and will be making the cross soon, I will keep you post, I am trying to make a HOW to breed your own bloilers with availabe resources, the least amount of money and space....

here is my plan...
the Parent line:
SIRE line:

in this we need a very large frame, broad breasted male: even if I had dark cornish at hand I still go with available ConishX males(not from the sex linked dwarf gene),for their fast growth, buy 20 chicks, feed ad libitum, at 3 weeks select the 2 fastest growing chicks(they will be boys) put them in a different place and start feed restricting them as shown in this hubbard link:
http://www.hubbardbreeders.com/managementguides/index.php?product=4


the DAME line:
for this line wee need, fast growth and good layer is a MUST....ALL I have at hand is Production Type RIR(brown egg layer) I have raised them and I know they grow like weed, have a decent size and are prolific layers of large eggs, all you need are about 7 hens...

I will be reducing the cost of having to breed the parents of the parents, I will just new chicks as the older ones become less productive, I will be doing this cross soon, and I will document all the progress....

 

[TimG]

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As others have mentioned, I think there are lots of us who would like to be able to produce our own meat birds that would grow to slaughter weight at 12 to 16 weeks.

I think you are overly optimistic if you are expecting a dressed bird to weigh 8 pounds when processed at 12 to 16 weeks. You might be able to get there with a selective breeding process, but I think it would be a long shot and would take many generations.

I don't think producing your own eggs will cost less than buying chicks each year. My small laying flock does not pay for itself over the course of a year. Your birds will likely produce fewer eggs than regular laying hens and you'll have to keep a rooster or two (which eat, but produce no eggs). I would expect the chicks that you hatch will end up costing you more than those that you can buy.

That's not to say that you should not try to produce your own chicks, just that you shouldn't be doing it with saving money as your motivation.

 

[Slinkytoys]

I live at 7,300 altitude and have to buy the Cornish Roasters. They are hardier than their faster growing counterparts. I would use a Roaster hen with the Dark Cornish roo, or vice versa. Since I started with the Roasters, I have only lost one to flip and it was a hen. The others have dressed out at 6 lbs. or more.
Carrie

 

[maf2008]

Me too... I have the "red broiler" "straight run" and dark cornish "straight run" from Ideal. The red broiler is RIR and Dark Cornish cross.... I am planning on keeping all hens Cornish and Broiler and breeding them back to Cornish or Heavy Rooster to see the results ...

I will enjoy the experience and think in about 12/16 weeks I should have some good size roosters for the freezer....

Does any one else do something similar and what are your resuts?

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[dancingbear]

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I'm very interested in how this cross turns out. Good luck to you, I wish you great success! Please do post your results. I'm working on a breeding project myself, and will be trying some new crosses in the spring. Right now I have some of the birds I want, and will soon be hatching another breed to add.

I'll be posting my results, as well. I don't recall seeing you on here before, (obviously, from the number of posts you've been on here for a while) so,

You might also want to look at the links at the bottom of the page (when you have the index page or topic list page up) and check out the sister sites. Several of us who are working on sustainable poultry or other sustainable projects are posting over on Sufficient Self. The poultry threads are usually under the "Everything Else" section, as there is no poultry section on that forum.

 

[nicalandia]

Quote:
I'm very interested in how this cross turns out. Good luck to you, I wish you great success! Please do post your results. I'm working on a breeding project myself, and will be trying some new crosses in the spring. Right now I have some of the birds I want, and will soon be hatching another breed to add.

I'll be posting my results, as well. I don't recall seeing you on here before, (obviously, from the number of posts you've been on here for a while) so,

thank you, I haven´t being much longer here, check when I registered..

PLEASE keep scientific records too, as I could learn alot from them, this goes for the thread starter too, all I need are this numbers...

1-.age and weight of the Parent flock(Sire line and Dame line) hens
2-number of hens, and roosters, feed consumption rate on a daily or weekly basis..
3-egg weight at starting lay and peak lay, number of eggs layed for 3 consecutives weeks,
4- eggs set for hatch, eggs hatch, weight of chicks at hatch, number of males and females
5-daily or weekly gains, weight for males and females at 8 weeks and 12 weeks...

thats all...I hope you don´t think its too much info...as I will be posting those numbers A.S.A.P...

 

[Bossroo]

Nicalandia... you are the most likely one to succeed!!! Good luck and have fun.