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Cornish Cross

Cornish Cross (Cornish X) chickens are the standard meat chicken for the American market. ...
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Meat Bird
Comb
Pea
Broodiness
Seldom
Climate Tolerance
All Climates
Egg Productivity
Low
Egg Size
Medium
Egg Color
Brown
Breed Temperament
Calm, Bears confinement well
Breed Colors/Varieties
White
Breed Size
Large Fowl
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Cornish Cross (Cornish X) chickens are the standard meat chicken for the American market. Sometimes called broilers or Cornish/Rocks.

Although it is NOT a breed of chicken, it is a cross or hybrid of some very secret breed lines for the sole purpose of gaining weight as rapidly as possible.

The first attempts at "Hybrid" meat birds was in the 1930's and was the dominant commercial bird by the 1960's.

Modern broilers are typically a third generation offspring (an F2 hybrid). The broiler's four grandparents come from four different strains, two of which produce the male parent line and two of which provide the female parent line, which are in turn mated to provide the broilers. The double cross protects the developer's unique genetics as strains cannot be reproduced from the broiler offspring.

In 2003, approximately 42 billion broilers were produced, 80% of which were produced by four companies: Aviagen, Cobb-Vantress, Hubbard Farms, and Hybro making them arguably, the most popular chicken to raise.

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Cornish X egg (white)

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Cornish X chicks

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Cornish X Juvenile

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Cornish X hen

Rooster.jpg
Cornish X rooster

For more information on Cornish X and their owners' experiences with them, see the Meat Birds ETC forum section for discussions.
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Latest reviews

SwampPrincessChick
Pros: Great for meat production, resilient to many diseases such as coccidiosis and fowl pox.
Cons: Nasty, loud, eats too much, annoying, aggressive, stupid, destructive, not scared of predators.
Cornish Cross are one of the worst breeds I have seen in my life, if not the top worst. The only thing they do all day is sit in their poop and continually eat, only occasionally roaming around the yard even though there is plenty of space for them to do so. Not to mention that their poop is literally everywhere you step and it is in huge piles, much larger than a normal chicken's. They are destructive and turn everything to a pile of poop and mud. Cornish Cross are oriented so much to food that they attack you for it. This goes for both genders; the cockerel started attacking me first when he saw me with the feed bucket, and the pullets followed along and attacked me as well. Two of them died before butcher age, one from leg problems and the other one from a heart attack. Cornish Cross are extremely loud and they constantly make this annoying honking noise because they choke on their food since they eat so fast and so much. The only things good about this crossbreed is that they are fast choice for meat production and they can easily fight off diseases such as coccidiosis and fowl pox, but other than that, don't waste your time and your yard space. American Bresse would be much better.
BantyChooks
When raised correctly, CX are far from the apathetic Frankenstein-clones their repute would have you think. I raised them with my layer flock in a free-range setting with limited food, and it paid off. At times I found it difficult to tell them apart from my leghorns without looking at their feet! They were about the size of a regular grocery-store bird when I butchered them at ten or so weeks of age. Overall, I am quite pleased with them and will purchase another batch in the future.
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Image caption: two eight-week-old Cornish Cross in the foreground, with a Pearl guinea fowl and a White Leghorn pullet in the background.
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Kessel23
Pros: Grow fast, very friendly, fun to watch, more hardy than you would expect, and they taste good.
Cons: Leg problems and other growth related issues have been the main problem for me with this breed.
I got 53 of these guys this year, they are very awesome birds and are way more hardy than most people claim. I was expecting to get a weak bird that has a high death rate because of what I read. Out of 53 birds I only had around 5 die, all of them were from leg or other growing issues, 2 of them had to be culled earl because of this. Other than the leg stuff they are great birds. I kept a few of these guys to cross breed with my egyptian fayoumi, golden campines, and leghorns.
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Comments

CVAN732000
Well after reading your post, I'm really torn. I've seen the condition you're talking about when they get so big, but also wonder if you've tried the fermenting feed that others have posted about? Question is, would you do it again and are you happy with the meat vs. cost to raise them. I would like to order some, but have my doubts too...
 
Loc20chick
I have read that about this breed too, But I believe it depends sorely on how you raise them. I learnt a lot here at BYC at first when I ready about it I was disappointed as I had just bought them before reading (which I'm now thankful I did). A member here name BeeKissed raises them and free ranges them too. If you can free range them and give FF they do great.

Same principal applies to these breed as humans if people eat and don't exercise they get fat and can't walk, if these chicken don't have room to walk (free range) and all they do is eat 24/7 yes they will get leg problems. Mine didn't and when I butchered they didn't have as much fat either. Hope that's helpful
 
CrowMountain
My Jumbo Cornish lays about 2-3 times a week, but they are HUGE eggs and almost always double yolks. She is also out most friendly hen, just gotta look out for those landmines she lays everywhere.
 
farnorth
They are gonna get huge and stinky in just a week or so. Also I don't think it works out well to keep them beyond 12 weeks old as they are meant to be processed at that time and were not bred for longevity. You can try to keep them but I don't think you will want to....I don't think they can even fly up onto a roost. When they get big they have a tendency for leg problems because they get too heavy for their own legs.
 
duluthralphie
I have 3 that are 7 months old, 2 pullets and a rooster. The rooster crows and is a sweet heart. They are laid back, but do venture out daily in the snow.
I do not feed them a high protein feed, I feed them layer mash at 16%. They get table scraps and treats to forage for. I have had no signs of leg problems, but I severely limited their feed when younger. I am hoping for eggs and chicks this spring.

They are one of my favorite chickens, actually extremely clean when raised like a bird with special needs.
 
hellbender
A few of them might do ok here then. I have a new 6 month old Heeler pup that would gladly make them move! He wouldn't bite them (these lessons are well learned already).
 
JadedPhoenix
I had one years ago. She fell off of a Tyson truck so we called her Lucky. It took her a month to leave the coop. Once she did, she never went back in. Instead, she slept in the doghouse with my dog. In fact, I think she decided she'd rather be a dog. You could be outside at three in the morning and she'd come sit with you. You head inside, back to the doghouse she'd go. She would lay HUGE eggs and would frequently lay double yokers. Her largest one had an egg in an egg in an egg. When it was all said and done, it had NINE yokes!!! She only lived about a year after she fell off of the truck but she had a happy year. She truly was lucky. I am considering getting some more just to have some more just like her.
 
Annadurai
Where do you feed them? The first batch I fed in the penned area outside the coop (small 12x12 yard for baby birds to be protected from hawks before they go out on the full field) The second time I because of what you describe here and the mess, fed them in the middle of the 3 acre area we have fenced off. I put one feeder on each side of the watering pipe we made so they drink plenty as they eat. The thought behind this is they are in the middle of the field and with a short attention span will forage longer and sooner because they are already out there. Also taking away food in the early evening then giving it back in the morning helps them move better as they get bigger. The muscle mass grows faster than the bone mass and makes them to heavy for their legs. However, if you take away the feed for 9-12 hours it gives the bone mass time to catch up and reduces issues with their legs. They should be able to move freely until ready to process.
 
Jeanniejayne53
Agree -- we raised a dozen this spring, and they could fly up onto a chair I put in their grassy run-- up about 18" -- and another 2 ft to the top of the chair back. I did not find that they enjoyed foraging at all, though. They would sit in front of a feeder all day until it got too hot, and then go into the coop until the sun went down. If I picked clover for them they would eat it, but no way they forage as well as my Welsummers or Buff Orps.
 
nizar
this breed you can know it by its feet, they grow so fast and die so fast, whenever you didn't give them good food their feet become so weak and they hardly could recover again.
 
olayak
JadedPhoenix said:
I had one years ago. She fell off of a Tyson truck so we called her Lucky. It took her a month to leave the coop. Once she did, she never went back in. Instead, she slept in the doghouse with my dog. In fact, I think she decided she'd rather be a dog. You could be outside at three in the morning and she'd come sit with you. You head inside, back to the doghouse she'd go. She would lay HUGE eggs and would frequently lay double yokers. Her largest one had an egg in an egg in an egg. When it was all said and done, it had NINE yokes!!! She only lived about a year after she fell off of the truck but she had a happy year. She truly was lucky. I am considering getting some more just to have some more just like her.
Click to expand...
That's a beautiful story! She sounds lovely!
 
TiaMaria413
JadedPhoenix said:
I had one years ago. She fell off of a Tyson truck so we called her Lucky. It took her a month to leave the coop. Once she did, she never went back in. Instead, she slept in the doghouse with my dog. In fact, I think she decided she'd rather be a dog. You could be outside at three in the morning and she'd come sit with you. You head inside, back to the doghouse she'd go. She would lay HUGE eggs and would frequently lay double yokers. Her largest one had an egg in an egg in an egg. When it was all said and done, it had NINE yokes!!! She only lived about a year after she fell off of the truck but she had a happy year. She truly was lucky. I am considering getting some more just to have some more just like her.
Click to expand...
I love this story!!
 
TiaMaria413
duluthralphie said:
I have 3 that are 7 months old, 2 pullets and a rooster. The rooster crows and is a sweet heart. They are laid back, but do venture out daily in the snow.
I do not feed them a high protein feed, I feed them layer mash at 16%. They get table scraps and treats to forage for. I have had no signs of leg problems, but I severely limited their feed when younger. I am hoping for eggs and chicks this spring.

They are one of my favorite chickens, actually extremely clean when raised like a bird with special needs.
Click to expand...
What daily amount of feed would you give per chicken? I have one who is 4 months.
 

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