Yikes! I just ordered 15 jumbo cornish rocks. They will be shipped on Feb. 18th. I have got to get a place ready for them! So all you old pros out there. What do I need to know. I have 14 layers right now. I have been doing the backyard chicken thing for about a year but this is my first foray into meat birds.
Laura
15 cornish rocks!
Buy lots and lots of high protien food. They will litteraly lay in front of the food dish and eat. They are the dumbest chickens I have ever raised. We called them rocks with wings.
I just read this months Backyard Poultry magazine. There is an story about raising meat chickens. The writer said that Cornish X teach you how to write checks and bury dead birds. We didn't have a lot of losses, but we wrote a lot of checks.It does explain some of the pitfalls of the breed better than I can.
I think I am going to do Brahmas this year. I like multi use birds. The flavor is much better (even though a bit tougher), they are more econimical, and you get eggs. The X is actually a bigger bird than we need for the two of us. I ended up packaging the last batch in half chicken freezer packs.
In the future I plan to use a dual purpose bird for meat. I wanted to start with the cornish x because I know they aren't cute and cuddly like my orpingtons and my kids wouldn't get attached to them. Our orpingtons are so sweet, like feathery lap dogs!
I am sure we will learn a lot from these birds! I hope I don't have to write too many checks or bury any! My son has been doing all the research for them and will help in the care. He is working on his animal science merit badge for boy scouts and one of the requirement options is to raise the birds from chick to market(freezer) and keep good records on cost, feed, weight, etc.
I will have to see if I can get this month's Backyard Poultry. My subscription lapsed so I didn't get it.
BTW, I have 4 kids (4xthefun) and 3 of them are hungry growing boys! When I roast a supermarket chicken I have to do two of them.
Laura
The X's certainly aren't cute and cuddly, but will certainly be the size you need. I love my orphingtons too!~
We have raised Cornish crosses for the past 2 years...We limit their food somewhat...it slows their growth slightly and improves their ability to walk and stay healthy. Ours is in a separate pen and not the coop because they grow so fast there is a smell that is about them that is offensive to my nose. We feed them lots of greens, weeds, grasses, clover and alfalfa as well as their hi protein feed...at 6 weeks we start to give them extra corn so they will have some fat on them when we butcher at 8 & 9 weeks. They average out with 2#breasts (5-6# whole) and after we started giving them corn stayed more tender....but we have to acknowledge that they run and fly around and stay more active than the first batch we had. We have had good luck with them staying healthy and from the many articles I have read...I guess we can thank the Good Lord for that! Just enjoy them...and don't let the other chickens pick on them...;-)
Laura, thinking you should be doing some butchering about now?
just wanted to mention that Griffiths in MO has cornish for .84 ea by the hundred right now!
(573) 642-2114
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Laura, how are your cornish doing? Are they finished out yet?
This is only our second time with them, we just got 100+ ranging from 5 days to almost 2 weeks. The !st time we got them, several years ago, we didn't really know anything about them. We got them from an auction and learned that these were not like the other chickens. We could not believe how they just sat in front of the feeder and ate, ate, ate.....and would get so fat that their little legs about couldn't hold them up. We felt just awful at the time, butchering them at 4 weeks.......we didn't know at the time that you could butcher them at 4-6 weeks. We got lucky and didn't have any problems with them. They were the best tasting chicken's we have ever had.
Since then, I have learned of all the breathing problems they can get and that by them growing too fast, other things can go wrong with them too. I read from a hatchery catalog that you should limit their feed some for the 1st 4 weeks, then let them eat as much as they want. We are going to try it this way this time, in an effort to avoid any problems. I know they want to eat all the time even at this age though, and will 'attack' the feeders like they haven't eaten anything in days. My DH works on a hog farm, and he said they are worse than pigs....and he said that was pretty bad. I feel bad sometimes in restricting their feed, but I just tell them it is for their own good....after having regular chickens that we have always given feed for them to eat at their own free will, it is almost a weird thing to do.....but I have been reading about what can happen if the cornish get too big too fast, so we are not taking chances!
Laura....did your DS do the feed conversions on them? I would be interested in seeing what he found out!
bump for Fran : )