I appreciate all the answers. I have chickens now. Have for years. They are all layers..speckled sussex..golden laces wyandottes..blue sapphire and such. We had some meat chick we bought a couple of years ago for that purpose ( meat). They grew out in about ten weeks and we butcher ed them and put them in the freezer. But I can't figure out anymore than they were some kind of Cornish x. Just trying to figure which breeds are crossed to get get Cornish cross meat birds.
PM inbound with my number so that maybe I can pick your brain.
Cornish Game rooster mated to White Plymoth Rock hens = Cornish Rock cross!
I dont have a incubator (but I want one)!
If I ever get my mitts on one (incubator) I plan on trying the cross!
Finding White Rocks is the easy part.
Being able to get commercial broilers from chicks, to the table in 5 / 7 weeks is more than just the breed! My Father was one of the first farmers in Arkansas to go into the commercial chicken business, on a large scale. I was just a kid, but I think to took something like 12 / 14 weeks to get broilers to slaughter weight. Now they do have more efficiant breeds, but they also feed them not only antibiotics, but growth stroids in the water! They time the lights to come on at night to fool the chickens, because they eat every time they think its morning, Kinda like Democrats! Dad went Arkansas Tech at Russellville, after WW2 on the GI Bill,. Dr Thompson, the head of the AG, dept. was advising him on this venture. ( he owned the chickens and bought the feed, medicine then) Dr Thompson was devoloping different breeds if chickens that were more efficiant to be used in these commercial houses. I would go with dad to his farm, and thought that was something. He had some really strange looking chickens. heavy breast, with small wings, and legs, etc. I guess the one that impressed me the most was the three legged chicken! More drumsticks! This seemed to be going well untill someone left the door open, and these three legged chickens escaped. They are so fast, no one has been able to catch one since. there are rumores of lighting fast three legged chickens crossing the roads in the Ozarks, to this day!
Incubator was one of my favorite purchases. Wish I would have known to go with a GQF first. Tried a few others and either poor performance or just didn't last. If you have some fertile eggs I can try it for you until you get an incubator. I think ours holds around 300 eggs so there's plenty of room. We usually do about 100 at a time.
Thank you for such a generous offer, but I am about 1100 miles away!
I have been wanting to get my mitts on a gqf sportsman (cheap) lol!
Been a day late and a dollar short a few times!
I worked in the chemical that developed and manufacturer the chicken growth hormone.
It was later mixed in the chicken feed.
During development, nobody knew much about it.
My buddy had some turkeys, his daughter was raising for 4H. He somehow obtained an ounce, with instructions to add 4 drops to every quart of water.
Came time for the fair and his daughter presented 3 turkeys over 45#. She didn't win anything. They turkey could not stand, but every one asked his feed. Which he shared exactly what he fed them. Didn't say a word about the water.
Told me later, 1 drop per gallon worked better.
It was later mixed in the chicken feed.
During development, nobody knew much about it.
My buddy had some turkeys, his daughter was raising for 4H. He somehow obtained an ounce, with instructions to add 4 drops to every quart of water.
Came time for the fair and his daughter presented 3 turkeys over 45#. She didn't win anything. They turkey could not stand, but every one asked his feed. Which he shared exactly what he fed them. Didn't say a word about the water.
Told me later, 1 drop per gallon worked better.
So are you selling hatchlings, or finished birds? I don’t know if I’m reading this right.
