On Nov 1 I was in one of the local feed stores and happened to spot a chick brooder containing 4 Cornish Cross chicks! It is very hard to find these birds in the feed stores, since they usually just carry either bantams or standard layers. One of the great things about this find is that they are already a week or two old!
In my opinion, the Cornish Cross is the best, most economical way to put home-raised meat on the homestead table. These birds were developed for that purpose, and I believe they have their place. Their feed conversion rate can not be compared, and the quantity of meat they produce is outstanding; especially considering the short length of time it takes to grow them. They can hit 8-10 lbs by 2 months of age.
The down side to these birds is that their bodies are designed to put a lot of meat on a skeleton that just can not keep up with such a rapid rate of growth; therefore they are prone to leg problems. My solution is to grow them over a 3 month time, and allow them to forage. I feed them a lower protein chick starter, and a lot of scratch grains.
These 4 little beauties will be part of our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. They are about 3 pounds each now and I hope to have 1 of them at 5 pounds by Thanksgiving Day. The others will go along with our ham at Christmas. We have 25 more on their way from the hatchery, but they will be meat for Spring.
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