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Dark Cornish broilers

Dark Cornish broiler on pastureI can tell that everyone's starting to think about buying chicks for their spring flock because I've heard from several of you wanting more information about our Dark Cornish experiment last year.  For those of you who weren't following along, you can read the highlights: why we chose to raise Dark Cornish broilers and the economics of Dark Cornish broilers ($2.51 per pound if slaughtered at 12 weeks and even more expensive if slaughtered at 16 weeks.)  Basically, we concluded that Dark Cornish don't forage nearly as well as we'd hoped and are very expensive to raise, but that the meat is some of the best chicken we've ever eaten.

That said, I thought you'd like to hear the experience of another backyard chicken keeper who also tried out Dark Cornish broilers in 2010.  Reg Delorey wrote:

"I raised 40.  They took every bit of 20 weeks, some 24 [to reach broiler size].

"Ample pasture and all the feed they could eat.  They weren't big feed eaters (my view).

"Biggest rooster I had was 7.5 pounds, [the rest were] anywhere from 5 to 7.  Hens were very disappointing 3.5 to 4.5.

"They seemed to reach that size at 16 weeks and didn't seem to get bigger after that."


Dark Cornish broilersIn a later email, Reg went on to say that he kept his broilers in tractors and felt like they were very good foragers.  "They would rather attack fresh grass and bugs way before going to feed."  On the negative side, he was raising Cornish Crosses in the same tractors as the Dark Cornish and the latter killed the former.  "Somewhere around 8 weeks, 4 pound Cornish roosters began killing my 7 and 8 pound meat kings [Cornish crosses]."

Reg concluded:

"I quite like them as hens around the barn, but as you've stated as a meat producing venture it's really not very productive.  That being said I really want to cross them with something; I don't mind the extra time if I get a 5 pound hen from the cross at 20 weeks.  I'm actually wondering if you or any of your followers may have suggestions for a good cross with Cornish hens (besides a pot)...."


I suggested either crossing the Dark Cornish with a Plymouth Rock to make your own Cornish Cross, or perhaps breeding them with one of the old timey broiler varieties like New Hampshire or White Wyandotte.  Any other feedback to pass back on to Reg?  Any one else have experience raising Dark Cornish as broilers?

Our homemade chicken waterer keeps your broilers hydrated even on uneven terrain.


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Dark Cornish and White Rock cross

Hi there! I also raised Dark Cornish for meat. I was a little disappointed with their size but the taste was great. I only had hens and butchered only one because I want to cross my DC with my White Rock rooster. I will also be raising full WR for meat this year. You could also consider Cuckoo Maran. They are fast growers (for slow growers) and a good size.

Comment by Mona @ Healthy Homesteading — Sunday night, February 20th, 2011
Other meat breeds
I knew that White Rocks were sometimes bred for meat, but hadn't heard about Cuckoo Maran. I'll have to subscribe to your blog to hear how your experiments go. Thanks for the ideas!
Comment by anna — mid-morning Thursday, February 24th, 2011
Best Breeds to Cross with Dark Cornish
I am searching the internet to find out if any have experimented with Dark Cornish/New Hampshire Crosses. The New Hampshires have proven to be excellent foragers. After raising them to about six weeks old they did not need any feeds or grains as they free ranged for all of their needs. By five months they all reached a large and healthy slaughter weight. I have heard that Dark Cornish are also fast maturing and are good at free ranging. That is why I think that the New Hampshire / Dark Cornish Cross would be the best for fast growing free range meat chickens that will produce more eggs than pure Dark Cornish hens. I also have some large Barred Rock hens that I'm planning on crossing. I just ordered two Dark Cornish Roosters and a few Dark Cornish hens. I will post my experiments by the fall of 2012 but it sure would be nice to find someone who has experimented with these breeds to know the results of such crosses.
Comment by Steve — in the wee hours of Friday night, December 24th, 2011
New Hampshire chickens
I wish I could help you out, but I decided not to use Dark Cornish this year --- I experimented with laying breeds instead. But I'm very glad you commented --- you make New Hampshires sound extremely intriguing!
Comment by anna — at lunch time on Monday, December 26th, 2011
crossing meat birds
I have a dark Cornish rooster he is a year and half old and we have bred him to DC hens and buff orpingtons and silver laced wyandottes. The hens are still sitting now but should hatch here in about 6 days or so.I will post how things go. Also I plan to put them in the freezer.
Comment by scott — Wednesday evening, July 11th, 2012
Hybrids
Scott --- I'll be curious to hear how your experiment works out. I've noticed that any kind of hybridization does seem to help. We've been raising Australorps and Marans as all-around farm birds, and the broilers that have an Australorp father and a Marans mother seem to be among the biggest.
Comment by anna — Tuesday afternoon, July 17th, 2012
Hybrids for a range broiler

In March 2013 I will have been working on a broiler for the range for 3 years. All my birds are kept free range, no tractors. I started with 5 large dual purpose breeds in 2010 from E-fowl. 1.Delawares-5 2.New Hampshire Red-5 3.Buff Orpingtons-5 4.Silver Laced Wyandottes-10 5.Rhode Island Red-6

In 2011 I choose to go foward with a 9lbs Delaware rooster. Delawares had the best temperment, growth rate, and meat carcass. When crossed with orpington and new hampshire red hens I got 5.5lbs pullets and 6.75lbs cockerels at 18wks from both. All the chicks had Delaware like plumage which makes for a good looking plucked bird. For the spring of 2012 a 9lbs Delaware/Orpington cockerel was bred to a half sister Delaware/New Hampshire pullet. This cross produced an 7.5lbs cockerel as well as a 6lbs pullet at 20 weeks. Unfortunately both died from predators this October. To date all crosses have foraged superby and are efficent layers of extra large "terra cotta" brown eggs. I ordered in the spring of 2012 from Ideal both dark and white laced red cornish in an attempt to add even more meatiness. The plan is to cross a white laced red cornish rooster with the hybrid hens. The goal is a broiler that acheives 8lbs by 16wks on free range conditions. I hope the cornish is the last touch.

Comment by Sam — Wednesday afternoon, December 12th, 2012
Breeding a better homestead bird
Sam --- Thanks so much for sharing your experience! That's extremely valuable information, especially since you mentioned where you got your initial breeding stock. Did you, by any chance, keep track of egg laying and feed consumption too?
Comment by anna — at noon on Monday, December 17th, 2012
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