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OT- Cornish X Rock chickens??

G

Greg1959

Well-known Member
I just ordered a batch of these chicks. Has anyone had experience in raising them? Any problems...i.e.- leg problems, death rate, piling on each other, etc.?

I usually raise Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red and White rocks.

This time I wanted to try a meatier bird instead of a layer.

Greg
 
I try not to remember the nightmare. We bought some a couple of years ago. Our problem was that we let them get too big/old. When those birds are raised by commerical, they take them to 51 days. We got busy with haying and gardening and ours were much older. It also was very very hot. 100 in the shade. that's when we went to check them, and they were dying from the heat. So it was now or never. I think we lost 7 before we could get to them. they were huge. triple breasted/gmo. won't do that again.
 
I raise em all the time. Usually get 6-8 lb birds. I order all females. I have a separate pen for the meat birds with hot wire to keep the fox at bay. Hot weather can be a problem but we run the hose on the ground (chickens cool through their feet) I also give them a trailer to get under for shade and they do ok. Get the broiler booster, only had 1 with a leg issue and was still able to raise it to full size. I already ordered mine for a June delivery.
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Kornfused- Thanks. I can't wait to see if I can get the weight of meat out of them.

Also, just had a washing machine die. I thinking about using it to make a 'chicken 'plucker'. I've watched the videos onutub and I think I modify one pretty easily.
poke here
 
We order ours for around June 10th.
Feed em all they can eat for the first 3 weeks then after that cut it down to all they can scarf down in 15 or so minutes twice a day plus access to a large run or tractoring works well.
Don't have too many problems with legs or heat.
Usually butcher Aug. As they get older/bigger fat really builds up and can be a pain.
We skin em and part them out.
 
They are as easy as any to raise. I let them have all they want to eat. They'll eat a lot. The key is to process and get in the freezer before they have any leg issues or it gets too hot.

It's not real economical compared to store bought.
BUT
It's well worth it to me to know what I'm eating and where it came from.
 
I did them years ago. I had allot of leg problems with them. As they grow so fast. Maybe they got that shorted out a little better now.
I'd keep the protein up, as they would recomend on the feed. After 6-8 weeks they'd dress at 3# or better.
 
We have run those a couple of times. They grow disgustingly fast and need to be butchered at 8 to 9 weeks. After that you will start to die from heart attacks or something. They stuff themselves and kind of waddle around. They will forage a tiny bit if you move their enclosure every day, twice a day toward the end.

That said, they are one tasty bird! They yield more meat than any others we have tried.

I skin the birds or hand pluck. I have heard supposedly that the tub pluckers where you toss the bird in make the meat tougher. I've seen pluckers that have the rubber fingers that you can chuck in a drill instead.
 
We tend to let them get way too big. Think a small turkey. taste excellent. They do eat a lot, but they taste like real chicken. Try to make sure they get real sunlight and real bugs and grass and dirt to scratch in. Makes a huge difference in flavor. They aren't real hardy when they get older.

I am GOING to make a chicken plucker.
 
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